The Voice of Versatility

Bill Cantos is an everything-but-the-kitchen-sink kind of singer.

“I’m jazz meets pop meets Brazilian meets R & B, with a little gospel thrown in for good measure,” he said.

The approach has worked: He has recorded with the likes of singer Kevyn Lettau, bassist John Patitucci, saxophonist Justo Almario and scores of others. “I love to use my voice in different ways,” said Cantos, 33. He also is a solid keyboardist, who earned a master’s degree from the New England Conservatory of Music and has performed or recorded with such notables as saxophonist Kirk Whalum, singer Diane Schuur, guitarists Ricardo Silveira and Jay Graydon and popster El DeBarge.

Even though Cantos said he gets about half of his work strictly as a keyboardist, it seemed clear that singing is his focus.

“I used to be known as a pianist that sang,” he said. “Then I started to put thought and time into my singing.”

Cantos, who appears Sunday (and July 27) at La Ve Lee in Studio City, talked in an interview about some of his favorite vocal activities. “I love scat singing because it really is a very physical thing,” he said. “You open your mouth and it happens, but it’s a serious jazz solo, seriously about music.”

Cantos, a San Diego native who lives in Glendale with his wife, keyboardist Mari Falcone, said it was Brazilian music that first grabbed his musical attention.

“My sister had a ‘Brazil 66’ album when I was 10 and I connected with the songs, which have incredible chord changes and melodies. I’ve been hooked since then,” he said. “Like jazz, Brazilian works its way into everything I do. Even if I’m not doing a Brazilian tune, the influence is there in the way I phrase a lyric, my approach to rhythm.

On stage, Cantos brings his musical loves together, then parcels them out. “I think there’s room for a moment of pure jazz and then, say, a moment of pure pop, if I do them in a way that doesn’t confuse people, in a way that works.”

Cantos is also a songwriter who has had tunes recorded by singers Brenda Russell and Lettau, and keyboardists Ramsey Lewis and Marcos Ariel. At La Ve Lee, Cantos will offer plenty of his originals, such as the bluesy “Settlin’ Down,” the jazz-based “Go ‘Way Moon” and the pop-then-jazz number “Sweet and Lovely,” which is dedicated to Ella Fitzgerald.

Cantos’ latest CD, the first-rate, pop-leaning “Who Are You,” was recorded in Los Angeles but released only in Japan. “I sure would like to get distribution here,” he said. “I go to Japan, do TV interviews, get profiled in magazines, then come back home and it’s like beginning all over.”

* Bill Cantos sings at 9:30 and 11:30 p.m. Sunday at La Ve Lee, 12514 Ventura Blvd., Studio City. Cover charge, $10, two-drink minimum. (818) 980-8158.

Quick Hits: Trumpeter, fluegelhornist and composer Mark Isham, known almost equally for his contemporary jazz instrumentals and his intriguing scores for feature films, works Friday and Saturday, 9 p.m. to 1 a.m., at the Baked Potato (3787 Cahuenga Blvd., North Hollywood; $10 cover, two-drink minimum; (818) 980-1615).

Expect lots of zestful rhythms and cooking Latin grooves when conga drummer Ray Armando digs in 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).