WEEKEND REVIEW : Jazz : Stress Dilutes Impact of Black’s Songs

Frances Black started out her concert Friday night at UCLA’s Schoenberg Hall with a self-described case of nervousness. And, although there were moments when the Irish singer’s more captivating attributes broke through, most of her program was framed with jittery tension.

A prominent member of one of Ireland’s best-known musical families, Black revealed in her debut solo album, “Talk To Me,” a fascinating interface between Irish traditional music and American country music.

Her UCLA program included a number of tunes from the recording that emphasize the connection, notably the appealing “All the Lies That You Told Me.” But even the better songs were damaged by her apparently stress-driven pitch difficulties and a backup group of Irish players who seemed determined to prove they could make it as Nashville session musicians. (They wouldn’t.)

Black’s small, quavery voice--an effective expressive medium in smaller, focused ballads--became especially problematic in the vigorous up-tempos. Those numbers, in particular, worked too hard to force the Irish/country similarities.

The artificial-sounding results underscored the dilemmas that can arise when the linkages between differing musical cultures lean too heavily on mimicry rather than on creative blending.

It wasn’t until a few quiet tunes near concert’s end, when Black stepped briefly away from her efforts at musical fusion, that her emotionally engaging qualities had an opportunity to radiate beyond the clatter of the accompaniment and the nervous stress.