Music to Bring Out Voice of the People

Shower singers, take note: You no longer have to wait till the next “Messiah” sing-along to raise your voices with others in song.

This afternoon, as she has one Sunday a month since August, 1992, professional singer and accompanist Judy Wolman will present a public sing-along at the Jazz Bakery in Culver City for men and women of all ages and walks of life whose vocal capabilities run the gamut from first-timers to longtime choir singers.

“Sing! Sing! Sing!” is an outgrowth of a smaller monthly program of the same name that Wolman began conducting in her Manhattan Beach home about five years ago.

She decided to expand because, she said: “It seemed like it was something that wasn’t being done that should be done. There’s a natural musical high that you get from singing. It feels wonderful. Once you’ve sung songs, they become your own--when you hear them again, there’s a greater depth to them. And you get a lot from the other people singing around you. It’s a very powerful, very bonding, warm, comforting social feeling.”

Wolman is a former performer with the Gregg Smith Singers, whose recent credits include the “Jurassic Park” film soundtrack. A mutual friend introduced her to Jazz Bakery owner Ruth Price, who thought the sing-along would be an ideal way to fill a Sunday afternoon slot. The first outing featured the works of composer George Gershwin; subsequent afternoons have spotlighted Rodgers and Hart, Cole Porter, Jerome Kern, and such themes as song standards, love songs for Valentine’s Day, and World War I and II songs in observance of Memorial Day. The music of “Wizard of Oz” composer Harold Arlen will be performed today.

“These songs tap into the universality of human feelings,” Wolman said. “The people who come who are word people relate more to the lyrics. If they’re musical, they tap into that. The songs bring out emotions. They’re kind of beacons of light for our lives.

“The kind of songs we do are so much more sophisticated and satisfying than what Mitch Miller did,” she adds, referring to the old “Sing Along With Mitch” days. “You don’t think of Cole Porter as sing-along music, but everyone loves it. George Gershwin said, ‘This music is for the masses.’ It was very important to him that the music continue long after he was gone.”

At a recent session, Wolman distributed to the audience of about 70, sheets containing the words to 17 songs composed by Kern. On stage were six non-professional singers, down from the customary eight, who had rehearsed the previous day so as to act as informal group leaders.

During the next 90 minutes, the audience listened as Wolman’s brother Roy, a reporter for the Wall Street Journal, introduced each selection, briefly giving its origin and other background information. The audience then became the performers as Wolman, accompanying on piano, put them through their paces, calling out encouragement and singing along. The strong-voiced Price also joined in, singing loudly to help the timid shed inhibitions.

Voices swelled as time passed and confidence grew. Some stumbles or erratic tempos were evident on lesser-known tunes, but familiar songs such as “Can’t Help Loving That Man of Mine” from “Show Boat” evoked spontaneous hand-clapping. When it was over, the audience/singers broke into applause.

“There are a lot of people who love to sing but do not have the nerve to get up on a stage,” Price said. “So this serves a need.”

Not everyone comes to sing, she added, citing a frail elderly woman, brought in by her driver, who mainly listens. Then there are those husbands who show up at their wives’ insistence. “At first they’re grumpy,” she said with a smile, “and then they end up having a good time.”

Most though come to experience a musical high and sense of connection, regardless of talent. “It’s such a large body of people--if you’re not good, that’s OK,” said Melissa Bergstrom, a Hermosa Beach hypnotherapist who is one of Wolman’s on-stage singers. “I brought two men friends who can’t sing, but they sang anyway. . . . We’re multiplying our individual powers as we sing. You don’t have to be great yourself.”

Group singing is highly therapeutic, she added. “It can make a difference behaviorally, to get more comfortable in a group, or in public. And when you sing, you’re throwing your voice louder, singing long lines. That forces you to take deeper breaths, which means you’re getting more oxygen to your lungs and brain, so you feel better.”

The songs can evoke pleasant memories, Bergstrom said, a sentiment echoed by Howard Lewis, another Wolman singer who did the song introductions for the Cole Porter program. “I see smiles on people’s faces when they hear this music again,” said Lewis, the co-owner of a travel agency. “People have also told me they enjoy learning things about the songs.”

The sing-along brings another benefit, he said. “If you go to New York, San Francisco or London, you’ll hear a lot more of this kind of music than you do in Los Angeles. For some reason, it’s not done as much here. So if we can get one new person in the audience who can discover Gershwin, Harold Arlen or the others, it passes on.”

And how did one first-time participant feel about the afternoon?

“I enjoyed it very much,” said Carolyn Rose, a former secretary who sings at retirement homes. “I thought it was nicely informal and fun. The people on stage really were shower singers themselves, as Judy had said, so it made it even more comfortable.

“It’s a comfortable place, a safe place,” she added. “I can do what I love to do here.”

“Sing! Sing! Sing!” takes place from 3:30 to 5 p.m. today (doors open 3 p.m.) at the Jazz Bakery, 3221 Hutchison Ave., Culver City (310) 271-9039. Admission is $10. No reservations. The August “Sing! Sing! Sing!” program will feature the music of George Gershwin. For further information, contact Judy Wolman at (310) 798-2249.