Three Ladies Happy to be
Singing Blues at Yoshi's

ONE OF THE advantages of booking your own club is that you can seize an idea and turn it into an event with a minimum of fuss. Since taking over the North Beach institution Jazz at Pearl's last summer, that's exactly what Kim Nalley has been doing, engineering a series of concerts that bring together artists who don't often get to share the same stage.

Among the most satisfying of her recent ventures was Ladies Sing the Blues, a tour de force showcase last November for Nalley, Denise Perrier and Frankye Kelly, three accomplished, confident and crowd-pleasing vocalists. The show was such a success that Yoshi's is bringing the stylish threesome to the East Bay on March 2 and 3.

"It's really empowering when you have three women with that kind of energy onstage together all at once," said Nalley, who is featured at Pearl's most Tuesdays, and often ends up sitting in for a tune or two with headlining performers on other nights. "These are women who have their own careers and busy schedules, so even though we're friends we don't get to see each other perform a lot."

The format is designed to spotlight the artists' distinctive approach to the blues, with each singer performing three songs solo and then coming together as a group for several numbers. They'll be accompanied by the tasty, blues- drenched pianist Tammy Hall, redoubtable bassist Michael Zisman and Kent Bryson, "one of the few drummers who can handle an old-time Bessie Smith blues or a Count Basie-style swing or Albert Collins grinder," Nalley said. "He's a very singer-friendly drummer. All of us agreed that that was the trio. We don't have to worry about the material or using somebody else's accompanist, since we all fight over Tammy, and Michael's a wonderful musician."
--Andrew Gilbert, JAZZ TALK, Contra Costa Times, February 20, 2004