Singer Schuur hitting her jazz roots on new release

By JIM TRAGESER - Staff Writer | Wednesday, March 26, 2008 9:55 AM PDT ∞

There are no pretentions with jazz and pop singer Diane Schuur. When called at a swank New York City hotel where she was staying ahead of an extended gig in town, she answered the phone with a bright, sunny, "This is Deedles."

It's not every A-list musician who introduces herself to a complete stranger by her childhood nickname.

But not every internationally renowned singer had to work as hard or as long as Schuur (who plays Friday night at Anthology in San Diego) did in order to carve out a dependable career in music.

She was 31 before she got her first major label deal ---- ancient for a new artist, even in the early 1980s. But if Schuur was late arriving on the national stage, she'd been laying the groundwork since she was a little girl.

For instance, that 1984 record "Deedles"? Not her first.

"I actually started recording at age 17," she recalled. "I recorded a country record. Daddy wanted me to be a big country-western singer. He was in the country vein, and he loved blues, and Momma was in the jazz world."

That country record, and a couple of other subsequent jazz and pop records, were on small regional labels in the Pacific Northwest. Born in Tacoma, Wash., and raised in Seattle, Schuur was introduced to music with formal lessons at age 7. Within two years, she was a working musician.

"I'd done a bunch of professional gigs starting at age 9," she said. "I'd been at it a while, doing the circuit ---- the Elks Clubs, the Lions Clubs. I used to perform every year at the Lions Club in Auburn, Wash., and I'd get a gift each year instead of getting paid. One year, I got a portable radio, and another year I got a Braille watch."

As to what she sang, she said her early repertoire was composed of "the tunes of the day: 'I Left My Heart' and all of those great tunes. 'Rock-a-Bye Your Baby' and 'Don't Take Your Love,' old, just wonderful standards."

Blind since birth, Schuur can nevertheless read music ---- in Braille notation. She attended the Washington State School for the Blind in Vancouver, Wash., studying music and performing.

But whenever she was home, she was listening to her parents' music collections: her father's country-western, and her mother's jazz. And, of course, the radio.

"I still got to listen to rock 'n' roll ---- Brenda Lee, Elvis, the Beatles ---- but jazz was where my heart was back then and still is now."

Her latest record, just out, is titled "Some Other Time" and is a collection of standards from the American songbook: "Nice Work If You Can Get It," "The Good Life," "My Favorite Things" and "Blue Skies" are among the 13 tracks.

Schuur said the record's focus on the classics of American popular music was an homage to her mother, who died when Schuur was in her early teens.

"It was a celebration of my mother's life; she died over 41 years ago now. I wanted to pay tribute to my mom, who had really exposed me to such a wonderful world of jazz at such a young age."

And she said perhaps this record will serve to mute the sometimes virulent criticism she's received from jazz critics who have accused her of playing more to the pop side of things.

"The jazz police don't like me very much," she said ruefully.

Her supposed lack of jazz purity flies in the face of the fact that it was the great Stan Getz who championed her after hearing her perform at the 1979 Monterey Jazz Festival. She also later performed and recorded with the Count Basie Orchestra, when it was under the leadership of Frank Foster, after Basie's passing.

Asked whether she had ever dreamed of such heights while playing small clubs in the Pacific Northwest in her 20s before her big break arrived, Schuur said, "I had no idea what would happen, but I was hoping for the best.

"And it's definitely come to pass, for sure."

Diane Schuur

When: 7:30 p.m. Friday

Where: Anthology, 1337 India Street, San Diego

Tickts: $16-$39

Info: (619) 595-0300 or anthologysd.com

Web: dianeschuur.com/

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