Shaw Time: Jazz great treats adopted home to free performance

Spencer Patterson

Friday, June 4, 2004 | 9:10 a.m.

Who: Marlena Shaw.

When: 8 p.m. Saturday.

Where: Government Center Ampitheater.

Tickets: Free.

Information: (702) 455-8200.

When Marlena Shaw moved to Las Vegas in 1971, the jazz vocalist assumed the city would provide her with as much work as she could handle.

She quickly discovered that would not be the case.

"When I first moved here I was so excited, thinking I could have a career in the lounges and just kind of stay at home," Shaw said. "But it seemed as though the very year I moved here, the lounges started disappearing and were turned into keno palaces."

Undaunted, Shaw began mounting grueling tours, throughout not only the United States but also to such points beyond as Europe, Japan and India.

Southern Nevada gigs became rare for the New Rochelle, N.Y., native, even as she maintained her primary residence here and became a touring partner of Vegas mainstay Sammy Davis Jr.

"Up until two years ago, I was doing something like 200 days on the road," Shaw, 61, explained. "When you get home you're not really eager to run out and have more hotel or restaurant food and do another show. You want to spend time with your family."

Saturday night locals have an opportunity to witness one of their own in action when Shaw performs at the Clark County Government Center Amphitheater as part of this summer's "Jazz in the Park" series.

Seating begins at 6:30 p.m., with the show slated to start at 8.

Shaw is quite familiar with "Jazz in the Park." Though her area appearances have been rather infrequent over the years, her dedication to the county's free-to-the-public outdoor concert series has remained constant.

Shaw headlined the very first installment in 1990, when the shows were held at Paradise Park. She was also the featured performer on opening night at the Government Center Amphitheater in 1995.

Saturday will mark her seventh "Jazz in the Park" appearance.

"It's a wonderful venue, absolutely beautiful," Shaw said. "The look of it is lovely, with the red building in the background. The sound is wonderful. And the lighting is gorgeous.

"I have pictures from the first time (at the Government Center) with the moon rising up over the bandshell. Oh mercy!"

Shaw expects to see plenty of familiar faces in the crowd, as her family -- which includes five children and seven grandchildren -- celebrates not only her return to "Jazz in the Park" but also one of her granddaughter's birthdays this weekend.

"It's like old-home week," Shaw said. "There's a little heart thing happening when you're among friends. It's different than performing on the road."

Backing Shaw will be a trio of veterans: pianist Clarence McDonald, bassist Jeff Chambers and drummer Quintin Denard. Chambers has performed with the singer on and off for 27 years, and he and McDonald appeared on Shaw's highly regarded 2002 CD, "Live in Tokyo."

Overseas success

To an extent, Saturday's concert will serve as a warm-up for Shaw's next visit to Japan, with the first of 12 shows there slated for July 23.

Shaw said she enjoys going overseas because of the respect audiences have for her in countries like Japan, Scotland and England.

"I think they appreciate your staying power more there," she said. "In the United States, it's a youth kind of thing. It always has been and it's never changed. We want to look at pretty people and we want to hurry up and tear them down so the next group can come along."

Shaw's music has also experienced a recent overseas revival.

Her 1969 rendition of Ashford & Simpson's "California Soul" -- already featured in 2003 film "The Italian Job" -- recently appeared in a London KFC television commercial.

French producer St. Germaine sampled Shaw's "Woman of the Ghetto" on a song titled "Rose Rouge" on his 2000 album, "Tourist."

And in 1996, British electronica act the Blueboy sampled Shaw's "Mushroom Jazz" on a song called "Remember Me."

"I have lots of so-called crossover material, and they've gone back and gotten things I did over the years," Shaw said. "It's been beautiful to think that something you wrote so long ago has such staying power."

Shaw's crossover appeal has been an asset since her early years. She's dabbled not only in jazz, R&B and blues, but also in pop and even disco during a career that has seen her send albums up Billboard's Jazz, Pop, R&B and Contemporary Jazz charts.

That experimentation also made Shaw something of an anomaly to record executives who attempted to label her to help promote her music.

"Definitely they did, and I think in a lot of instances not necessarily to my betterment," she said. "But I think now, the powers that be are saying, 'Well, whatever she is, just put out some more music.' "

Shaw did that this week, releasing her second album for 411 Records, "Lookin' For Love," on Tuesday.

Look for her to perform cuts from that disc, along with some of her most famous material, such as "Go Away Little Boy" and "Mercy, Mercy, Mercy," Saturday night.

Count and Candy Man

Shaw's career unofficially began at age 10, when her trumpet-playing uncle, Jimmy Burgess, took her onstage at New York's famed Apollo Theater in Harlem.

"It was called 'Amateur Night in Harlem' and it was a big competition," Shaw recalled. "I think it was more of a lark for my uncle -- he wanted to go down and do it -- but he couldn't participate because he was a professional. So when they asked me back, I went on by myself.

"It was very scary. They didn't boo me off the stage, but I didn't come in first, either."

Several years later, Shaw caught a big break when legendary big-band leader Count Basie invited her to join his ensemble. They played their first concert together at the Sands Hotel in Las Vegas.

"He was so slick, and I was so green, I didn't even realize how slick he was," Shaw said. "He was a wonderful, wonderful cat. You always knew he was the boss even though he didn't act like it."

Shaw toured on and off with Basie's band for five years, relocating to Vegas permanently during that period.

Then, in 1974, Shaw released an album with a controversial title -- "Who Is This Bitch, Anyway?" -- which attracted the attention of a certain Rat Pack member.

"When that album came out, somebody brought it to Sammy's attention and said, 'You have to listen to this girl,' " Shaw said. "He loved the title, so even before he'd listened to it he said, 'I've got to meet this woman.' "

Shaw joined Davis for concerts in the U.S. and abroad, making her first trip to Japan with the legendary entertainer.

"He would pace and around and growl before going onstage, and one time I asked him about that because I thought he was angry," Shaw said. "And he said, 'You know what, baby girl, I feel like I'm 6 feet tall when I'm doing that kind of pacing.'

"So like all of us he had his own personal things he had to get over. Even though he was 9 feet tall to all of us and had 10 feet of talent, he still had his way of facing the audience."

Eventually, Shaw left Davis' touring group, branching out on her own for good.

"I had a wonderful time with Sammy, but I think if you really want to find your own voice, it's very difficult to be second banana with somebody like Sammy," Shaw said. "Because you really had to learn to be a cheerleader and push your own ego down with him. Two of those kind of egos would never fit in the same room."

After years of heavy touring, Shaw has cut her itinerary back to around 100 shows per year.

She also works with student ensembles at UNLV and at the Las Vegas Academy, performing from time to time with those groups.

This year, she'll celebrate her 40th year as a professional performer.

"I'll have my 40th anniversary (this month)," Shaw said. "I absolutely love performing, and I love the music. So it's comforting and joyous to be able to do something that you like, be paid for it and have people respond."

Best of all, Shaw gets to spend her free time in the city she's called home for more than three decades, through the many stages of her storied career.

"I've visited and worked on some beautiful islands, and all the other countries, et cetera," Shaw said. "But there's no place like Vegas."

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