Jazz Reviews : Two Young Ellingtons Don’t Match One Duke

The use of a respected and world-renowned name for a career in music is a calculated risk. In the case of a pair of singers from Canada now working in a room over Martoni’s on Cahuenga Boulevard in Hollywood, a triple gamble is involved.

They have called their venue, where they work Fridays and Saturdays, the Ellington Room; they bill themselves as April and Edward Ellington, and inevitably some of the Duke Ellington songbook constitutes a substantial portion of their repertoire.

One might almost infer that they were part of the Duke’s family; however, their talent does not achieve the level that such an assumption could lead the listener to expect.

Visually they are an attractive couple, a brother (in his early 30s) and sister (a few years younger) who, despite obvious nervousness, did their best in trying to deal with “I Got It Bad,” “Mood Indigo” and a few general standards such as “Green Dolphin Street.”

The main problems are their failure to use harmony, a consistently stiff delivery and sagging tempos on the slow tunes. With their good looks and obvious eagerness to succeed, they might benefit from the advice of a vocal coach who could teach them how to relax. As things stand, it is tempting to wonder how much interest they would engender if they were known as, say, April and Edward Johnson, and their place of business the Johnson Room.

They were accompanied by Art Hillery at the piano, John B. Williams playing a bodiless upright bass and Rick Flowers on drums.