Jazz Review : Annie Ross Cooks at the Bakery

In town for an acting stint on the TV show “WKRP in Cincinnati,” Annie Ross stayed over long enough to remind a capacity crowd Thursday at the Jazz Bakery that singing and songwriting were her first loves.

Still in superb vocal and visual shape, the red-headed, British-born innovator who burst into the front jazz pages in the late ‘50s as a member of Lambert, Hendricks and Ross, seems more at ease than ever with her audience. Displaying her wit as a lyricist, she recalled some of the instrumental records to which she set words: Wardell Gray’s “Twisted,” Art Farmer’s “Farmer’s Market,” and her surrealistic vocalese lyrics to Hampton Hawes’ “Jackie.”

Alternating with the jazz pieces were her readings of Bonfa’s “The Gentle Rain,” Neal Hefti’s “Li’l Darlin’ ” and a wildly vacillating “Bye Bye Blackbird” that began pianissimo and ended triple forte. She even managed to infuse a charming freshness into “Tea for Two.”

Ross is no stranger to the blues: Her version of “Goin’ to Chicago,” which she recorded three decades ago with the Count Basie Band and Joe Williams, mixed humor and blues-drenched drama.

Splendidly accompanied by Tom Garvin on piano, John Heard on bass and Harold Mason on drums, Ross left no doubt that in the area of pure, jazz-inspired singing, she remains the definitive exponent of the genre.