This Is Not Your Usual Batch of Male Vocalists

The genre of jazz vocals has traditionally been dominated by women--from Ella Fitzgerald and Billie Holiday to today’s crop of talented singers that includes Cassandra Wilson, Dianne Reeves, Diana Krall and Jane Monheit.

In recent years, there have been random recordings by male singers--most of those usually provided by Jon Hendricks, Kevin Mahogany or Kurt Elling. This month, however, there’s a rare group of albums from a list of singers that includes none of the above. And, although no boundaries are broken, the overall level of performance is remarkably high, suggesting that this neglected outpost is finally beginning to attract some talented new adventurers.

*** 1/2 Ian Shaw, “Soho Stories,” Milestone. Welsh-born Shaw, 39, describes the dearth of male jazz singers in somewhat more colorful language, noting that when he first considered a career as a vocalist, the field seemed wide open. “There were no geezers around singing jazz,” he says, “no blokes doing it.” But, with or without competition, the qualities of Shaw’s singing are first-rate, deserving of far wider recognition than he has thus far received.

On this latest release, he works with superlative backing--saxophonist Eric Alexander, trumpeter Lew Soloff, guitarist Joe Beck, among others--and an unusually attractive program. A few standards are included, obviously chosen in an effort to avoid overdone material: “Dearly Beloved,” “If You Could See Me Now,” “I Wished on the Moon.” More unusually, Shaw also has numbers rarely heard in a jazz context--Janis Ian’s “Ruby,” Richard Rodney Bennett’s “I Never Went Away,” Hoagy Carmichael’s “How Little We Know,” the late-night ballad “I Keep Going Back to Joe’s” by Marvin Fisher and Jack Segal, and Tom Waits’ “Rainbow Sleeves.”

Good taste in programming doesn’t guarantee anything in performance, of course, so it is what Shaw does with these pieces that makes the album so appealing, from a brisk duet with bassist Chip Jackson on “Comes Love” to the high-speed, bop-drenched “Dearly Beloved” and his solo interpretation (with his own piano accompaniment) of “Rainbow Sleeves.”

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**** Jimmy Scott, “Over the Rainbow,” Milestone. At 76, Scott probably wouldn’t be bothered at all by Shaw’s “geezer” reference. His boyish voice, the result of Kallman’s syndrome, a hereditary hormonal deficiency, has been virtually ageless for decades. Consequently, Scott’s singing--with its high, wailing pitch, quavery vibrato and split phrasing--has always been a special taste. Like a classic, aged Bordeaux wine, its charms can be elusive, for some a gathering of flavors too richly demanding and too emotionally intense.

But the rewards can be extraordinary for those with the patience and the receptivity to allow Scott’s readings to fully unfold through the sometimes glacial pacing of his ballads. He offers dramatically different takes on two of his classic items from the ‘50s--”Everybody’s Somebody’s Fool” and “When Did You Leave Heaven?” But one of the album’s touchstones is a penetrating rendering of “Just Friends,” dripping with emotion, accompanied only by Larry Willis’ piano and Gregoire Maret’s harmonica. The rare rhythmic numbers--especially “If You Only Knew” and “Pennies From Heaven”--as well as a darkly incisive “Strange Fruit” are resonant with memories of Billie Holiday, one of Scott’s acknowledged major influences.

He is marvelously aided throughout by a superb complement of musicians including, in addition to Willis and Maret, guitarist Joe Beck, saxophonist Bob Kindred, bassist George Mraz and drummer Grady Tate. (Scott is scheduled to perform June 12-17 at the Jazz Bakery in Culver City.).

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*** Phillip Manuel, “Love Happened to Me,” MaxJazz. Like Shaw, New Orleans native Manuel has sought out expanded repertoire for a program in which he is backed by such Crescent City stalwarts as Ellis Marsalis, Nicholas Payton, Adonis Rose, Aaron Fletcher and others. Manuel’s pleasant voice, which has the quirky tone of Bob Dorough, the diverse stylistic qualities of Nat King Cole and a driving swing that is all his own, adapts easily to standards such as “If I Were a Bell” and “These Foolish Things,” and finds unexpected jazz qualities in Sting’s “Fragile” and Stevie Wonder’s “I Wish.”

His program is further enhanced by the range of his interpretations--a groove-oriented, foot-tapping view of “Summertime,” a soul-inflected “ ‘Round Midnight” and a gently swinging, sensuous “Just Squeeze Me.”.

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*** Curtis Stigers, “Baby Plays Around,” Concord Jazz. Yes, it’s the same artist whose blue-eyed soul singing on the early ‘90s Top 10 hit “I Wonder Why” sold a ton of records. But Stigers says he has, at heart, always been a lover of jazz--going back to his teenage years in Boise, Idaho, when he occasionally sat in with soul jazz icon Gene Harris. And his high-speed romp through Eddie Jefferson’s vocalese lines for Charlie Parker’s “Billie’s Bounce” and his crisply swinging improvised scatting are the work of a performer coming to the music from a position of skill and understanding.

Stigers sings touchingly on ballads such as “Everything Happens to Me,” “You Are Too Beautiful” and “All the Things You Are,” pieces in which it would have been easy to revert to facile gospel/blues phrasing. To his credit, he stays on the jazz path, choosing to improvisationally honor the meanings, melodies and harmonies of the originals.

In a striking example of synchronicity, Stigers, like Shaw, includes the rarely heard “I Keep Going Back to Joe’s,” known primarily for its association with Nat King Cole. (Stigers will play May 30 at Catalina Bar & Grill in Hollywood.).

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** 1/2 Maurice, “I’ve Never Been In Love Before,” Arbors Jazz. The single-name billing is correct, if a bit difficult to understand other than as a way to create a distinction from his more visible show-biz association. This is actually dancer-choreographer Maurice Hines, brother of Gregory Hines and a member of the dance trio Hines, Hines & Dad, here making his recording debut as a singer.

Hines’ approach to a set devoted to standards has the same qualities Fred Astaire brought to his vocals--a strong feeling for rhythm and excellent phrasing delivered with relatively modest vocal skills. Hines’ accompanists are blessed with occasional solo spots from the likes of Joe Wilder and Jimmy Mitchell. But he is not aided especially well by the intrusive, rhapsodic piano accompaniment style of his arranger-conductor, Frank Owens.