There are still two nights left in the jazz festival, but I think it’s safe to say that Thursday night’s performance of “Congo Square” by Wynton Marsalisand The Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Odadaa! will be remembered by those who were there as the high point of this year’s RIJF.

For more than 90 minutes Marsalis, the orchestra, and Yacob Addy’s Ghanaian ensemble, Odadaa!, reached peak after peak of musical elation in one of the most dynamic pieces of music I’ve ever heard. (Because co-composer Addy had health issues, his brother Otey Thompson, the featured drummer in Odadaa!, took his place.)

In the 18th and 19th centuries New Orleans’ Congo Square was the only location where African slaves were allowed to perform their music and dances. Rather than try to recreate the sounds of Congo Square, the piece celebrated the music that emerged from it by reacquainting jazz with its African roots.

It was like a reunion between two long-separated families. One had stayed in the old country while the other traveled to America, intermarried, and produced a diverse family. When the descendants got together several generations later the dialogue was still common and rich in possibilities.

A recurring theme in “Congo Square” was call and response, whether it was African or American. But the overriding call and response was between the orchestra and Odadaa!. Throughout the piece, the ensemble would set up a rhythm (often so complicated that Marsalis would count it to the musicians) that the orchestra would respond to. Marsalis integrated almost every strain in the evolution of jazz into these responses, from Dixieland through swing to funk.

Marsalis was dripping with charisma throughout. He began the piece with his trumpet, but then he began to sing, combining a traditional work song form with contemporary lyrics about Hurricane Katrina. (One line: "I said shame on FEMA.") Toward the end he strutted around the stage while the orchestra and Odadaa! played a down and dirty New Orleans march.

There were brilliant solos by Marsalis and Marcus Printup on trumpet, Victor Goines and Ted Nash on saxophone, several of the drummers and other orchestra members, but it was the group sound that had audience members on their feet applauding several times. In terms of musical coloration Marsalis used every shade on the palette. Odadaa! expanded the spectrum.

In a way this piece was an inadvertent response to those who have raised questions about whether the RIJF is really a jazz festival. All of this music, whether it’s played by African Americans or blonde-haired Swedes or Jerry Lee Lewis pounding on the piano, came from somewhere. That place was Congo Square.

Earlier in the evening, I saw James Moody at Kilbourn Hall. Although he is an excellent saxophonist, I was disappointed that he seemed more interested in being a comedian. He told corny jokes and sang a juvenile version of “Pennies From Heaven” that, I have to admit, the audience seemed to love.

Far better was his signature tune, “Moody’s Mood For Love,” a song based on his sax solo on “I’m In The Mood For Love.” But even during this vocal performance, he couldn’t resist clowning around.

When he got down to playing tunes like “St. Thomas,” he and the band, featuring Bill Dobbins (piano), Phil Flanigan (bass), and Mike Melito (drums) played very well together, with each providing wonderful solos.

As for Friday night: Don Byron is one of the greatest clarinetists on the planet, so I won’t miss him. And I’ve got to see Swedish guitarist Andreas Petterson because he’s phenomenal.†