ICING ON THE CAKE' SINGER DELLA REESE JOINS OTHER GREATS AT JAZZ-ATHON, SAYING 'I REALLY LOVE WHAT I DO'

MOSCOW Thursday night, as the president of the vibes said, was the moment to ''put the icing on the cake.''

The icing came about 21/2 hours into the third evening concert of the Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival. A jubilant Hampton, saying he had a ''mile-high'' stack of her records, greeted Della Reese on the stage at the University of Idaho's Kibbie Dome.

Wearing a loose-flowing, sequined white gown and holding a handkerchief to dab her face, Reese opened her set with a smoky rendition of ''Come Rain or Come Shine.''

After seguing into a Cole Porter medley, Reese proved she is just as much master showwoman as world class singer.

''Some people think about (fame) as a stretch limousine on a regular basis,'' she said.

''Then some think it's chinchilla dragging on the floor at a respectable distance from you.''

Then, she said, others think it's about ''partying all day and all night.''

''And they're all absolutely correct,'' she said.

''I really love what I do,'' she added. ''I know you can't tell 'cause I practice at being cool.''

Before Reese steamed up a rather cool Kibbie Dome with an hour-long set of blues, 12-year-old pianist Adam Platt and 10-year-old drummer Ayinde Watson received two standing ovations from an appreciative crowd.

A proud Hampton repeatedly reminded the crowd of their ages and urged a ''big round of applause'' to the pair, who were helped out by bass player Brian Bromberg.

''How 'bout that?'' Hampton yelled, as ''the juniors,'' whose playing defied their youth, left the stage side-by-side.

In the backdrop of a larger than life mural of a smiling Hampton, the show opened with drummer Elvin Jones, pianist Oliver Jones, guitarist Herb Ellis, Bromberg, clarinetist Paquito D'Rivera, saxophonists Greg Abate and James Moody and, of course, the catalyst of the festival, Hampton.

Lew Soloff warmed up the crowd with a trumpet solo of ''Georgia on My Mind.''