Alone Together

For many years, appealing jazz singer and vocal teacher Cathy Segal-Garcia has had a darn good run, working regularly at rooms like Ca’ Del Sole in North Hollywood and Steamers Cafe in Fullerton, leading the four-woman vocal ensemble Alone Together and instructing about 100 students.

But she really gets a shot in the arm when she tours in a foreign climate. She and pianist Phil Strange appeared throughout Japan last month promoting their new CD, also titled “Alone Together.”

“Whenever I’m there, there’s serious musical growth,” said the North Hollywood resident, who added that she and Strange spent a lot of their travel time listening to a variety of music. “It’s kind of like going to school, and the influence shows up immediately in my work. Musically speaking, it’s very obvious that something has occurred. I’m singing better, my ears have grown and I take more chances, like letting go of a prescribed route in the song.”

The singer talked about two recent engagements in which the looseness inspired by the Asian trip showed up in her performances.

“At Steamers with [pianist] Tamir Handelman, we made up a song on the spot,” she said. “I asked the audience for three notes and for a rhythm, and I made up lyrics while Tamir came up with the music. Then last Saturday at Ca’ Del Sole with [pianist] Karen Hammack, she and I got into this beautiful flow, where we really locked in together, and I wasn’t singing the melodies in the same way that I usually do.”

Segal-Garcia encores at Ca’ Del Sole on Saturday with pianist Marty Harris, on Tuesday with guitarist Larry Koonse and Jan. 21 and 22 with pianists Handelman and Tom Garvin, respectively. One reason she’s often heard in the room is that she books it, as well.

The vocalist will investigate both classic standards and originals in a jazz-minded manner. She said that working with a single accompanist leads to a profound musical intimacy.

“You’re really free to have this musical conversation with another individual,” she said. “If you want to stutter or stop or change keys or time, it can happen, because you’re really reacting to one person.”

BE THERE

Cathy Segal-Garcia performs Saturday, 8 p.m.-midnight, and Tuesday, 7-11 p.m., at Ca’ Del Sole, 4100 N. Cahuenga Blvd., North Hollywood. No cover, no minimum. Call (818) 985-4669.

Zan Stewart writes about jazz for the Valley Edition. He can be reached at Zansky@AOL.com.