POP MUSIC REVIEWS : Jane Olivor: Still Shy After All These Years

For most of the past decade, Jane Olivor has been a name most often found at the end of “Hey, whatever happened to. . . ?”

In the late ‘70s and early ‘80s, she had a few modest hits--most notably a version of “He’s So Fine” and an Oscar-nominated duet with Johnny Mathis (“The Last Time I Felt Like This”). Then in 1983, she disappeared from the music scene for reasons reportedly ranging from stage fright and her husband’s health (he died of cancer in 1986) to unhappiness with her record contract.

The Jane Olivor who showed up on Saturday at the Cerritos Center for the Performing Arts was a blond, punk-coiffed version with a far bolder stride than in days past. But just beneath the new ear ornaments lurked the Olivor of old--shy, vulnerable and engagingly unsure of herself.

At its best, Olivor’s expressive, sometimes tentative, style lends her ballads a poignancy and joyousness that other singers might miss entirely. “Some Enchanted Evening”--a song without any room for innovation, you might think--was perhaps the highlight of the 70-minute show, precisely because Olivor’s shadings were so intimate and personal.

Lowlights were her theatrical, clenched-fists renditions of programmed show-stoppers such as “One More Ride on the Merry-Go-Round” and “The Big Parade.” Not only was her four-man band pitifully weak accompaniment to these rousers, but Olivor also looked to be trying to convince herself, as much as the audience, of her talent and enthusiasm.

She can relax. The near-capacity crowd of around 1,500 loyal fans didn’t seem to need convincing.