Is there a world for jazz singer/songwriters?
Well, judging by the packed house at Feinstein’s Saturday night, Claudia Koval sure thinks so. Performing songs from her recent release (Songs From the Raggedy Road) as well as her first album, Ms. Koval showed that there is room for vocalists beyond The Great American Songbook and rehashed Baby Boomer themes.
Not only could Ms. Koval show that she can pick a lyric, but she can select a band as well. She was backed by some of LA’s finest, anchored by pianist supreme Bill Cantos along with Gary Wicks/b, Dori Amarilio/g, Alex Budman/sax-cl-fl, Steve Hass/dr and Michael Hunter/tp who showed their wares with a sizzling stretch of Stanley Turrentine’s “Sugar.”
Koval herself showed she can deliver the goods on familiar material, getting saucy on “Some Cats Know,” “getting flexibly hip on “Moody’s Mood For Love” and tapping into her inner Lilli Marlene on “Boulevard of Broken Dreams.”
But her strength was her own material, which was perfectly suited to expressively sensitive voice. Her noir torch “Well Ran Dry” with Hunter’s muted horn evoked sonic images of late period Billie Holiday, while she oozed blues on the vaudevillian “Sista’” and let her heart on her sleeve get full exposure on her own “Where Are You.” A spartan duet with Amarilio on acoustic guitar painted a delicate portrait on “Sheri Lynn” while she showed a brighter side of life with her co-composition with Mark Winkler with an LA breeze of “Groovin’ In NoHo.”
Most embracing of all was a gorgeously melancholy duet with Cantos as the two took turns yearning on the warmly agonizing “I Feel You” which couldn’t have been more viscerally touching if it were delivered by Romeo and Juliet. Closing on an upbeat mood, she showed a different color of her vocal prism as she sang a wordless vocal in accompaniment to a joyful and life embracing “Ode To Big Sur” that created moods that made you feel like you were warming your toes at Nepenthe.
Her closing lullaby and prayer for hope on “Dream Flying” was a fitting cherry on top of the rich flavors of emotions that Ms. Koval embraced and shared. Poignant observations of acquaintances and relationships are rarely able to be credible in song form, but on Saturday night, Ms. Koval created a room of believers.
Upcoming events at Feinstein’s include John O’Hurley 09/20-21, Nutty 9/28, Poncho Sanchez 10/04