Last March, I caught singer Karrin Allyson at the Concord Jazz Festival. Afterward, I scribbled on page after page, struggling to describe her tender yet sometimes world-weary voice. The best I came up with is "chilled cigarette smoke." But my lame sobriquet fails to convey how Allyson has more grit in live performance than on records, and that her supple phrasing places her among the best jazz singers around today.
Unlike many contemporary straight-ahead jazz musicians, Allyson isn't retro. She can't be pegged as a discernible hybrid of Singer X plus Singer Y with the enunciation of Singer Z. And though you can hear traces of rock, gospel, and contemporary soul in her work, Allyson is a jazz singer. She does what all great jazz instrumentalists do: She plays to the microphone and sculpts each lyric as if it were possible to translate her subtle bends in pitch and dynamic inflections to a trumpet or a saxophone.
A typical example is Allyson's rendition of "Moanin'" on In Blue (Concord Jazz), which starts with moans. Instead of the predictable, over-the-top gut-wrenching wails, humming unfolds into melismatic near-words. Several measures later she sings, "I'm alone and crying the blues/I am so tired of paying these dues." Most singers would contract "I'm" and "I am," pronouncing them the same way; however Allyson makes both "I'm" and a slightly hurried but nonetheless hushed "I am" distinct. Such careful phrasing strengthens "so tired of paying these dues," elevating the line from merely another item in a litany of complaints to a sharply-focused magnification of misery.
Catch Karrin Allyson Thurs Oct 6–Sat Oct 8 (Jazz Alley, 2033 Sixth Ave, 441-9729), 7:30 and 9:30 pm, also Sun Oct 9 at 6:30 and 8:30 pm, $21.50–$23.50.
