Jazz Reviews : Daddy’s Money Mixes Old, New at Bon Appetit

Daddy’s Money is the cryptic name of a vocal group that has been working around town for the last year or two. Last week at Bon Appetit, a pleasant restaurant in Westwood, the band outnumbered the singers 5 to 3, not always to the advantage of the latter.

Bobbi White, Vicki McClure and Amy Weston blend their voices in a style that harks back to the days of the Andrews Sisters. Backed by Gary Nesteruk on piano, Greg Alper’s high-octane tenor sax, as well as guitar, bass and drums, they opened with “Nobody’s Birthday,” in a pseudo-Motown manner, backed by a heavy soul-funk beat.

Throughout the next hour they vacillated between material that was more or less contemporary (Randy Newman’s “Mama Told Me Not to Come”), old standards (an agreeable solo by White on “Someone to Watch Over Me”) and antiques that married worthless words to medium-rare music (“Ain’t Nobody Here But Us Chickens,” “Hello Central,” “Give Me Dr. Jazz”).

Amy Weston’s sound, the most personal of the three, projected well in “I Ain’t Gonna Let You Break My Heart Again.” The group ended on a quasi-gospel note with “Revelation.”