Singers Salute Peggy Lee in Song and Celluloid : JAZZ REVIEW

Because tribute concerts are so often bogged down by windy speeches and self-promoting performances, Monday’s salute to Peggy Lee at the Beverly Hilton was a triumphant surprise.

The evening was marked by sheer quality and music. Produced by George Schlatter and staged by the Society of Singers, it was climaxed by the presentation to Lee of the “Ella” Lifetime Achievement Award.

Few of the artists sang more than one number, yet each captured the crowd immediately: Natalie Cole with her stunning rendition of “I’m a Woman”; Ruth Brown bringing “Fever” up to 100 degrees centigrade; the Society of Singers Choir in a superb arrangement by Earl Brown of “The Folks Who Live on the Hill,” introduced as Lee’s favorite song.

Joe Williams, Rosemary Clooney, Jack Jones and the Manhattan Transfer added to the luster. Frank Capp’s Juggernaut band did a flawless job of playing for the singers.

A fascinating sequence, co-produced by Jack Haley Jr., was the series of film clips that showed Lee at every stage of her 50-year career, singing with everyone from Crosby and Sinatra to Bob Hope, Dinah Shore and Lena Horne.

No less intriguing was a segment devoted to “Lady and the Tramp,” in which Walt Disney, on camera, told the story of Lee’s involvement in such detail that he inadvertently explained her David-and-Goliath victory in her lawsuit against Disney. Yet another film clip showed her in the “Pete Kelly’s Blues” role that won her an Oscar nomination.

The live music episode concluded with two nonpareil acts. Singing “I Am in Love,” k.d. lang brought firepower to the impassioned lyrics, following up with a Lee-recorded classic, “Black Coffee.”

Nobody would want to follow lang, yet Cleo Laine did with consummate ease. Backed by a John Dankworth arrangement, she offered her poignant version of the exquisite ballad “When the World Was Young.”

The evening ended with Society of Singers co-chair Ginny Mancini paying homage to Lee and walking to a table in the back to present the award. Lee, after a brief speech that was both touching and amusing, remained seated (she is still essentially wheelchair-bound) and sang “ ‘S Wonderful” followed by a charming tune she wrote with Dick Hazard, “Here’s to You.”