Sheila Jordan’s Dedication to Her Craft Is Still Paying Dividends

Few jazz singers have devoted themselves to the pure craft of their art with the determination of Sheila Jordan--a devotion, in essence, to the songs themselves, to the never-ending exploration of musical content. A few others come to mind--Betty Carter, Jeanne Lee, Jay Clayton, Irene Kral, sometimes Abbey Lincoln.

But Jordan, more than most, has never wavered in her dedication to the music, unswayed by the blandishments of the pop world. She had a day job for most of her career to support her singing and performed for little pay in small Greenwich Village clubs even after she began getting prominent placement in critics’ and readers’ polls.

She has been so determined, in fact, to maintain an unblemished musical clarity in her singing that a substantial portion of her recordings--dating to the late ‘70s--has showcased her in an extremely spare setting, with only a bassist as accompanist. One of the first such recordings was with Arild Andersen, followed by a string of studio and live dates with Harvey Swartz. Her latest partnership has been with bassist Cameron Brown, an experienced veteran who crosses easily from the avant-garde to the mainstream.

“I’ve Grown Accustomed to the Bass” (*** 1/2, HighNote Records) traces to a 1997 live performance in Belgium. And it captures Jordan in rare form, superbly supported by the precise and swinging bass lines of Cameron. Her voice, nearly four decades after her first recording, has a warm and strikingly youthful quality. Her sense of swing and unerring musicality--especially her intuitive understanding of harmony--are on full display in a collection of songs embracing standards (“The Very Thought of You”), jazz classics (“Dat Dere”), and tributes to Charlie Parker and Charles Mingus. Jordan climaxes her program with “Sheila’s Blues,” a witty, whimsical and nostalgic musical autobiography she has been assembling and transforming over the years. It’s a particularly valuable collection, given the far too rare opportunities to hear Jordan perform live in the Southland.

Kenny Colman is another veteran singer, but one whose stylistic orientation is vastly different from Jordan’s. An opening act for Lenny Bruce in the early ‘60s, he performed on most of the late-night talk shows--Johnny Carson’s included--and has never wavered in his dedication to the brisk, hard-swinging Frank Sinatra approach that is the basis of his style. On “Straight Ahead” (***, Justin Time Records), he is backed by an eight-piece band featuring the soloing of tenor saxophonist Houston Person. Colman’s sound is a bit rougher now than it was in his earlier years, but his well-crafted phrasing--like Sinatra’s--has only become better over the years. The program has its predictable moments--”The Way You Look Tonight,” “There Will Never Be Another You,” “My Funny Valentine”--but Colman compensates with a few offbeat items such as “Why Should I Care” (from Clint Eastwood’s film “True Crime”), “Dream Dancing” and the theme from “Last Tango in Paris.”

Younger singers keep arriving with startling frequency. Carla Helmbrecht has a warm, velvety sound, an easy way with a phrase and some impressive songwriting skills. Her “Be Cool Be Kind” (***, Heart Music) balances a few standards with Helmbrecht originals--appealingly so in the title tune--and the overall mood has a late-night feeling. Occasional solos from saxophonist Ernie Watts contribute some heat, but the stage belongs to Helmbrecht, a singer with considerable potential.

Dena DeRose, like Diana Krall, started out as a jazz pianist. But when operations for carpal tunnel syndrome and arthritis prevented her from playing between the ages of 22 to 25, she turned to singing. It was a good decision. “I Can See Clearly Now” (***, Sharp Nine Records), DeRose’s third album, showcases a singer-musician with an ear for lyrics and the instrumental touch of a classy jazz artist. The interaction between her singing and piano work, in fact, is at the heart of most of the tunes, especially so in her stirring scat singing on “Touch of Your Lips,” in which she sings in unison with her fleet piano lines. Nor does DeRose hesitate to explore songs not necessarily associated with jazz--Edith Piaf’s “If You Love Me,” for one. The material, without exception, is positioned within beautifully framed arrangements (the voice and vibes opening of “What Are You Doing the Rest of Your Life?” is a good example). DeRose needs to be more careful with her pitch, which occasionally slips mildly out of focus, and her voice has not been recorded with the sort of presence one hopes for in a vocal album. But those small caveats aside, this is an artist who deserves to be heard--and often.

Cabaret artists labor in the gray area between jazz, pop and Broadway. LML Music is doing a yeoman job of recording a far-reaching collection of performers, unlimited by stylistic orientation, but joined by their focus upon music that too often eludes the big pop-music market. Four recent releases afford a glimpse of LML’s identification of the boundless aspects of contemporary cabaret.

Babbie Green has been marked by her heritage for most of her career. That’s a plus and a minus: a plus because she clearly has inherited the songwriting brilliance of her father, Johnny Green (composer of “Body and Soul,” “Out of Nowhere” and “I Cover the Waterfront,” among others); a minus because the familial connection has tended to obscure Green’s own superb catalog of songs. “Soldiers of the Heart” (*** 1/2)--a two-CD collection of her songs--is a giant step toward bringing much-deserved visibility to her work. Performed by Green on vocals and piano--with frequent singing accompanists Kirsten Benton and Laurie McIntosh--the 29 songs offer an extraordinary collage of life and love in America around the turning of the new century. It’s a grouping that asks for careful attention and repeated hearing, but one that offers the rewards of experiencing the creative energies of a gifted musical imagination in full flight.

D.C. Anderson has a voice that seems adaptable to every purpose. And his “Blue Summer Day” (***)--a two-CD album, his third for the company--manages to place him in every imaginable musical circumstance. He has an affection for songs filled with offbeat humor and rich irony--some by him, others by such gifted songwriters as Christine Lavin and Cheryl Wheeler. Anderson can sing a standard such as “Second Time Around” with storytelling mastery, and he can deliver new material with the sort of musical understanding that is a delight to songwriters. With 30 tracks, all of them engaging in one way or another, this is a marvelous way to meet one of cabaret’s compelling performers.

There are times when Lee Lessack sounds almost eerily reminiscent of Michael Feinstein. His vibrato is a bit heavier in spots, but the boyish breathlessness is strikingly similar. Even so, on “Too Marvelous for Words: The Songs of Johnny Mercer” (***), in a performance recorded live in July at the Hollywood Roosevelt Cinegrill--Lessack’s warm amiability and insightful interpretive powers lift his performances well beyond the area of imitation. And with Mercer, he has a wondrous array of music from which to choose: from the balladry of “Laura” and “Come Rain or Come Shine” to the whimsy of “The Air-Minded Executive,” “Lazybones” and “Whatcha-Ma-Call-It.” By the time he’s finished, Lessack’s own musical personality has managed to surface--not quite often enough, but impressively so when it does.