Singer Laments the Lack of Club Dates in San Diego

Frustrated by the lack of local club dates for jazz singers, Cath Eckert gave up on clubs last spring and has been making a living doing casuals--parties, weddings, conventions.

She’ll be back in a club for the first time since then when she appears Wednesday evenings, from 5:30 to 9:30 through December, at the U.S. Grant Hotel lounge downtown.

“My main main love is jazz, and I do it whenever I can,” said Eckert. ‘But for a while, I said, ‘Forget it, it’s too much trouble.’ To get a jazz gig, you have to be able to pack the place, and you end up spending all your time mailing out flyers.”

Eckert said opportunities for jazz singers seem to be at an all-time low in San Diego.

“I don’t know what’s happened. You’d think with the popularity of Diane Schuur and other singers that jazz vocalists would be popular. There are some singers out there, but mostly doing R&B;, 1950s and Top 40 stuff.”

At the Grant, Eckert will be singing standards such as Tadd Dameron’s “If You Could See Me Now,” Latin versions of jazz pieces such as “I Concentrate on You” and “Street of Dreams,” plus holiday songs including “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” and “The Christmas Song.” She’ll be joined by husband Chris Conner on bass and Mike Wofford on piano.

“Luv in the Afternoon,” the new album by San Diegans Jeannie and Jimmy Cheatham and the Sweet Baby Blues Band, continues the band’s punchy blend of jazz and blues, but with a special grit: the guitar of guest performer Clarence (Gatemouth) Brown. Brown contributes his bluesy string bends and T-Bone Walker-inspired jazz-blues lines to three songs. The album mixes originals by the Cheathams with blues standards such as “Don’t You Feel My Leg” and “Baby Please Don’t Go.” Jeannie Cheatham’s earthy vocals and swinging piano drive the music.

The music is rock solid, but it doesn’t have the heat of the band’s live performances. For that, you can visit Elario’s later this month, where they close 1990 with a weeklong stay that ends New Year’s Eve. It’s been a busy year for the Cheathams: They appeared at the Blue Note in New York City and guested on the “Today Show” in August, played the Chicago Jazz Festival in September and entertained travelers aboard the S.S. Norway during a jazz cruise to the Virgin Islands. They also made the cover of the September/October issue of “Living Blues” magazine, which contained an article on them by San Diegan Jim Trageser.

John Patitucci, who opens five nights at Elario’s on Wednesday, is equally adept at either electric or acoustic bass. On his new album, “Sketchbook,” for example, Patitucci’s playing ranges from earthy, acoustic bass beneath Michael Brecker’s Coltrane-inspired sax on “ ‘Trane” to a sliding, sensuous sound on six-string electric bass in the funky “Joab.”

Patitucci’s significant break came in 1985, when he was asked by Chick Corea to join the keyboard player’s Elektric Band. He continues to play with Corea while pursuing a solo career.

“Sketchbook” is his third album. Few bassists are worth several minutes of solo time, but Patitucci is one exception. From the difficult upright bass, for example, he wrings rapid-fire lines with the ease of the best electric guitar players, and he matches saxophonists one-on-one, playing speedy melody lines in unison.

As a composer, Patitucci is coming of age. He wrote most of the music on the new album (which rated 4 1/2 stars out of 5 in “Downbeat”), and his tastes run from jazz to funk to Brazilian. At Elario’s, Patitucci will be joined by drummer Vinnie Colaiuta, keyboardist John Beasley and saxophonist Steve Tavaglione.

Beginning Dec. 10, KIFM (98.1) will operate from quarters matching its slick on-air image. After four years in an anonymous stucco building in Kearny Mesa, the station has spent $1.8 million on a 10-year lease, equipment and interior design for a 6,500-square-foot space in the Tishman Hurst Town Centre in La Jolla’s Golden Triangle, visible from Interstate 5.

A black marble floor and a splotch-painted wall that looks like a moody sky greet visitors. Other walls are painted in bright shades of blue and grape, reminiscent of a sixties record store. The new, larger space will accommodate a growing music collection, which station program director Bob O’Connor hopes to increase from 125 CDs to 1,000 in the months ahead. The station also has about 1,000 record albums, especially of straight-ahead jazz not available on CDs. With the popularity of Ron Galon’s Sunday night straight-ahead show, the station plans to expand its straight-ahead collection.

RIFFS: Vocalist Michael Franks kicks off winter’s “Simply Jazz” series at East County Performing Arts Center in El Cajon at 3:30 Sunday afternoon. Tickets are free, given away over the air on KIFM. . . .

Pianist Kenny Barron will be featured on KPBS-TV’s “Club Date” jazz program Saturday night at 8:30, repeating Monday afternoon at 1:30. . . .

Part 5 of the seven-part Miles Davis radio biography airs at 11 a.m. Thursday on KSDS-FM (88.3) and at 2 p.m. Saturday on KPBS-FM (89.5). Part 6 will air on KSDS at 8 p.m. Sunday and again at 11 a.m. Dec. 13. KPBS will play Part 6 at 2 p.m. Dec. 15. Part 5 covers the 1970s and 1980s, including comments from Joe Zawinul, Keith Jarrett and Airto, and musical demonstrations by Lenny White, Jason Miles and Sonny Fortune. . . .

Flutist Holly Hofmann teams up with singer-pianist-guitarist Ronn Satterfield of Checkfield on Friday and Saturday nights at 8 at All That Jazz in Rancho Bernardo. . . .

Guitarist Peter Sprague and vocalist Kevyn Lettau are bound to include a few Brazilian tunes in their sets Friday and Saturday night at 8:30 at Horton Grand Hotel’s palace bar downtown. . . .

Tobacco Road plays vintage jazz at the U.S. Grant Hotel lounge downtown Friday nights, from 6 to 10 through December. . . .

City Rock, the club at Fourth Avenue and E Street downtown, reopens Saturday night with the Brazilian jazz of Sole Mar, which continues Friday and Saturday nights through December.