Columnist Jerry Fink: Spain still undiscovered

Friday, July 5, 2002 | 8:44 a.m.

Jerry Fink's lounge column appears on Fridays. Reach him at jerry@lasvegassun.com at (702) 259-4058.

Someday, someone in the recording industry will discover April Spain.

When he or she does, those of us who know and appreciate her enormous talent will no longer be able to drop by Fellini's Italian restaurant on West Charleston Boulevard to hear her perform for free.

Spain sings jazz. She sings a lot of other styles as well, but she really sings jazz.

Her four-octave range is totally under her control. She hits low notes and high notes and everything between.

"I once was described as a Barbra Streisand that could scat like Ella Fitzgerald," Spain said.

For the past 3 1/2 years the singer with the warm voice has been providing background music for diners at Fellini's.

"Creating a romantic atmosphere is paying off," Spain said. "People keep coming back and asking for the stuff."

Recently, guitarist Marcel Longwell began sitting in with her, expanding the depth of her sets.

"I found out what a great guitarist he was and we hit it off," she said. "We're not doing any gigs together, but he sits in on some of mine and I sit in on some of his.

"This town is full of musicians who are overtalented and underemployed."

Spain is one of them. She should be doing concerts. People should be paying to hear her renditions of numbers by Cole Porter and Johnny Mercer.

But for now, she is satisfied vocalizing at Fellini's.

Spain's tones are mellow for the diners. She unleashes her vocal chords at other venues, such as during Sunday night jam sessions at Blue Note Las Vegas. Or at Wednesday open-mike nights at Kitchen Cafe.

Spain accompanies herself on keyboards. She plays by ear.

"I can't read charts," she said.

She doesn't have to. Her finely tuned ears have made her a consummate musician.

"I taught myself how to play," Spain said. "As I got better, my ear got stronger. And when your ear gets stronger, you don't want to play the same old tunes. I didn't want to play 'Close to You' anymore -- it was like listening to 'Mary Had a Little Lamb.' You want to play songs with substance and feeling."

That's one of the reasons she likes jazz. It has substance and feeling.

"The wonderful thing about jazz is that it allows you to use your voice as an instrument, and not just a story-telling device," Spain said. "I love all kinds of music, but you can't scat in country."

Country music isn't that far from her roots, however. Spain was born in Texas, growing up in Houston and Dallas until her schoolteacher father got into computers.

"Back then they were the size of rooms," Spain said.

The family moved to the Washington, D.C., area in 1963.

"I was going to be an artist, a fashion illustrator," Spain said.

She went to college for three months, ran out of money and got her first gig as a singer.

It wasn't a far stretch. She comes from a musical family.

"My mother still performs at some retirement homes," Spain said. "My sister is a schooled pianist. I was surrounded by music my whole life -- mostly classical and jazz. I discovered the Top 40 from my peers. I learned to enjoy all kinds of music."

Spain traveled with road bands for several years, as the lead vocalist.

Eventually she ended up in Phoenix, where a voice teacher changed her life.

"He gave me more warmth in my voice," she said.

Spain performed at resorts around Phoenix until she moved to Las Vegas in 1994.

"A bogus contract got me here," she said. "I was working at a couple of jazz clubs, barely making it, when a bass player in Las Vegas said he had a show here about to start called 'Predator's Paradise.' It was supposed to be at the Aladdin. I was supposed to be here Aug. 15. He flashed a six-month contract at $600 a week in front of me, and it was going to be day work."

She came to Las Vegas, but the show didn't.

"I joined a rock 'n' roll band to survive," she said.

Spain says she's like a lot of other musicians in Las Vegas.

"You kind of get stuck here," she said. "I know a lot of people that have come here on a contract thing or for some kind of show. They are promised the sun and moon and the stars but get nothing. That's how it happens to a lot of us."

But Spain is not in a hurry to leave.

"I like Las Vegas for many things," Spain said. "I have built up a base of people who believe in me. I feel like things are going well here."

And there are many fine musicians.

"There are wonderful musicians here who are under-utilized," she said.

For that, she blames taped music.

"This is what Las Vegas has come to," she said. "But I think the pendulum is slowly swinging back."

Meanwhile, Spain will continue to sing her songs and hang out with the real musicians who have carved out a place for themselves in Las Vegas.

"Life's too short to work with untalented people," she said.

And there are none more talented than April Spain.

Lounging around

Australian entertainer David Gilchrist is putting his showmanship on display at the Riviera's Le Bistro Theatre for the next three Monday nights. The performer mixes humor, opera, Broadway and pop music in a fast-paced, sometimes hilarious variety act he hopes will find a permanent home in Las Vegas.

Nick DiNapoli, who usually may be heard at Capozzoli's, will be at the Blue Note Las Vegas through Saturday night, performing his "Totally Tony" tribute to Tony Bennett. Brian Duprey will do "Simply Sinatra" at the Blue Note Monday through Friday, a tribute to Frank Sinatra.

Duprey just finished a gig at Caesars Palace's Galleria Lounge. On July 24 he begins an engagement at the Stratosphere's Top of the World restaurant/lounge. The former pharmaceutical salesman from Rhode Island has been busy since arriving in Las Vegas three months ago.

The Tommy Alvarado Quartet, featuring vocalist Kathy La Mar, will be at Paris Las Vegas' Napoleon's Lounge through July 18. Alvarado, one of the top saxophonists in the country, has performed with singers Joe Cocker and Frankie Valli.

Cabdriver-turned blues musician Mem Shannon will perform Thursday at Boulder Station's Railhead for the weekly Boulder Blues series. The guitarist, vocalist and songwriter drove a cab in New Orleans in the 1980s. In 1990 he formed The Membership. In 1995 Shannon released his CD, "A Cab Driver's Blues," which established him as one of the top blues writers in the country.