WEEKEND REVIEWS : Siegel, Hersch in a Solid Outing

It takes one to know one. Ruth Price, who books the talent at the Jazz Bakery and who is no vocal slouch herself, had the bright idea of hiring Janis Siegel to make a solo appearance Friday and Saturday, backed by pianist Fred Hersch.

When not busy with Manhattan Transfer, Siegel works now and then in tandem with Hersch (they made an album in 1989). What lends special luster to their collaboration is that they avoid treading the well-worn path of tired and predictable standard songs.

A small woman with a voice that is pitch-pipe pure and sure, Siegel clearly was enjoying herself as Hersch provided a sympathetic and sensitive accompaniment. Some of the music (including Hersch’s short solo performance during the second set) had vaguely New Age overtones.

Siegel leans toward such surprising and effective vehicles as Stevie Wonder’s “Make Sure You’re Sure” (from his score for the film “Jungle Fever”) and a song from the Take 6 repertoire, “Gold Mine.” She enjoys a challenge--there are few popular songs with intervals more daunting than “No More,” the old Billie Holiday recording, but she tackled it with incomparable ease.

On the lighter side, there were medleys, for example a trio of tunes with “I” or “me” in the title. Siegel’s jazz sensitivity came to the fore in an old Jimmie Lunceford novelty song, “Rhythm in my Nursery Rhymes,” and in “Jackie,” a tongue-tying vocalese with lyrics by Annie Ross, to a melody line by Hampton Hawes.

The highlight of Hersch’s solo interlude was his version of “If I Should Lose You,” subjected to a slow build-up that began with the melody played one note and one finger at a time. His own original “Heart Song” was an impressionistic piece that left no doubt about his exceptional harmonic and melodic gifts.