I first heard Kelley Johnson several years ago at Tula's. She was filling in for another jazz singer, Greta Matassa. That night, Matassa arrived in time for the second set and the two sang several numbers together; my ears savored the contrast between two of our burg's best vocalists. Matassa's big-boned set of pipes smartly sassed out lyrics while Johnson's lithe, coltish voice scampered across even the most treacherous, word-sodden phrases with ease.
On her 2004 CD, Live at Birdland (JazzConnect), Johnson does what true singers do, which is transform a so-so tune like Ellington's "Tulip or Turnip" into a worthwhile song. Most competent singers could easily navigate the verse's lackluster litany of "Diamond or doorknob/Sapphire or sawdust/Champagne or just home brew?" Johnson does so without a worry; however, her real feat is selling the toughest part of the chorus, "Do I get the booby prize/Or will I be the hero?/Am I heading for blue skies/Or is my ceiling zero?" Johnson suavely sells those lamentably pedestrian lines with her microscopically hurried syncopation of "am I..." and an emphatic, cadential "ze-ro."
I chatted with Johnson on the phone about her latest disc, Music Is the Magic (Sapphire), and its ambitious tunes like Abbey Lincoln's "Music Is the Magic," the crafty medley "Brother Can You Spare a Dime?/God Bless the Child," and a heart-stopping take on "What the World Needs Now Is Love." At a time when fewer (and briefer) instrumental solos grace jazz albums and ambitious arrangements get simplified in order to be "radio ready," Johnson revels in her fellow musicians: "I can't separate myself from great grooves or great solos; we're all trying to tell the story of the song." CHRISTOPHER DeLAURENTI
Catch the Kelley Johnson Quartet Sat Dec 17 (Tula's, 2214 Second Ave, 443-4221), 8:30 pm, $12.
