Jazz singer puts audience at ease
by Murray Charters [Special to the Expositor / Brantford]
About 200 lucky people were invited into George Evans' living room in Brantford on Monday for an evening of musical entertainment.

To be technical about it, the location was the foyer of the Sanderson Centre and the occasion was this month's concert in the Brantford Downtown Jazz Series, but it sure felt like Evans' living room. First, Evans was the consummate host, full of fun stories to share, yet at the same time, genuinely interested in each of us. His warm lively manner and mellow voice would have had our rapt attention even if he hadn't sung a note.

But sing he did, and what a pleasure it was. You could close your eyes and still hear the smile in his voice. You can also hear every word, something that not all singers manage when they are swinging as hard as Evans does.

Clear enunciation is a must with up-tempo pieces like the opening, The Way You Look Tonight. What I relished more was the care Evans took with every syllable in such ballads as The Shadow Of Your Smile. Each part of each word received a different sound from open voice to more nasal, from chest to head tone, from straight to pleasant vibrato. Low register notes even got an appropriate growl here and there, and the whole effect was to paint the song as colourfully as our trees have appeared in recent weeks.

Drop the words in favour of scat, however, and the voice is free to cruise through the song like any jazz instrument, seeking new shapes and sounds to shed new light on the melody and harmony.

Evans indulged in quite a bit of scat singing and I enjoyed his melodic moves and choices here. I just found his approach still a bit tentative and repetitious, with too much use of the same consonants for example. He admitted scat is still a bit new to him, so maybe experience will lead to more exploration and excitement here.

Don't think from this that Evans is new to jazz, however. Born in Cincinnati about 40 years ago, he comes to us after a long apprenticeship in New York, Montréal and now Toronto. His fifth CD was launched at this concert, each of the previous four winning critical acclaim. Judging by the eight pieces from the newest release he performed for us in the first half of the concert, this set of Movie Songs will be another winner.
One reason for the enduring quality of Evans' work is the care of preparation. Not only is the performance highly polished, but Evans can also recount all the details of each song and a few good anecdotes, as well as paying tribute to the many crooners who have preceded him. This sense of history and his own place in it just gives more strength to the entire evening's presentation.

Another strength of his awareness of history is the breadth of his repertoire. While Evans can present a standard, such as Getting Sentimental Over You, with masterful restraint and understatement, he also happily goes out on a limb with several tunes that are not so well known. He knows that he can sell them to us through his own high ability.

One more thing that put everyone at ease was Evans' leadership. He is a former dancer and, like so many dancers, his whole body seems full of music. The son of musicians, he is innately musical, totally comfortable and in control.

Such strong ability makes him a joy to work with, and the Frank DiFelice Quartet that joined him on stage responded with strong yet sensitive accompaniments. Joining Evans as a duet partner, Michael Stuart's mellow tenor saxophone was always tasteful and suited the moment. He has a beautiful tone and knows how to add just a few touches here and there to compliment and never compete.

We heard some really inventive and creative percussion from DiFelice himself, underlining the many talents of this busy man. Can you believe he turned off his snare, dropped his sticks, and used his knuckles, fists and palms to brilliant effect in a captivating My Love Forgive Me? Amazing.

When Dave Field suddenly got thrown his one chance to solo on bass, he dove into it like a man possessed, running up and down that long fingerboard before returning to his usual rich underpinning of the harmonies. Nick Deutsch on piano was always right with Evans no matter how much liberty was being taken. That all of this was accomplished using skeletal charts and just a brief rehearsal proves both what great musicians these four are and what great leadership Evans provided.

It was a fine evening, George Evans. Thanks for inviting us in.

Murray Charters is a Brantford freelance writer, musician, music teacher and music lover.