Bending to Pop’s Influences

Singer Rowanne Mark was primed to love jazz: Her dad was a major fan of such artists as Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, Miles Davis and Louis Armstrong. “Until my younger sister got a Beatles record, jazz was the only music allowed in the house,” Mark said. “You could hear the records blaring down the street everyday.”

Mark appears tonight with pianist Cecilia Coleman at Restaurant Kikuya in Huntington Beach. A slim, striking woman who stands just 5 feet tall, Mark pulls a lot of energy out of her small frame; she makes her music come alive. Jazz remains her metier, though tonight she’ll focus on standards and Brazilian numbers, done with a jazz flavor.

The singer was born in San Diego, lives in Seal Beach and has worked mainly, and steadily, in Orange County. She said that in her pursuit of jazz, she has had several good teachers. The first was drummer Norm Scuddy, whom she met in San Diego.

“He told me, ‘Listen to [drummer] Elvin Jones’ time, listen to Bill Evans.’ He explained that you don’t have to hear every beat, that the time can be implied,” Mark said.

Then there was a onetime session with pianist Buddy Motsinger in the mid-’70s. Motsinger, a former accompanist to Billie Holiday, gave Mark sage advice: Less is more.

“He told me to leave spaces, like what was so important, so golden about every note. I have been working on that for 20 years.”

From 1980 to 1992, Mark was married to pianist Marshall Otwell, who was Carmen McRae’s pianist for many years and also accompanied, and taught, his wife.

“From him, I learned about timing, feeling, focus, groove, listening and interacting,” Mark said.

The singer has a solid compatriot in Coleman. The pair often work together, and they have similar tastes. Mark talked about two of her favorite writers: the lyricist Lorenz Hart, who wrote with composer Richard Rodgers, and the Brazilian master Antonio Carlos Jobim.

“Hart’s lyrics are so simple and so deep at the same time,” she said. “Like ‘My Funny Valentine.’ It’s a wonderful combination of emotion, both happy and sad. It’s so rich. Jobim too. All of his happy songs have this bittersweet quality, while his sad songs have a feeling of joy and hope, this feeling of light that uplifts. That’s why I’m always smiling when I sing him, yet he touches me so.

“The best music doesn’t wallow in sentiment,” she continued. “It allows you to come to your own feelings. Art is more about discovery than manipulation.”

Mark mixes performances with a 12-year part-time teaching post at Orange Coast College in Costa Mesa, teaching jazz and pop vocals. Soon she’ll be on the other end of the process: She’s beginning a course of classical vocal study at Cal State Long Beach.

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Starting her career in San Diego in the early ‘70s, Mark, like many vocalists, first sang pop music. Then she got a job at a jazz club called the Art Colony. When she heard the music of Evans and John Coltrane, her response was immediate: “ ‘Oh, wow, this is it,’ ” she said.

A good night--when music, musicians and audience all seem to click--brings out a similar reaction.

“You have this joy,” she said. “It’s like going to Mom’s and all the favorite family is there. It’s a loving thing.”

* Rowanne Mark performs tonight and Aug. 6 at Restaurant Kikuya, 8052 Adams Ave., Huntington Beach. 7:30 p.m. $10 minimum. (714) 536-6665.