A Schuur thing and all that Jazz

Diva performs songs from sentimental album

By Rob Cullivan

The Gresham Outlook, Aug 13, 2008, Updated Oct 30, 2009

Tacoma, Wash., native Diane Schuur brings her talent to the stage at this year’s Mt. Hood Jazz Festival.

Contributed photo

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As autumn beckons, Diane “Deedles” Schuur notes she’s in her mid-50s and ready to reflect on her life, as is her audience.

“It seems they do like the nostalgic things,” the modern jazz queen says during a phone interview from her Orange County, Calif., home.

Schuur, a two-time Grammy-Award-winner, will come to the Mt. Hood Jazz Festival for a Friday night performance featuring cuts from her latest album, “Some Other Time.”

The record features Schuur’s rich steady voice delivering sentimental tunes, including the title cut popularized by Tony Bennett.

The album features songs by George and Ira Gershwin, Irving Berlin, Sammy Cahn, Rodgers and Hammerstein and more. A special treat is “September in the Rain,” recorded at the Holiday Inn in Tacoma, Wash., Schuur’s hometown, in 1964 when she was only 10.

Schuur says she made the record to continue the musical era loved by her parents’ generation. Such songs as the Irish lament “Danny Boy” evoke memories for her listeners.

“It’s very moving and emotional to a lot of people.”

Schuur will share the stage with a trio, including pianist Randy Porter, who’s played with such luminaries as Freddie Hubbard, Art Farmer, Benny Golson and Charles McPherson.

“He’s a brilliant arranger,” Schuur says. “He’s a brilliant piano-player. The chemistry between him and the other players is really great.”

Schuur has created her fair share of musical chemistry over the years, pairing her pipes with such singers as B. B. King, with whom she recorded the 1994 hit album “Heart to Heart.” She recalls the bluesman with great fondness.

“He just has a very kind spirit, almost a paternal kind of thing, very wise, very patient,” she says.

Schuur says she’s looking forward to singing at the Mt. Hood festival for the fourth time, noting she first performed there in 1983. However, she’s reluctant to say whether there will be any musical surprises.

“I won’t know what the surprises are until we get there,” she says with a chuckle.

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