Pop Music Reviews : Paul: Goofy, Gracious, Occasionally Inspired

It’s hard to imagine a more congenial performer than Susan J. Paul. With her goofy smile and gracious wit, the Long Beach native had no trouble Sunday converting into fans those in the audience at At My Place who weren’t entirely overwhelmed by her pleasant, occasionally inspired pastiche of folk, pop and new-age jazz stylings.

Paul’s commanding voice is not unlike that of Rickie Lee Jones, an obvious influence on Paul’s “Human Factor,” the title track of her debut album. But Paul burdened it with an unnecessarily large band prone to useless guitar solos and spotlight-grabbing backing vocals; there were often enough people on the small stage to field a softball team.

Not surprisingly, the best of Paul’s original songs are the few with sparse instrumentation. The provocative “Tie a String” is a slice of Suzanne Vega with plaintively simple, sincere lyrics, while “Don’t Fade Away” featured little accompaniment other than the backup singers’ compelling, whispered refrain of the title phrase.

Paul’s music, which is getting played on “Wave”-type stations, suffers no shortcomings that more experience and/or a good producer can’t fix, and she’s certainly come up with an endearing stage persona to complement it. Paul also plays Friday at the Strand in Redondo Beach.