If Wynton Marsalis and The Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Odadaa! provided the festival’s finest Eastman Theatre concert Thursday night, Don Byron’s "Ivey Divey" delivered (in my opinion) the festival’s best performance on the Club Pass at Friday evening’s second show in Kilbourn Hall. No small reason for this was that aside from Byron, an extraordinary clarinetist and saxophonist, the trio also boasted one of the finest young pianists in jazz, Jason Moran, and the great drummer, Billy Hart.

"Ivey Divey" is the title of Byron’s 2004 album exploring the style of Lester Young, who Byron called “a codifier of melodic invention.” Byron is best known as a clarinetist, but in this incarnation, if he began a song on the clarinet, he most likely ended it with a tenor sax solo.

One of the best things about jazz is the manner in which great players inspire each other to reach new heights. With three top soloists on the stage, this happened in every tune.

Byron’s solos were consistently inventive. Just when you'd expect him to go somewhere logical with a melody he’d throw you a curve, often shifting to the most outside harmony. Then he’d fly even farther out and, just when you think he might have strayed too far to find his way back, he came in for a perfect landing.

Moran also played some astonishing solos, building his final one to a grand dynamic climax that had the audience shouting. It was fun to watch Byron anticipating where Moran would go, with nods of his head. Byron was also keenly interested in Hart’s wonderful solos, and expressed genuine awe at his prowess.

The repertoire consisted mostly of songs from Ivey Divey, including “Somebody Loves Me” and “Freddie Freeloader,” but there were some departures, notably a powerful take on “Giant Steps” and a gorgeous rendition of “Body and Soul.”

Earlier in the evening, I caught the quartet of Swedish guitarist Andreas Petterson at the Lutheran Church. Petterson, an absolutely astounding player, concentrated on tunes from his new album that explores the music of George Gershwin.

Watching the fingers of Petterson’s left hand fly over the neck of the guitar was reminiscent of watching a spider madly scurrying to get out of harm's way. But this spider had impeccable taste when it came to concocting melodies. Every dizzying solo fit beautifully over the chords.

On tunes like “Summertime” and “Strike Up The Band” Petterson shared the solo spotlight with pianist Daniel Tilling, who proved to be equally dexterous and tasteful.

Later at the Crowne Plaza, when Bob Sneider’s trio took a break, Petterson’s quartet kept the overflow crowd entertained with a terrific blues tune.

The festival’s final night is packed with great concerts. My priorities are the superb bassist Avishai Cohen and the great overseas players assembled in Jens Winther’s European Quintet.†