Keely Smith plans duet album, performs Saturday at McCallum
Bruce Fessier
Desert Post Weekly
A half century after winning a Grammy and being dubbed “the Queen of Las Vegas,” Keely Smith still doesn’t know what kind of singer she is.
Like late friend and singing partner Frank Sinatra, she accepts the label “saloon singer.” But, it’s been a while since Smith sang in a saloon.
The Palm Springs resident will perform Saturday at the McCallum Theatre, following a group that salutes her old act with her late ex-husband, Louis Prima, called the Jive Aces.
Critics have called Smith a jazz singer since her recording with Prima of “Jump, Jive N’ Wail” jump-started the neo-swing movement after being used on a Gap commercial.
She was nominated for a jazz Grammy in 2001 for her album, “Keely Sings Sinatra.” Her follow-up CD, “Keely Swings Count Basie Style with Strings,” was even more jazz-oriented.
She recorded a slow, sexy version of the Nat King Cole classic, “Unforgettable,” for Harry Connick Jr.’s unreleased “35″ CD in 2002 and decided she’s the same kind of singer he is.
But, while Connick started as a jazz pianist and singing bandleader, he’s become more of a Sinatra-styled rhythmic singer.
“I don’t think you can make a living today – me or Harry – doing jazz,” Smith said at her mid-century modern, family photos-laden Palm Springs home. “We’re not jazz singers. You take a singer who sings like Harry does – and Harry’s a good singer – and the kind of music I sing, and it’s not jazz to me.”
Smith thinks of jazz vocalists as scat singers – disciples of Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald.
Smith doesn’t scat, but she doesn’t sing a song the same way twice, and, like Fitzgerald, she has beautiful legato phrasing. She can modulate seamlessly and pluck a note out of progression without an instrumental prompt.
In other words, she can conceive a vocal interpretation and improvise creative phrases – like Sinatra.
“I don’t understand it,” she says of the jazz criteria. “But, I must admit, I do like having that label.”
Smith is revered by younger singers. Connick is seen on YouTube saying he was “melting” while singing “Unforgettable” with Smith and “it was just an incredible experience.”
Smith’s next project is a duets album and she says she’s already received commitments from Connick, Bette Midler, Willie Nelson, Diana Krall and Steve Tyrell to record with her.
“I like everything about Bette Midler,” she said. “She is one of the nicest, sharpest women I ever met. She’s fantastic on stage. Her show is tremendous. She works hard, and she’s really a wonderful person.
“I like Willie Nelson because he is what he is. When he talks to you, that’s it. I don’t get that from many people, and that’s how I am. I’m a country girl.”
She said she doesn’t know Krall well, but she’s a fan of that jazz singer-pianist and says she might get her husband, Elvis Costello, on the album, too.
“I’ve seen her perform and I love what she does,” Smith said.
“I love that she talks to people. And I believe her. I think she would be nice to sing with.”
She also said she thinks Kid Rock will do a duet with her.
They sang a duet on last year’s Grammy Awards show, and Smith said she found the rap-rock star easy to work with.
Additional Facts
What: Keely Smith in concert with a 32-piece big band led by Dennis Michaels. Opening act, The Jive Aces, will feature Smith’s daughter, Toni Prima, singing Keely’s parts in a tribute to the Louis Prima-Keely Smith act that was the rage of the Las Vegas lounges of the 1950s and early ”˜60s.
Where: McCallum Theatre, 73-000 Fred Waring Drive, Palm Desert
When: 8 p.m. Saturday
Tickets: $65-$95
Information: 340-2787
