TV REVIEW : ‘Vaughan’ Is Divinely Done on PBS

“Sarah Vaughan: The Divine One,” to be seen this evening at 9 on KPBS Channel 15 and at 10 on KCET Channel 28, is part of the “American Masters” series and will unquestionably bring it added luster.

Tracing the story of an artist who began as a teen-age band vocalist with Earl Hines but went on to acclaim as the owner of one of this century’s most glorious voices, producers Toby Byron and Richard Saylor and director Matthew Seig manage to avoid most of the traps that too often limit the impact of these musical biographies.

There is an ideal balance between music and conversation, between old black-and-white clips and later color shots in many settings. Instead of mouthing cliches, the speakers (occasionally including Vaughan) have something of value to say. Most eloquent are her pianist, George Gaffney; singer Joe Williams; her long-ago boss, Billy Eckstine; her mother, Ada, and very notably her daughter Paris, who is articulate and analytical.

The picture they draw is that of a brilliant but insecure woman, four times divorced, who never let her weakness for hanging out, boozing and smoking reduce the beauty of her performances. Her offstage manner could be less than divine (“I can out-cuss Popeye the Sailor Man,” she tells Dick Cavett), but musicians loved her because on the road she was like one of the boys.

Here is Sassy at the piano singing “Once in a While”; Sassy in 1950, slim and pretty, singing “Cherokee,” and later in a symphony setting for “Someone to Watch Over Me.” Later comes a duet with Eckstine and, of course, for a heart-rending climax, “Send in the Clowns.”

This riveting hour shows just how Vaughan evolved, visually and vocally; it will leave the viewer with a mixture of joy that this wondrous memento exists and sorrow at the loss of which it reminds us.