YUPPIE-POWERED ROCKET SENDS PIGGEE TO STARDOM

Ella Ruth Piggee is convinced that yuppies are today’s all-time viewers of life through rose-colored glasses.

They turned the ugly Volvo into a status symbol. They made cramped condo living an integral part of the American Dream.

And in just the last year, she says with a satisfied grin, they made her one of the local music scene’s brightest stars, even though she admits her singing is at best mediocre.

Several nights each week, yuppies come out in full force to hear Piggee sing in such upscale nightclubs as the Catamaran in Mission Beach, Humphrey’s on Shelter Island and Anthony’s Harborside on the Embarcadero.

And those lucrative bookings, Piggee said, have all but erased memories of her first four years here in San Diego, when the only clubs that would hire her were out-of-the-way places like the Black Frog in Southeast San Diego and the Crossroads downtown.

“I tell you, when I first started singing I wanted to follow in the footsteps of great jazz singers like Sarah Vaughan and Nina Simone,” said Piggee, 34. “But I realized I didn’t have the voice they did--I couldn’t even come close.

“So I decided I would make do with what I had and make up for my lack of a great voice by getting closer to the audience, just making sure everyone had a good time.

“And for the last year, it’s finally been paying off. I haven’t changed my style at all in the last five years, but all of a sudden everyone’s become more receptive to what I’m doing.”

Not one to take all the credit herself, Piggee speculates that the major reason behind her new-found success on the local nightclub scene is the rapidly growing popularity of the entire pop-jazz genre with which she identifies.

“When I first got here, jazz was considered so far-out that only a very few people would even give it a chance,” Piggee said. “But then came the simplified form of jazz that fuses together traditional jazz with pop and rock ‘n’ roll, and the crowds suddenly got larger and more mainstream.”

Accordingly, Piggee said, she began to update her repertoire of sultry jazz standards to include more contemporary pop hits, such as Stevie Wonder’s “You Are the Sunshine of My Life,” Chaka Khan’s “Through the Fire,” and even Huey Lewis and the News’ “Power of Love.”

And though her singing style--which is equal parts traditional jazz, scat and rhythm-and-blues--hasn’t changed at all since her August, 1980, arrival in San Diego, Piggee’s decision to hop on the pop-jazz bandwagon, coupled with her intimate, audience-oriented approach toward entertaining, caused her popularity to soar higher than she had ever imagined.

This month, she’ll be at Humphrey’s on Sundays and Mondays, Anthony’s Harborside on Tuesdays, and the Catamaran on the first two Wednesdays and the last two Thursdays.

“I’m busy all the time now,” Piggee said. “And there are always new people coming in--and that flatters me, because I’m always pleased when people are happy with my shows.

“I know a lot of performers who spend all day partying and getting ripped, and then when it’s time to work they’re too pooped to put on a good show.

“That’s not fair to the audience. I want people to come back and bring their friends, so I make sure I get plenty of rest each day so I can put on the best show possible. And it really does pay off in the long run.”

Piggee was born and reared in Des Moines and first began singing in junior high school talent shows. She soon graduated to the local nightclub circuit, fronting her own band, but after finishing high school the gigs dried up and she was forced to find a job as a stenographer.

“That didn’t last too long, though,” Piggee said. “My old band had moved to San Diego, and they kept calling me, telling me that there were no good singers out here and I should move west and join them.

“After awhile, I did, and two days after I got here I landed my first nightclub job. But the big surge of interest in pop-jazz hadn’t happened yet, and I spent most of my first four years here playing small clubs with only a handful of people in the audience.

“Then, about a year ago, things began to change, and now those days are behind me--hopefully, for good. I don’t have a family out here, so my audience is my family. And the bigger my family, the better.”

One final note, in response to a question she’s been asked with growing frequency now that she’s a bona fide local star: Yes, “Piggee” is Ella Ruth’s real last name.

“I wouldn’t dare make up something like that,” she deadpanned before breaking into a laugh. “Just go back to Iowa and you’ll see for yourself--there are lots of Piggees back home.”