POP MUSIC REVIEW : Etta James Brings Blues to a Simmer at Coach House

It may seem inappropriate to claim that EttaJames, the raunchy R&B; vocalist famous for bumps, grinds and tough-mama come-ons, is aging gracefully. But compare her recently released “Live From San Francisco” CD, recorded in 1981, to her performance Friday at the Coach House and you’ll find that she is singing more purely, in more attractive tones than she did 14 years ago, and is even more adept at her delivery, risque and not.

James, who turns 57 later this month, hasn’t abandoned her lowbrow, sexy ways. Her suggestive hip swings and hand actions still give her performance a flophouse follies feel. And her voice still has its rough-and-tumble quality. But it is a warmer, more resonant instrument than it was in 1981. At that time, she was just emerging from a period of wrestling with personal and creative demons. As captured on the “San Francisco” CD, her delivery, though moving, was ragged, broken and somewhat nasal.

Friday’s performance found her in better much shape. Her voice has more natural character now. There’s a fine woody resonance that comes across especially well during ballads. And the sheer strength of her sound, always one of her best attributes, has not diminished.

She invited comparisons with the CD from the beginning of the set, opening with Willie Dixon’s “I Just Want to Make Love to You” as she does on the recording. Backed by her tight, seven-piece “Roots Band,” which matched her playful mood, she came across in characteristic style, peppering her act with stylized embellishments, off-color asides and long pauses for dramatic effect.

The show threatened to degenerate into a soft-core romp during her trademark piece, “I’d Rather Go Blind,” as she put the emphasis on visual high-jinks rather than the music. But from there, all the sexy distractions took a back seat to that remarkable voice.

She sang “Damn Your Eyes” in no-nonsense style, adding soft, vowel-filled scat before leading the crowd in a Cab Calloway-inspired call-and-response session. Her Otis Redding medley of “Hard to Handle” and “Just One More Day” was a triumph as both she and guitarist Josh Sklair explored Middle Eastern and Spanish moods during the segue between the numbers.

So relaxed was James with her skills and her band’s abilities that she took requests from the crowd, answering a call for “Tell Mama” with muscle and pinpoint rhythmic stylizing, and another for “At Last” with a hearty yet heartfelt sincerity. “You’ve Changed” was sung in a poignant, intimate style, underscoring that James is as at home with ballads as she is with blues and jump tunes.

The band played with extreme solidarity and all the professionalism of the R&B; tradition. With the singer’s son, Donto James, on drums and cousin Richard Cousins on bass, the rhythm section provided chugging, beat-intensive support. Add guitarist/musical director Sklair and rhythm guitarist Bobby Murray, who took a long, ambling solo during the show’s blues-medley closer, and you had the kind of support James Brown would admire.

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Trombonist Kraig Kilby and trumpeter Ronnie Buttacavoli brought fine brass embellishment, in the style of the J.B. Horns, as well as smart, jazz-influenced improvisations to “Breaking Up Somebody’s Home.” Hammond B-3 organist Dave Matthews was the most demonstrative member of the team, rolling like Ray Charles during his bluesy, chord-splashed solos.

The one number from Friday’s show that compared unfavorably with the 1981 live date was “Born Blue”: It was given a fine reading, but in the recorded version there is more pathos in the singer’s voice, a closer sense of identity with the somber lyric. But that’s understandable. No doubt James--who once again is enjoying the kind of popularity she had when she broke on the scene with “Roll With Me, Henry” in 1955--isn’t dealing with the blues like she used to.