Tender Touch With Classics

The first thing you notice when you hear Sonny Craver sing is how big his splendid voice is, how strong, so that no matter how hard he pushes, the notes never crack, they just swell.

Then there’s his feeling, the considerable warmth and sensitivity he puts into a tune’s lyrics that make the words real. His swing, too, can so charge a song that you can’t help but tap your foot.

Lucky for listeners, Craver, who appears Saturday at Chadney’s in Burbank, has stuck to music. The ex-Count Basie vocalist who appeared in “White Men Can’t Jump” has had his foot in many other doors: He’s been a comedian, a prizefighter, an actor and a record producer. He’s also had what musicians call “day gigs,” such as when he worked as a life insurance salesman.

These days, except for the occasional commercial or part on TV, happily all Craver does is sing. It’s what he really loves.

“I get a feeling down in my toes the minute I walk on stage,” says the jazz-based artist. “The bright lights come on and everything seems to work.”

Interestingly, Craver calls himself an entertainer more than a singer. “I reach out to the people in the audience and let them dictate what I’m going to do,” says the handsome 65-year-old, whose latest album is “Live at the Jazz Bakery” on his own Stanson label.

Craver says he favors the “old songs.” “They have body, they have substance,” he says. “Everybody can relate to a love story.”

Listen to Craver, who hails from Columbus, Ohio, and who has lived in Los Angeles since 1964, and you’ll hear such classic numbers as “The More I See You,” “Teach Me Tonight,” “I’ll Close My Eyes” and “Love Is Here to Stay.” He should know about the last: He’s been happily married to his wife, Melvena, for 26 years.

At Chadney’s, Craver will appear with his trio of two years: Bobby Pierce (keyboards), Richard Simon (bass) and Johnny Kirkwood (drums). He likes the cozy room. “It’s compact. The audience is right in your lap,” says Craver.

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Singing grabbed Craver as a youth in Columbus, when as a preteen he attended movie-stage shows at the RKO Palace Theater. “I saw people like Ted Lewis, Erskine Hawkins, Louis Armstrong,” he recalls. “There was electricity when the curtain went up and people came out wearing beautiful costumes. I said to myself, ‘I gotta be in that light.’ ”

While appearing with trumpeter King Kolax in Chicago in the mid-’50s, in a band that included such soon-to-be-greats as sax men Johnny Griffin and Gene Ammons, Craver learned an invaluable lesson from which he developed his unique style.

“King told me to think like a horn, not a singer,” Craver says. “That way I’d really be able to stay” on top of the band, rather than get swallowed up by its sound. That lesson served him well when he joined Basie for six months in 1963, and again with a subsequent nine-month stint with the wonderful bluesy alto saxophonist Hank Crawford.

Craver has worked all over Southern California. His most recent appearances have been at the Jazz Bakery, New York West, Monteleone’s and the Moonlight Tango Cafe, where he has appeared with big bands led by Pat Longo and Gordon Brisker.

While he’ll never stop singing, Craver also hopes to keep himself in front of the camera. He’s done recent TV commercials for Atlantic Bell and Budweiser, but he’d like a part in a feature. He recalls with glee teaming with fellow singers Jon Hendricks and Bill Henderson in Ron Shelton’s “White Men Can’t Jump.”

“Oh, what an experience,” he says, his eyes beaming. “We worked for about 10 weeks and I enjoyed every minute of it. Those cats don’t ever stop telling jokes and stories.”

Sonny Craver sings on Saturday, 9 p.m. to 1 a.m., at Chadney’s, 3000 W. Olive St., Burbank. No cover, one-drink minimum per show. (818) 843-5333.

Other Songbirds in Flight: Cathy Segal-Garcia, just back from a European sojourn, appears tonight at Chadney’s with a trio featuring pianist Mike Lang. Offering both standards and originals, the vocalist will perform in a refreshing style that she says “stretches things, like not singing the melody all of the time, and using space.” And in Bjlauzezs in Sherman Oaks, Stephanie Haynes, a powerhouse of a jazz singer, works Friday with Jon Mayer’s trio. Information: (818) 789-4583.