Tribute Will Run the Genius of Cole Porter Through a Jazz Filter

“Begin the Beguine.” “Night and Day.” “I Get a Kick Out of You.”

Cole Porter songs hold a special place in the American consciousness. In the canon of what Tony Bennett and other champions of the standard tune call the Great American Songbook, Porter rules as the most sophisticated and elegant of composers, a writer of beautiful, often ambitious melodies and cleverly poetic lyrics. The nature of his work lends itself perfectly to the aspirations of jazz interpreters, and its attractiveness makes it the focus of vocalists everywhere.

So when singers Stephanie Haynes and Dewey Erney gather with bassist Jack Prather, pianist Dick Shreve and drummer Paul Kreibich tonight and again next Monday under the banner of the Great American Music Company to pay a jazz tribute to the late songwriter, they’ve already stacked the deck.

“It’s a blessing for a singer to do Porter’s material,” Erney said. “His ability to make interesting, different melodies, the incredible lyrics that grab your heart. It’s just a thrill to do that kind of material.”

Said Haynes: “Because it’s so sensitively written, it holds up well for the jazz experience. Everywhere you go, you hear Cole Porter being done.”

Prather, something of an involved lyricist himself, sees more than the usual complement of words in Porter’s songs.

“He had an amazing output, with something like 800 songs published. He’s one of only two or three pop songwriters represented in the ‘Oxford Book of American Light Verse.’ I like the clever, comedic songs and the more controversial material like “Love for Sale,” which literally depicts the life of a prostitute. Many of his things were so outrageous that they were never sung on the radio. But he didn’t seem to care. He seemed to write just for himself.”

Prather, Haynes and Erney did their first Porter tribute in 1982 at the now defunct Eric’s in Laguna Beach.

“We were trying to figure out how to get some business into the club and I’d noticed that Jackie [Cain] and Roy [Kral] had been doing Sondheim programs back in New York,” Prather said. “So we started with a tribute to Duke Ellington, using the two singers, three or four horns, and it went pretty well. So we went on from there.”

The group hired Kent Glenn to arrange some of Porter’s songs for strings and horns, and Eric’s was again chosen as the site of the performance.

“We had a cast of thousands,” Haynes joked about the size of the ensemble.

Added Prather: “Sam Most played flute; we spent all our money on the strings. It was so ambitious that it actually cost us to perform.”

Glenn’s arrangements are still the basis of their presentation with the pared-down group, and the three hope that the charts can be completely revived with the full ensemble if the tributes continue to be successful. (The group has also honored Rodgers and Hart, Johnny Mercer and George Gershwin.)

Prather promises that audiences will hear less-familiar Porter tunes as well as time-honored favorites. Erney and Haynes sing alone and together, and there are a few instrumentals thrown in for good measure.

“We all love the music we’ll be performing,” Erney said, “so there will be a special feel to the show, a special emphasis on the lyrics. The audience will definitely feel our respect for the composer.”

* “An Evening With Cole Porter” will be performed by the Great American Music Company at DeMario’s, 17 Monarch Bay Plaza, Dana Point. Tonight and June 19, 6:30 and 8:30 p.m. $7 cover, $10 food-and-drink minimum. Reservations required. (714) 240-9436.