Every now and then along comes a singing voice that does justice to the grace and natural beauty of the one doing the singing. Such a voice is that of jazz vocalist Elaine Lucia. That this lady who has been endowed with such an abundance of exquisite charm and physical elegance could be granted yet more natural gifts seems grossly unfair to the rest of us mere mortals, yet, Ms. Lucia seems to have received a lot more than her share of talent. She has been blessed with a singing voice to match her gorgeous good looks.
I endured the 60 mile drive to Petaluma this past Sunday to catch her act at SoHo (formerly Zebulon's Lounge) since, just the day before I had heard her do a two-song guest shot at the Petaluma Jazz Festival with Gary Vongensen's jazz trio, at which time I became an instant captive.
She did not disappoint. Alluring at times; boistrous, bouncy and engaging at others. Funny, witty, delicate and eloquent, but always - always - classy and thoroughly professional. And she can sing! Oh my, can she sing!
Appearing with a quartet of unbelievably talented side-men, Jonathan Alford, piano; Pierre Archain, bass; Alan Hall, drums; and special guest, guitarist Gary Vogensen, Elaine brought the packed house to its collective feet, opening with Duke Ellington's I Like the Sunrise, her lead song on her newest CD, A Sonny Day, and she didn't stop until she'd gone through the entire album. Interspersed among a few standards such as Sunny and I Only Have Eyes for You were other, more obscure works which included Bacharach's In the Land of Make Believe and the haunting Bossa Nova-ish Lugar Bonito. She sang Sea Journey, a Chick Corea/Neville Potter composition, and a technically demanding piece with extremely intricate time signatures and harmonic structures. The band handled it flawlessly and Elaine sang it beautifully. Pierre Archain, who may be the most animated bass player these old eyes have ever had the pleasure of watching, seemed to thrive in the complex rhythms, as did drummer Alan Hall, who not only swings with the best of them, but handles the tricky Latin beats with all the deftness one would expect of a seasoned pro. Piano player Jonathan Alford is nothing short of sensational. Incredibly, he played most of this challenging program without the benefit of sheet music, or so it seemed from my vantage point. But either with or without charts, the man was brilliant.
Probably the number one jazz guitarist in this entire musician-rich San Francico Bay Area, at least as far as any I've heard, is Gary Vogensen, performing on this night as a special guest artist, but who, on other occasions, records and leads a trio of his own. Gary was a perfect fit with this outstanding group of musicians. Few guitarists could have adapted with such apparent ease. My guess is that, in order for these guys to have been able to play these almost orchestral arrangements with such exacting precision, they would had to have spent many, many long hours at rehearsal. But without question - such diligence and hard work has paid off big-time. Their performances were superb.
But back to Elaine. At the risk of being accused of indulging in blatant hyperbole, I feel compelled to make some comments on Elaine Lucia's work as a jazz singer: I'll start by saying this gal's got chops. Major chops. There are unmistakable hints of Susannah McCorkle in her work. I'm convinced that Susannah herself, would sing Elaine's songbook in the same way, but probably not any better.
The pre-requisites for good jazz vocalizing can be summed up in just a few words: Range; timbre; breath control; timing; clarity, voicing and phrasing. A lot easier said than done. She possesses all of these qualities in spades. Add to that, a splash of pixie-ish playfulness and a sassy demeanor, with undertones of passion, pathos and pain, mix well, combine with three or four accomplished back-up musicians and it all adds up to a wonderful couple of hours of evening's entertainment.
Elaine's bio and other data can be found by clicking here:
