VALLEY WEEKEND : FRIDAY

DON’T SCRATCH IT!

Sherman Oaks resident Steve Tyrell has been a record producer and songwriter since the 1960s, but he has suddenly become a crooner for the movies--his vocals are featured on the soundtrack of the new Steve Martin picture, “Father of the Bride II.” And if his PR people are to be believed, his singing in the film is the result of serendipity.

In 1991, Tyrell produced the end title music for the first “Father of the Bride” film. He recorded a “scratch,” or throwaway, vocal over instrumental tracks of the Jerome Kern/Dorothy Fields pop classic, “The Way You Look Tonight,” to serve as a guide for the musicians.

The original intent was to have Ray Charles or some other well-known singer replace Tyrell’s vocal track. But Tyrell’s vocal was so well received by the producers, movie company execs and test screening audiences, the decision was made to go with Tyrell’s vocal instead in the final cut of the film.

For “Father of the Bride II,” producers Charles Shyer and Nancy Meyers again recruited Tyrell for two more classic songs for the opening and closing titles, “On the Sunny Side of the Street,” by Jimmy McHugh and Dorothy Fields, and “The Simple Life,” by Rube Bloom and Harry Ruby.

“Father of the Bride II” grossed almost $32 million in its first two weeks. Times critic Kevin Thomas called it “bright and shiny as a Christmas ornament” and a likely cause of “holiday season cheer in many a family feeling overdosed on brutality and depravity on the screen.” All three classic songs sung by Tyrell are included on the “Father of the Bride II” soundtrack album.

TUESDAY

BUDDY BUDDY

Jazz/pop legend Buddy Greco will perform Tuesday at the Moonlight Tango Cafe in Sherman Oaks.

Greco emerged as a 19-year-old jazz pianist/arranger/singer with the Benny Goodman band in the late 1940s and early 1950s.

He told jazz critic Leonard Feather of The Times in 1992: “I had to make a choice during the ‘50s to stay with jazz or go commercial. Well, I felt jazz was dying at the time, so I went commercial.” For many jazz purists, such candid statements border on blasphemy. But Greco knows his audience.

Greco recorded over 60 albums during his career and had hits with “The Lady Is a Tramp,” “Around the World,” “Mr. Lonely” and others. In 1964, he was on the bill with the Beatles in a command performance for Queen Elizabeth II.

At Tuesday’s gig, Greco will be playing with the Buddy Childers Big Band. Childers began his career playing trumpet for Stan Kenton and worked with a long list of big bands and top stars including Frank Sinatras Sr. and Jr.

* Buddy Greco and the Buddy Childers Big Band at 7:30 and 9:30 p.m. Tuesday at the Moonlight Tango Cafe, 13730 Ventura Blvd., Sherman Oaks. $13 cover plus a $9.95 minimum. Call (818) 788-2000.

WEDNESDAY

BEST OF BOTH WORLDS

Pianist Milcho Leviev, who will perform Wednesday at the University of Judaism, is a musical straddler.

Although he is primarily known for his jazz work with Billy Cobham, Art Pepper, Eddie Harris, Don Ellis, Gerald Wilson and others, Leviev is a conservatory-trained classical musician who was the musical director of Bulgaria’s Radio and Television Symphony Orchestra before he defected to the United States in 1970. In concert, he blends the elements of his diverse musical footholds.

* Pianist Milcho Leviev at 8 p.m. Wednesday at the University of Judaism, 15600 Mulholland Drive. Tickets are $15 general, $20 preferred. Call (310) 476-9777, ext. 335.