Singer Allyson Demonstrates a Solid Sense of the Blues

Singer Karrin Allyson displayed a broad array of talents in her opening night set at Catalina Bar & Grill on Wednesday. A warm and amiable performer with a quick wit and some humorous, between-numbers repartee, she worked, for the most part, in an easygoing, relaxed manner, connecting well with a moderate-size, but receptive audience.

The Kansas City-based jazz singer’s rich-textured, distinctive voice combined with an effective storytelling manner to produce some touching ballad work on “Daydream” (the title track on her current Concord album) and “I Didn’t Know About You.” And when she moved to the piano to accompany herself on her own “Sweet Home Cookin’ Man,” she revealed a solid understanding of the blues.

The scat singing for which she is perhaps best known, however, had a somewhat uneven quality. To her credit, Allyson delivered her improvisational phrases with a surging sense of swing and a virtuosic articulation. And some written passages--an up-tempo, boppish romp through “How High the Moon” was a good example--exhibited her capacity for amazingly fast and accurate singing.

But, like so many other scat singers, her lines, despite their briskly swinging qualities, tended to be diatonic rather than harmonic; that is, she leaned toward scale-based, riff-like phrasing within a song’s tonic key rather than the more typical, jazz player’s approach of exploring the chordal intricacies of a song’s harmonies.

Allyson was aided immensely by sensitive, understanding rhythm accompaniment from bassist Tom Warrington and drummer Joe LaBarbera that meticulously underscored her most attractive qualities. But her musical generosity as a performer added an unnecessarily uneven aspect to her set. Too often, she diminished her own presence by sharing the front line spotlight with guitarist Danny Embrey. Not that Embrey didn’t deserve some attention, since he is a solid player, with remarkably fast-fingered abilities. But there were simply too many instances in which Allyson sang an opening chorus, then moved aside and watched while Embrey played long, extended solos.

Those caveats aside, Allyson’s overall future as a jazz singer seems promising. But she needs to take a more commanding step forward, and use her skills to place herself at the front and center of her own performances.

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* Karrin Allyson at Catalina Bar & Grill through Sunday. 1640 N. Cahuenga Blvd., (213) 466-2210. $15 cover tonight, $25 cover Saturday (Valentine’s Day show), $10 cover Sunday, with two-drink minimum.