All Two the Good : Diane Varga and Buddy Childers Enjoy Putting Their Heads Together on the Standards

One afternoon here earlier this week, promoter-singer Diane Varga and trumpeterBuddy Childers were caught making beautiful music together.

No, it’s not what you think. The two were harmonizing on “Bernie’s Tune” to demonstrate the kind of upbeat be-bop material they did when they began working together as a duo some seven years ago and still enjoy doing today. The two, who describe themselves as the “best of friends,” will join forces with Jim DeJulio’s trio Sunday at Maxwell’s by the Sea in Huntington Beach.

Childers, who plays lead trumpet for Frank Sinatra and is the musical director of Frank Sinatra Jr.’s band, met Varga for the first time 12 years ago. “I was playing with Pat Longo’s band,” Childers said.

Now, even in conversation, the two work as a team. Varga said the first time she saw Childers perform was at Carmelo’s, the now-defunct San Fernando Valley nightspot. “I had heard Buddy on (composer-trumpeter) Russ Garcia’s great “Porgy and Bess” recording--one of my favorites. So I went up to him and said . . . “ Varga paused and turned to Childers: “Who said hello first? Do you remember?”

“We were introduced by Pat’s wife,” Childers responded. “And a little later in the evening, I went right up and started a conversation.”

Continued Varga: “That’s when I said, ‘I’ve been a fan of yours; I really like what you play.’ Anyway, he was going with someone. . . . “

“And you were going to Paris,” Childers added quickly.

But the two later got together over sushi and, as they say, hit it off. Varga introduced Childers to the Bahai faith (a movement that began in Iran in the 19th-Century that emphasizes the spiritual unity of man) and their relationship was cemented. Their first performance together was at a Bahai “fireside,” a gathering for newcomers.

“I made her do it,” Childers said. “She picked some tunes she wanted to sing, and I sat down and wrote out some jazz lines.” Suddenly the two broke into a scat-and-trumpet riff.

Both musicians had long-established careers before they met. Childers’ began at an age that Wynton Marsalis might admire--he joined the Stan Kenton band at age 16 in 1943.

“If I had any brains at all,” said Childers, “I would have stayed home and gotten an education. But as it was, I had read how Harry James was in a name band at 16, (tenor saxophonist) Corky Corcoran was in a name band at 16, Benny Goodman was out there at 14 and Gene Krupa at 16. I felt if I didn’t make it by 16, I was a total loss.”

Childers--noting that “I was 16 but looked like I was going on 14”--recalled asking Kenton for an audition and being surprised when Kenton invited him to a rehearsal. “He stuck me on the lead chair, and I played very well for me that day. Plus being surrounded by guys who all knew the book made it easy.” Six weeks later, Kenton offered him a job.

Childers worked in Kenton’s band on and off for the next 11 years, while also serving time with Benny Carter, Les Brown, Tommy Dorsey, Charlie BarnetCQ and Woody Herman. In the mid-’50s, Childers moved to Los Angeles, where he was kept busy doing session work for the likes of Quincy Jones and Oliver Nelson.

Varga made a similarly early start. She’d had dance training, and producer Donn Arden hired the 15-year-old Varga to dance in a Las Vegas revue. She began singing soon after and traveled with her own act to Australia, where she appeared in nightclubs and on television. When she returned to the United States, she landed a spot with showman Barry Ashton and played Los Angeles, San Francisco and Las Vegas with his revue. In the mid-’50s, she was hired by bandleader Ray Anthony and spent seven years touring with him as well as being a regular on Anthony’s television variety show, which aired during the 1956-57 season.

But just as Varga’s star was on the rise, she came down with a mysterious intestinal ailment that had her in and out of hospitals for the next few years. She gave up singing completely. “My career was about to peak--Broadway shows, record contracts. I wasn’t supposed to live. I was just getting my health back when I met Buddy.”

More recently, Varga has pursued a career as a producer, with credits that include the Queen Mary Jazz Festivals of 1985 and ’86 and the respected jazz series hosted by Los Angeles’ Biltmore Hotel in 1988 and 1989. Currently, she books jazz at Lunaria restaurant in West L.A. and also musicians for special events such as the 1989 ABC-TV “Beverly Hills 75th Anniversary” special.

Varga doesn’t consider herself a jazz singer. “I’m self-effacing in the company of great singers like Ella Fitzgerald and Carmen McRae. I’m more of a singer of lyrics, though my ears have changed since the days with Ray Anthony. I want to bring joy and happiness to my listeners. It’s the communication. I like to take a beautiful song and make it mean something to someone.”

Childers, will be playing fluegelhorn Sunday at Maxwell’s in a repertoire of standards. “If I had my choice,” he asserts, “that’s all I’d ever play for the rest of my life. Unfortunately, I have to make a living, which leaves me playing the trumpet most of the time.”

Varga relishes the chance to perform. “When I get asked to sing, it’s a joy. And this guy’s out there every night,” she said, feigning anger.

“When she gets up there,” Childers countered, “she does just great. She looks great, she sounds great.”

Diane Varga and Buddy Childers perform Sunday at 3, 4:30 and 6 p.m. at Maxwell’s by the Sea, 317 Pacific Coast Highway, Huntington Beach. $4 cover plus $7 food-beverage minimum per show. (714) 536-2555.