JAZZ REVIEWS : Sommers-Time Fun in Huntington Beach

Joanie Sommers is one of those artists who has such a good time on stage, you can’t help but join in the fun and bask in her glow.

Making her first Orange County appearance in several years Friday at Maxwell’s, Sommers displayed her natural affection for music and performing in putting on a seven-tune opening set that had a number of exhilarating, and moving, moments.

But don’t think for a second that Sommers, who many still remember from her 1962 pop hit, “Johnny Get Angry,” got by on just flash. Though her show might have been a bit flat without her invigorating and ingratiating presence, its success was due mainly to the quality and breadth of her talent.

Sommers proved that she’s a solid all-around singer who has a knack for jazz-influenced renditions. She possessed good time, that feeling for a tune’s beat that keeps her rhythmically on track, and she now and then took liberties with a melody--singing notes that aren’t part of the written tune or stretching tones out longer than you would expect. She made those alterations work.

Backed with elan by bassist Jim De Julio’s trio, Sommers was in fine voice. Her breathy-then-bright alto sounded fresh and perky, just as she looked in her vibrant outfit--an all-white affair from her shoes and stockings right up to her pleated skirt and simple blouse, topped by a turquoise sports jacket.

The artist put forth her infectious demeanor from the very first number, a medium tempo, finger-popping version of “I Love Bein’ Here With You.” As she would throughout the set, Sommers moved around, sometimes turning her side to the audience and closing her eyes, then turning back face-front and looking right at a listener. She often smiled as she sang, and, while holding the mike with her right hand, used her left hand for now-and-then gestures that accented a particular word or phrase.

The performance could have been called spontaneous in that Sommers had not rehearsed with De Julio’s band--Joe Massimino on piano and Jim De Julio Jr. on drums--though this was not all that easily discerned. The Los Angeles-based artist made it further impromptu by dropping in tunes for which she had brought no music.

“It’s Over,” her second selection, was one of these off-the-cuff numbers. Sommers was singing something, anything, to get a good microphone level--she was hard to hear on her opener--and chose the selection, a soft ballad on which Massimino, a top-notch craftsman, provided the sole accompaniment.

Later, she did Bob Haggart’s “What’s New” as a request, and revealed her deep-rooted jazz approach. She would sustain a word while underpinning it with a group of notes in motion, and she closed with a phrase that, instead of the given melody, was a personal and subtle interpretation of it.

Sommers, who also appeared Saturday, brought substantial spirit to her medium and up-tempo renditions, such as a torrid run at Cole Porter’s “So in Love” and a bit too brisk look at “Kiss and Run.” “Goody Goody,” her closer, had plenty of pop and included a few belted-out notes.

The singer gave her heart to her ballads. Songs such as “What’s New” and “Everything Happens to Me” allowed her the emotional room to let out feelings, and she made the lyrics of these tunes believable.

She coupled the latter number with “I Wish You Love,” offering a pair of tunes, as she said in her introduction, “that can make her cry.” “Everything” found Sommers going mostly with mid-range chest tones, where she was at her most intimate, as if she were speaking the tale as well as singing it. But she varied her delivery, going from those foggy notes to harder hit, shiny ones that stood out.

The show began with two instrumentals by De Julio and company. Here the highlight was “All the Things You Are,” where Massimino was impressive, offering dancing double-timed lines that were replete with tunefulness, and De Julio delivered another of his first-rate solos, invariably selecting the most musical notes.