POP MUSIC REVIEW : Williams and Wilson Evoke Galaxy of Styles

The Orange County Performing Arts Center’s jazz singers series ended Sunday with performances by two singers in varied styles.

The first, Joe Williams, is a storyteller who gets his point across with a rich, meaningful tone. The second, Nancy Wilson, stretches a lyric with range and emotion. Both brought excellent supporting units, and both paid tribute to varied musical influences.

Williams’ set used the blues as a touchstone, but the king-size vocalist also showed his swing chops and a sincere, soothing way with a ballad. He paid tribute to Bessie Smith, Jimmy Rushing, Duke Ellington and his old boss, Count Basie, with a tone as thick as espresso, and just as eye-opening.

While his band loped through the easy walk of Miles Davis’ “All Blues,” Williams, dressed in white on white, went right into his theme, “Everyday I Have the Blues,” throwing in a little “C.C. Rider” for good measure.

From the beginning, it was apparent that he was not afraid to push his voice, regardless of the consequences. This is a guy who likes to sing.

Up-tempo numbers such as “Alright” brought some gravel to his voice. “I Want a Little Girl” found him coming on with an alley cat’s purr and some Basie-brand scat. And Bernard Ighner’s “Same Ol’ Story,” a funky number with a slightly disguised political message, had the Mercedes-Benz set squirming in its seats.

Williams kept the proceedings upbeat, but he was most impressive on ballads, where he displayed a rich tremolo. His melancholy encore, “Here’s to Life,” included a line that seems to sum up his approach: “Give it all you’ve got.”

He seemed to enjoy his backup band as much as the audience did, and he gave the group plenty of credit. Drummer Gerry King moved easily from brushes to sticks on “Everyday,” getting a roll reminiscent of Art Blakey. Bassist Bob Badgley, who played a vertical bass, plucked out crisp tones as clear and deep as those of the vocalist he supported.

Williams’ longtime associate, Norman Simmons, contributed tasteful keyboard work, putting a Basie beat in “Alright, Okay, You Win” and soloing with Ellington-like cool on “I Got It Bad (and That Ain’t Good).”

Wilson’s brief opener, “I Want to Be Happy,” was a jazzy, quick-paced exercise that left her little room for stylistic tricks. This straight-ahead number may have been her best of the night: It was strong, fast and confident.

The rest of her program, a mix of standards and pop-oriented numbers from recent albums, was designed to show off her varied techniques rather than the smooth, sweet tones of her voice.

Wilson likes to build excitement with throaty growls, octave jumps and repeated slides up and down the scale, often with her hands flailing away in front of her face. She has a great sense of dynamics, often moving from whisper to full-blown wail in a single line.

Her trio moved easily from acoustic to electric numbers, with bassist Jeff Littleton showing authority on upright and a heavy thumb on bass guitar. Drummer Roy McCurdy matched the singer’s mood, be it low or loud, and showed pleasing skills with the brushes. Llew Matthews worked both electronic and acoustic keyboards to advantage, using clever runs to spice the singer’s cinnamon tones on a relaxed “Getting to Know You.”

Wilson’s most moving moment was her a cappella treatment of Roy Hamilton’s “Ebb Tide,” a number that demonstrated her strength and range perfectly.

The only drawback was the number of newer pieces that ended with loud, grand upbeat choruses that eventually became indistinguishable from each other. It’s to Wilson’s credit that she did not allow the electric cacophony to bury her voice.

Earlier in the evening, Williams introduced “Embraceable You” as a number that should be remembered “in case singing ever comes back.” With voices like these around, singing will never go away.