The Chicago singer, returning to the festival for the first time in 12 years, was the top name on the bill and the act everyone wanted to see. That's why on Sunday night, lines extended out the Wangaratta Performing Arts Centre doors and down the street for half a block, long before he was due to take to the stage.

Elling didn't disappoint. He came with a reputation as the greatest jazz singer of recent times and left with that reputation firmly intact; scatting, improvising, "vocalesing" and crooning his way through a jaw-dropping, transfixing set.

It wasn't just Elling that impressed - long-time collaborator Laurence Hobgood was vibrant and intelligent on the piano, while drummer Ulysses Owens was a revelation, particularly with his brushwork.

After catching Elling on Sunday night, most people would have been happy to call that the close of the festival, heading home with Elling's rich, pure voice ringing in their ears. For those who stayed the extra day, the combination of Australian jazz legend James Morrison and National Jazz Award winners James Muller and Phil Stack might have come close to that level of brilliance.

And while that was the end of the festival, the beginning was excellent too, but in different ways. Veteran Mike Nock and his New Quintet kicked off jazz proceedings on Friday night but the place to be was the Blues Marquee.

Diesel's set was a rip-snorter that finished with a blaze of hits, tweaked enough to feel fresh without offending the faithful. It was a subtle reminder of how good Diesel is.

He was followed by blues guitarist Ray Beadle, his Friday night set bolstered by a horn section (featuring former Warrnambool musician Karl Laskowski on sax) that added plenty of soul and funk punch to his sound.

It turned out the Blues Marquee was the only place to get a serious guitar fix as the jazz line-up seemed strangely bereft of big-name jazz guitarists.

Brass players ruled supreme, whether it was Oliver Lake leading his organ quartet, Mark Ginsburg, Andy Sugg, veteran Bernie McGann or the challenging yet intriguing Yuri Honing. On one of the free stages, about a dozen horn players packed onto a small stage with a bassist, guitarist, drummer, vocalist and pianist to comprise ATM15, providing a tantalisingly upbeat cross between Harry Connick Jr and Jamiroquai.

In the Jazz Awards, three trumpeters battled it out for the $8000 top prize, with Melbourne's Eamon McNelis winning.

Another horn-led treat was Sydney band The Dilworths (again featuring Laskowski), who soundtracked the start of the weekend's downpour with a brilliant set on Saturday.

But the two biggest attractions proved to be vocalists - something that's not happened at Wangaratta for a while.

The biggest buzz was around Portugeuse "wordless vocalist" Sara Serpa, whose name was on everybody's lips and whose two shows packed out quickly.

And, of course, there was Elling. Even days later his voice still resounds in my head, clear as spring water. The Wangaratta Jazz Festival has produced many highlights in the four years I've been attending, but Elling and his band were one of the best.