Storied Songs

For singer Dewey Erney, as for so many of us, Frank Sinatra’s death was a major loss.

“He was the giant of giants and I was a huge fan,” said Erney of Sinatra, who died in Los Angeles a week ago at age 82. “He had a beautiful voice and he was the master of phrasing. He set the trend for all of us in that type of bag.”

Erney, who appears tonight at Ca’ del Sole in North Hollywood, said Sinatra’s bag, and his as well, highlighted melody and lyrical content.

“There’s a story in those great old songs, and my hope is that I can get the story across as people listen,” Erney said. “It’s always made me feel good when people tell me they never paid attention to the lyric of a particular song before I sang it to them, and it was as if they were hearing it for the first time.”

Born in Latrobe, Pa., and a longtime resident of Long Beach, Erney has a mellow voice and a deep love of singing but has put providing for his wife and children ahead of an artistic career. He worked at Texaco in Universal City as an accountant for 33 years, retiring last year but remaining on as a part-time consultant. Still, he’s managed to appear steadily as a vocalist--his regular gig is the last Thursday of each month at Steamer’s in Fullerton--and to make recordings. Erney’s third CD, “Time Was” (Resurgent Music), was released in March, and he’s excited.

“To be able to sing these wonderful songs, to be heard on the radio, to have people buy the album, have people come hear me, that’s all quite a thrill,” Erney said. “I definitely don’t take it for granted.”

At Ca’ del Sole, Erney will perform with a single accompanist: the vital pianist Marty Harris. And while he may do such songs off his new album as “My Funny Valentine” and “Day by Day,” there’s a good chance he’ll do them differently.

“When I perform, I like to play to the strength of my partners, and Marty’s strength is the swing,” he said. “So where ‘Day by Day’ on the album is a bossa nova, with Marty, I’ll probably swing it. He pushes me a little bit, which can be good, as I have a tendency to be laid back.”

But not so laid back that he doesn’t instill some peppy juice into his renditions, doing the first chorus fairly straight, then messing around on the second one, “maybe singing the lyrics in a different spot, employ some jazz feeling,” he said. “I think I swing enough so that jazz people like me, and I’m lyrical enough that the people who like Sinatra and Mel Torme, they like me too.”

* Dewey Erney tonight, 7 to 11, at Ca’ del Sole, 4100 N. Cahuenga Blvd., North Hollywood. No cover, no minimum. Call: (818) 985-4669.

Fathers and Sons: Larry Koonse had a good start. His dad, Dave, played guitar with George Shearing, among many others, and the talent was definitely passed on. Larry, also a guitarist and much in demand these days, appears tonight, 9 p.m. to 1:30 a.m., as part of the first-rate L.A. Jazz Quartet (though without Dave) at Jax (339 N. Brand Blvd., Glendale; no cover, no minimum; [818] 500-1604) . . .

Abraham Laboriel Jr. didn’t follow his dad’s footsteps so closely. Abraham Sr. is regarded as a king of contemporary jazz electric bass; Abe Jr. is regarded as a dandy drummer. You can find out why on Sunday (and again May 31), 9 p.m. to 1 a.m., when he plays, along with his father, in a group led by the also-heralded keyboardist Greg Mathieson at the Baked Potato (3787 Cahuenga Blvd., North Hollywood; $10 cover, two-drink minimum; [818] 980-1615).

Sweet Strings: The ace guitarist Mundell Lowe, who recorded with Charlie Parker, is the kind of guy who might play the unusual Bird number, say that fleet “I Got Rhythm” variant known as “Marmaduke.” Lowe is a cooker, and his lines, fluid and supple, command your ear. He makes a welcome stop in the Valley on Tuesday, when he appears with fellow guitarist John Pisano, 8:30 p.m. to midnight, at Papashon (15910 Ventura Blvd., Encino; no cover, no minimum; [818] 783-6664).