Jazz Reviews : Prysock Comfortable With Familiar at Birdland West

There’s nothing more comfortable than what’s familiar, and singer Arthur Prysock presented as comfortable a show at Birdland West on Friday night as could be hoped for.

Though his Southland appearances aren’t as frequent as they used to be (he’ll be appearing at Marla’s Memory Lane this weekend), the balladeer Prysock seems a longtime staple on the scene.

In some cases, what Prysock is not recommends him to a wide audience. He is not a jazz singer in the classic sense: He doesn’t scat, and he takes few melodic or rhythmic liberties with the standard tunes in his repertoire. He is not a risk-taker, and there’s little challenge to the audience with what he does, which, quite simply, is to sing a handful of tunes with his raspy bass voice.

During his opening set Friday at the Long Beach nightclub, Prysock demanded--and earned--the respect of the nearly full house with an entertaining set that had him swinging respectably on such tunes as “September in the Rain,” “I Could Write a Book” and “If You Were the Only Girl in the World.”

Of course, it was his arms-length list of ballad inclusions that told the Prysock story. His opening “I’ll be Around” was gladly portentous, and his rendition of “When I Fall in Love” was a sheer delight.

With age, Prysock’s voice has lost much of its high-end range, but it hasn’t hurt the dynamism of his delivery. At times, his eyes suggested that he wasn’t going to hit a note; when he did, his eyes suggested comic relief. His phrasing was direct and tidy, his delivery in accordance with the emotional quality of the tune.

Backed by a capable quartet led by his brother, tenor-saxophonist Red Prysock, the singer had his best moments with his closing tune, “Teach Me Tonight.”

The sign of a true professional: End with your best and leave ‘em wanting more.