Basking in the spotlight has never been the way of jazz instrumentalists; they know how much they owe the band. But for jazz vocalists, the opposite tends to be true. Female singers, in particular, tend to be seen as center-stage divas more than an integral part of the group.
Not so with Karrin Allyson. Before the Kansas City native's show at Tokyo's Musashino Swing Hall on May 30, she admitted that she takes on the traditional mantle of singer almost reluctantly. "It's hard for a singer. You can't walk down the street to a club and just sit in as part of the band. You're out front all the time!"
While this might sound like crocodile tears from someone who's earned critical acclaim for several releases and a Grammy nomination for best jazz vocal recording (for last year's "Ballads: Remembering John Coltrane"), it was clear that Allyson takes her role as equal participant seriously. "I don't listen to other singers so much," she confessed. "I'm much more into instrumentalists." The billing for the night's show read, appropriately, "Karrin Allyson Quintet."