One of the ironies of jazz is that it is now more popular in Europe and Japan than in its country of origin. While the fanatic obsession of overseas fans made jazz an important cultural export for the United States after the Second World War, now there is a substantial corps of non-American players no longer content to just listen. The Ninth Annual Yokohama Jazz Promenade last weekend provided clear evidence of the degree to which jazz spans cultures and of how it truly has become an international musical language.

The Italian Instabile Orchesta

As part of the event, more than 80 groups, featuring innovative players from Italy, Denmark and Japan, performed in an astounding range of styles to overflowing audiences at 11 venues throughout the city. Highlights were many, but three groups in particular turned in riveting performances that pointed toward a complex mixture of musical influences, expanding the very idea of what jazz music can be.

The Italian Instabile Orchestra, Oct. 6 at Kannai Hall -- Formed in the early '90s with top Italian players, the Italian Instabile Orchestra has mainly played European festivals, but it has recently drawn worldwide rave reviews after the release of the excellent CD "Litania Sibilante" (Italian for "Sibilant Litany"). The amazing energy the Instabile ("Unstable") gave off during this performance derived not only from the wild, cacophonous outpouring of the individual 17 members, but from the fact that they somehow always came back together into a jubilant, rather stable, musical whole.

Band members took turns in the conductor's "seat" and did just about anything -- leap acrobatically from chairs, dash frantically back and forth across the stage, gesticulate in all directions -- to elicit solos, cross-cutting accompaniment, bursts of noise and ecstatic wailing from their fellow players.

Few other large ensembles use their collective energy, intelligence and eclecticism so well. When have you ever heard a solo on kettle drums, trombone bell (don't ask) or lips?

Though the band's rapid switches from one style to the next were hard to follow at times, when an older player leaned over to pinch the cheek and pat the head of a younger one after his solo, their sense of musicality felt as earthy and human as it was sophisticated.

Fumio Itabashi, Oct. 7 at Landmark Hall -- Tokyo-based player Fumio Itabashi combines his piano-playing talent with a creative perspective and dynamic leadership style. Since the release of his first album in 1982, Itabashi has played in a wide variety of groups most notable for their differences. The four sessions he led over eight hours Sunday at Landmark Hall, a large venue atop the Landmark Mall, were no exception.

There were Brazilian-style and big-band configurations, and after his postmodern piano trio, Mix Dynamite, he brought onstage a 10-piece group for an African-inflected set of romps. The players, culled from many different groups in Tokyo, were stoked to have a good time, and did, taking turns plying, pinching and pulling the uncomplicated melody lines. The rhythm section was particularly dynamic, with two percussionists and trap drums accented by players from Brazil and other parts of South America. The combination of ethnic rhythms and song structures with a free style of blowing by the five-piece horn section succeeded in keeping listeners happily crowded into the hot hall.

Takeshi Shibuya, Oct. 7 at Yamate Gate Za -- Also from the local jazz scene, Takeshi Shibuya is the longtime leader of many and curious a group circuiting Tokyo's small live houses. A pianist of extraordinary talent, captured well on his 1999 CD "Essential Ellington," Shibuya is credited with forming many cutting-edge bands in Tokyo and mentoring many players.

At this festival he was given due recognition, with all of Sunday devoted to him and his satellite groups under the heading "Takeshi Shibuya's World" at Yamate Gate Za, a neat, smallish hall next to the Gaikokujin Bochi foreigners' cemetery. The seven groups, most notably the beguiling Mull House with its free jazz and electric fusion, featured the many players he has worked with over his some 20 years on the scene. In his incredibly laid-back leadership style, he concluded the day with a rousing set from his high-energy, eight-piece orchestra. They moved from blues to vocals to their trademark unique amalgam of funk, fusion and free jazz.

Several other groups staked out very different claims across jazz territory. Stretching the limits on the free side was Pino Minafra, one of the key members of the Instabile, and his Sud Ensemble, which played Saturday at Bay Memorial Hall. Infusing a crazed kind of energy into Spanish melodies, North African modes and Latin rhythms, Minafra freed the music from most constraints, including rhythm, harmony and coherence. Songs were dedicated to the south Italian people and to Federico Fellini.

At the other end of the spectrum was the Danish Radio Jazz Orchestra, the official band of Danish national radio, which presented an hourlong orchestral piece Sunday at Kannai Hall. The piece was extremely well-composed and executed with precision, but left only brief pockets to improvise and even less to swing. But how many other jazz orchestras feature a harp?

While most of the groups reveled in stretching the genre's limits, many listeners were also happy to sink into the familiar comfort of the many Japanese bands who work in traditional jazz styles. Standards-loving Fumio Karashima worked through ballads such as "Autumn Leaves" and "You'd Be So Nice to Come Home To," his piano style solid and unashamedly mainstream. The heavy bop of drummer Takeo Moriyama's quartet, with its crashing McCoy Tyner-like piano base, played in two speeds only -- fast and faster -- with the quartet breathing heavily after each tune. The guitar trio of Sadanori Nakamure showed how much the lessons of cool '60s guitar style have been thoroughly assimilated.

On top of all this were the many student groups that dotted the sidewalks and corners around the city. Festival organizers from the Yokohama Culture Foundation provided these young jazz-lovers with an outdoor place to play. After carefully writing the names of their groups on specially erected signboards, they launched into performances that betrayed a sense of awe both with the music and themselves. The long lines of aspiring musicians waiting with instruments in hand to rotate center stage for their few minutes to jam on "Night in Tunisia" and other bop standards showed that the future of the international jazz scene needs little encouragement beyond a place to stand and play.