Susan Krebs Quartet©Glenn A Mitchell

Jazz vocalist Susan Krebs has been presenting jazz with her fine quartet for many years.  July 10th was another comfortable evening at the Crowne Plaza Hotel near L.A. International Airport.  Pianist Rich Eames, bassist Luther Hughes and drummer Jerry Kalaf did the musical honors for many of the tunes that are on Krebs’ CDs and are from the Great American Songbook, plus some well sought-after jazz standards. 

The trio began with two tunes including “I’ve Never Been in Love Before,” a smooth, melodic number that set the pace perfectly. Krebs came onto stage after a nice introduction by Merle Kreibich (who does the regular bookings at Crowne Plaza) and sang “Give Me the Simple Life.”  Her voice is soft, soothing and pleasant to listen to.   Krebs hails from Baltimore, Maryland and spent some early years in New York finding her talents in acting and singing.  She has several strong interests, as her tunes indicate. 

One of her favorites, on the topic of birds, is “Baltimore Oriole” by the great Hoagy Carmichael, a key tune in her newest CD, Jazz Aviary.  She and the group did the pretty tune flawlessly. There was some fine interplay between Eames’ piano and Hughes’ bass work, sharing some rhythm patterns with Kalaf.  “Out of This World” was a highlight.  Eames, who puts a lot of emotion and soul into each of her songs, flavored this piece with Latin flourishes throughout, giving it a lot of coloring while Hughes did a tremendous job soloing in various registers with his gorgeous upright bass.  Kalaf’s drumming was perfect and brilliant on many timed solos and shared break patterns. “The Way You Look Tonight” always wins musically.  Eames played spicy chords while Krebs gave the audience a little bit of dance as well. “Summertime” prevailed as probably the best tune of the night.  Everyone soloed beyond all expectations, closing the set in fantastic order!  The audience applauded many times over for these musicians during the evening. The second set grooved well with Parker’s “Orinthology,” “What Am I Here For” (title tune of her second CD), “Blue Monk,” and closed with “Devil May Care.” 

Gardening is a big plus with Susan Krebs.  I remember seeing her before at another jazz venue when she had her first CD out, Jazz Gardener.   She now has three CDs, all to do with the finer things in life.  See her intuitive website: www.susankrebsmusic.com.  Hers is a novel show, not to be missed.     

Glenn A. Mitchell writes for LA Jazz Scene. This review is reprinted with permission from the August issue.

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