JAZZ REVIEW : Marlena Shaw at Vine St.

“Love is a game--ain’t it a shame that we’ve all got to play it,” Marlena Shaw observed during one of her songs Thursday evening at the Vine St. Bar & Grill. As she sang this line, the thought came to mind that in her world, singing is a game, one that she plays with the exuberant spirit that has always helped sustain her.

Though she is capable of serious moments (as was especially noticeable in a touching Benard Ighner song, “Davy,” from an album he helped write for her in 1975), Shaw’s sense of sometimes self-mocking humor never stays under the surface for long.

It was in evidence as she opened with “On the Street Where You Live,” the only pop standard in her set. No respecter of melodies, she has a musician’s improvisational sense, often tossing an extra word or varying the phrases, with results that blend rhythmic invention and effervescent confidence.

Much of her material over the years has been either self-written or closely associated with her. Such relatively unfamiliar works as “Sweet Punkin,” “It Is Love” and “Love Is in Flight” give her a special advantage over some jazz-oriented singers who tend to pack their repertoire with overworked products of yesteryear.

Her other major advantage, still obvious after 20 years as a touring and recording artist, is her visually striking personality. Call it something in the way she moves; whatever it is, it’s handsomely in evidence and she knows just how to use it.

She closed with a traditional blues, “Stormy Monday,” and even here the comedic undertones broke through.

Her accompanists, pianist Larry Farrell, bassist Richard Reid and drummer Roger Larocque, seemed equally at home conveying the jazz message here and the pop rhythms elsewhere. Shaw closes tonight.