WESTSIDE / VALLEY : 3 Women in Harmony on the Creative Significance of Jazz Singing

“Just call us three chick jazz singers,” said Cathy Segal-Garcia with a characteristically low-pitched giggle.

“But don’t call us gals,” added Stephanie Haynes.

The third “chick jazz singer,” Kate McGarry, was laughing too hard to comment.

Segal-Garcia, Haynes and McGarry--generally acknowledged in the Southland’s jazz community to be among the area’s finest performers--make a rare appearance together Thursday night at the Jazz Studio in Culver City. Different in style and experience (they will only say their ages range from their early 30s to their late 40s), they are united in their belief in the creative significance of jazz singing.

A conversation with the three, in a sunny hotel lobby overlooking the beach at Santa Monica, was loose, spirited and amusing--as improvisationally free-floating as a jazz romp through the chords of “I Got Rhythm.”

“I guess we’re part of a dying breed,” said McGarry, “but I think we’re all happy to be part of it. To me, jazz is a fragile music, and I’m not too optimistic about how it’s going to continue. It would be so easy to lose it. Maybe that’s why we’re all so committed to trying to sustain it in whatever way we can.”

Segal-Garcia, who organized the singers’ joint appearance, nodded in accord. “You bet we are,” she added. “When I was younger, I used to see jazz singing like, ‘Oh, I just want people to feel good--to touch them in their hearts.’ The funny thing is that that’s still my desire, but now it’s a little more matured. It’s not quite as gushy and innocent. What’s important now is to establish that unique kind of communication that you can get with jazz.”

“Right,” said Haynes. “Because jazz absolutely requires that kind of communication between the performer and the audience. You can’t respond to jazz if you’re closed-minded.”

The trio’s definition of jazz singing--a perpetual subject of contention and disagreement among most fans--was unexpectedly precise and to the point.

“I think in our minds, we all have a line where, if you cross it, you’re not a jazz singer anymore,” said Haynes. “It may be a very subjective line, but it’s there.”

“It’s true,” said Segal-Garcia. “There definitely are times when I’ll go into something else--like a show tune sort of style, or something--and I’ll think, ‘Wait a minute, what was that all about? That wasn’t jazz.”’

“It has something to do with your focus,” continued Haynes, “with whether you’re more focused on entertaining than you are on dealing with the music.”

“Right, because jazz singing is all about the way you deal with the music,” said McGarry, whose first album, “Easy to Love,” clearly demonstrates her point. “It’s the way the music is delivered, its rhythmic considerations, its harmonic considerations. To me, a jazz singer is committed to delivering harmonic structure, and, of course, improvisation.”

Segal-Garcia agreed: “Yeah. I heard (composer-keyboardist) Lyle Mays at the Musicians’ Institute recently, and he said that when he improvises, he goes for everything he goes for when he’s composing. And I agree with that. A jazz singer goes for the song the way a composer goes for the composition. It’s like recomposing.”

“But not decomposing,” added Haynes, triggering another round of laughter.

None of the three hesitated to elaborate on good and bad jazz singing. The pluses were fairly predictable:

“Sarah Vaughan forgot the words to some of her songs,” said Haynes, “but it didn’t matter at all. She was a great vocal artist.”

“Carmen McRae never forgets the words,” said McGarry. ‘And she wouldn’t think of even changing a vowel--she’s so precise with her articulation. But I like Shirley Horn, too.”

Somewhat surprisingly, perhaps even to herself, Segal-Garcia said, “I used to like Rosemary Clooney a lot when I was younger, and I’m not even sure if she’s a jazz singer. But her style, in a way, was comparable to Carmen’s, and she’s probably even closer to jazz now than she was a few years ago.”

Negative views were a bit more discreet, but it was obvious that none of the three has heard much to praise in the newer jazz singers.

“Everybody keeps trying to market all the young female singers as the ‘new Sarah,’ ” said McGarry with a frown. “And I just don’t understand why. That kind of marketing, trying to hype somebody into being something that they’re not, will kill the music faster than anything.”

Segal-Garcia has been an active participant in the local jazz scene for a decade and a half. She was born in Boston; her father was a saxophonist and band leader and her mother a singer. After attending the Berklee School of Music (1972-74), she moved to Los Angeles, and has been receiving rave responses from musicians ever since.

“If you closed your eyes,” observed guitarist Larry Koonse, who has frequently worked with Segal-Garcia, “you might think she was a highly evolved horn player.” Her first album is scheduled for release in mid-July.

McGarry also grew up in New England (on Cape Cod), and studied jazz singing at the University of Massachusetts (1981-85). Since relocating to L.A. in the late ‘80s, she has labored at everything from teaching to window-washing to sustain her allegiance to jazz.

Although McGarry is the youngest of the trio, jazz critic Scott Yanow has applauded her ability to “show self-restraint and taste worthy of the most mature jazz singer.”

Haynes is a native Californian. A classically trained flutist, she did not begin singing seriously until she was in her 20s. For the last two decades, she has performed regularly in the Orange County area. “She is the real thing,” said KLON-FM disc jockey Chuck Niles, “a genuine jazz singer.”

Segal-Garcia, McGarry and Haynes will be working at the Jazz Studio with Karen Hammack, piano, Eric von Essen, bass, and Kendall Kaye, drums.

“Kate and Stephanie are real hard to get along with,” said Segal-Garcia, tongue firmly planted in her cheek. “When I asked them about the rhythm section I wanted to use, they just said ‘Great. Go for it.’ ”

If the trio actually did agree that quickly on the merits of a given rhythm section, it was a rare moment, indeed. Few topics engender more controversy among jazz vocalists than the question of the relative excellence of pianists, bassists and drummers.

“Hey, look at it from our point of view,” Haynes said. “A drummer can make or break the whole night. In fact, I’d rather have no drummer at all, if there’s any doubt about how well they’re going to play.”

As if to prove her point, Haynes added that she is in the process of completing a new duo recording with pianist Dave Mackay--and no drummer.

Given their manifest dedication to an art form which is “fragile,” to say the least, one wondered why these talented performers were willing to work so strenuously for so few tangible rewards.

“I don’t know,” said Segal-Garcia. “Maybe we don’t have a lot of choice. Maybe you don’t choose jazz so much as it chooses you.”

“Too true,” Haynes added with a smile. “Jazz singer is not exactly something that usually appears in a list of career options.”

“No, it’s definitely not a career option,” concluded McGarry. “Jazz is a calling. I used to think, ‘I want to do this; I want to do that,’ and that maybe I might just as well have done something other than jazz singing. But now it’s become much more clear than all that. Now I realize that jazz singing is simply what I have to do.”

Cathy Segal-Garcia, Stephanie Haynes and Kate McGarry will perform at the Jazz Studio (a.k.a . the Jazz Bakery), 3221 Hutchinson Ave., Culver City, at 8 p.m. Thursday. Admission is $15. Call: (310) 836-6317.