Jan. 08--Tammy McCann's fans -- and they are growing in number -- long have wished there was a spot where the charismatic Chicago singer could be heard weekly.
Not just periodically at festivals, concerts and club dates, but steadily in an engagement of her own, just as singer-pianist Patricia Barber holds Monday nights at the Green Mill or tenor saxophonist Von Freeman, a McCann mentor, played Tuesdays at the New Apartment Lounge.
The New Year, it turns out, brings welcome news, as McCann launches a Thursday-night duet series with admired Chicago guitarist Mike Allemana at Jack's on Halsted, a neighborhood restaurant that is expanding into jazz presentation. Considering the acclaim that McCann has earned from critics coast to coast, the only question is why it has taken so long.
"I've been approached before," says McCann. "It just has to be the right fit -- time-wise, location-wise, and headspace-wise. My head has to be in a space where I'm ready to dedicate time to something that's consistent -- to really shape something."
McCann believes she has found that in the new setting, serendipitously. Last year she played a wedding date at Jack's on Halsted, and owner Drew Johnson couldn't believe what he heard.
"I was just blown away," he says, "and so was everybody else."
Johnson had been thinking of bringing jazz to his establishment, so he hired McCann for New Year's Eve, for the new Thursday-night sessions and to begin curating shows featuring other players on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday evenings.
That was precisely the level of interest McCann had been seeking from a venue where she would consider appearing in weekly, so she made the commitment. The duo with Allemana seemed ideal for the room, she says, and indeed Allemana could be a felicitous partner for her, considering the musical values and training they share. McCann, after all, sat in often at the sessions saxophonist Freeman led at the New Apartment Lounge, on East 75th Street, with Allemana playing guitar.
"We're so similar in the way that we see this music as an extension of American culture," says McCann, referring, of course, to jazz. "One of the things that we both strongly believe in is the university of the bandstand -- that's where we got our education in the business.
"And Vonski was the professor," adds McCann, invoking the nickname widely applied to Freeman.
"All of these people that graduated from the University of Von Freeman, we all have a certain element of how we feel this music could be approached. How this music could be presented."
By that McCann surely refers to the deep swing rhythm, harmonic sophistication and fiercely individualistic expression that marked Freeman's work and that he encouraged in others. Guitarist Allemana similarly believes that his time with Freeman forms the basis of his partnership with McCann.
"All the years that I played with singers with Von gave me this knowledge about how to deal with that. So (McCann) and I have this kind of musical understanding that happens quickly, because we come from similar traditions, as far as our roots.
"She's very locked into the jazz tradition, and she really tries to do her own kind of thing within that. ... She can just go into a tune. She's got a really great jazz feel. She sings ballads really well. She of course has an amazing instrument."
Yes, the nature of McCann's voice -- its enormous size, voluptuous tone and vast range of color -- is the core of her appeal, but there's more to it than that. McCann has matured significantly in recent years, expanding the stylistic and expressive breadth of her work, as she proved last year in her inspired collaboration with pianist Laurence Hobgood on her album "Love Stories."
As for McCann's interest in guitarist Allemana, "The thing about Mike is, number one, there isn't a song that he doesn't know," says the singer. "He has this encyclopedic memory of all these amazing tunes.
"Number two, he's so collaborative. So when he and I play together, it's like a dance. When we ebb and flow with each other through a duet, his rhythmic and percussive approach is so present. He can do so much with that guitar, it's like having an orchestra with you."
The partnership could be a boon for McCann and another example of Allemana's rising profile in Chicago, where he also has been successfully collaborating with octogenarian guitarist George Freeman (Von's brother). Add to this Allemana's studies at the University of Chicago, where he's in his second year of course work for the PhD program in ethnomusicology, and the man clearly does not need a lot of sleep.
Neither he nor McCann will be getting much on Thursday nights, but listeners will be able to hear one of this city's greatest voices joined by one of its most sensitive accompanists.
Also worth hearing
Sheila Jordan: The ageless, 86-year-old singer plays her Chicago venue of choice in the company of an old friend, pianist Steve Kuhn. 9 p.m. Friday and 8 p.m. Saturday at the Green Mill Jazz Club, 4802 N. Broadway; $15; 773-878-5552 or greenmilljazz.com
Maurice Brown: A dynamic and stylistically versatile trumpeter, Brown returns to his hometown with his New York band, which intertwines jazz, pop and hip-hop idioms. 8 p.m. Friday at The Promontory, 5311 S. Lake Park Ave.; $20-$25; 312-801-2100 or promontorychicago.com
Juli Wood and Caroline Davis: The saxophonists lead a tribute to Dexter Gordon and Jackie McLean, joined by pianist Dennis Luxion, bassist Dennis Carroll and drummer Greg Artry. 8 and 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday; 4, 8 and 10 p.m. Sunday; at the Jazz Showcase, 806 S. Plymouth Court; $20-$35; 312-360-0234 or jazzshowcase.com
"Words and Music": Chicago Cabaret Professionals presents the next installment in its Musical Mondays series, featuring Elaine Dame, Elizabeth Doyle, Ester Hana, Claudia Hommel, Bob Moreen, Audrey Morris, Daryl Nitz, Johnny Rodgers and Nick Sula in a show directed by Nitz. 7:30 p.m. Monday at Victory Gardens Biograph Theater, 2433 N. Lincoln Ave.; $30; 773-871-3000 or victorygardens.org
"Portraits in Jazz": Howard Reich's e-book collects his exclusive interviews with Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, Lena Horne, Ella Fitzgerald and others, as well as profiles of early masters such as Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington and Billie Holiday. Get "Portraits in Jazz" at chicagotribune.com/ebooks.
hreich@tribpub.com
Twitter @howardreich
Tammy McCann and Mike Allemana
When: 8 and 9:30 p.m. Thursdays
Where: Jack's on Halsted, 3201 N. Halsted St.
Tickets: No cover; 773-244-9191 or jacksonhalstedchicago.com
