CABARET REVIEW : ROBERTSON’S GOT HER ACT HALF TOGETHER

Good looks and good intentions: Singer Rochelle Robertson’s opening at the Cinegrill Tuesday night was abundant in both qualities. Regrettably, a few equally desirable elements were nowhere to be found.

An effective performer at Tommy Chong’s loony Monday-night happenings-cum-jam sessions in the same room, as well as a hot-ticket item in Parisian nightclubs during a few years recently spent in the French capital, Robertson seemed ready for a solo turn.

But her performance revealed little awareness of the fact that looks and intentions must be supported by planning and rehearsal. The choice of material, for example, was limited to the kind of pieces (“Lullaby of Birdland,” “Honeysuckle Rose,” “I Got It Bad,” “Angel Eyes,” etc.) that unacquainted musicians use as common currency when they first get together.

Although Robertson has an appealingly burry edge to her ballad style and a promising ear for scat singing, the decision to measure herself against such selections--songs that have been thoroughly examined, over and over again, by the finest performers in jazz--inevitably found her still-evolving skills lacking.

More disturbingly, there was little sense that she was in control of the stage. Backed by a stellar quartet including the redoubtable Justo Almario on tenor and soprano saxophones, Frank Zatoli on piano, Octavio Bailly on bass and Alex Acuna on drums, she was too frequently outdazzled by her accompanists--particularly Almario.

Robertson clearly has the looks, the intentions and the skills to develop into a persuasive nightclub performer. But doing so will require better material, a stronger sense of style and, most important, a willingness to dig down and uncover the intensity and the desire to make it all happen.

Robertson continues at the Cinegrill through Saturday.