June 27, 2007

Jazz hopeful sticks to dream
By PAUL HODGINS
The Orange County Register

Andrea Calderwood is consumed by a single goal: to be a singer.

Not an "American Idol" finalist belting torch songs or an opera star with horns on her head. Calderwood, 28, who recently graduated from Cal State Fullerton's music department, wants to be a jazz singer – "an interpreter of the great American songbook," as she put it.

And not just any jazz singer. Calderwood's idol is Ella Fitzgerald. Why? "She's the best jazz vocalist who ever lived. No one can touch her."

Calderwood's graduation concert on May 9 was extraordinary – not only because it was at Steamers Jazz Club and Café, a downtown Fullerton bar better known for jazz heavyweights than student recitals, or because it featured many of Ella's greatest hits, including her breakthrough "A Tisket, A Tasket," performed with a crackerjack big band, its members somehow shoehorned onto Steamers' tiny stage.

What also made the event special was the long and tortuous journey Calderwood took to get to that overcrowded platform.

Growing up, Calderwood always knew what she wanted to be. "I'd listen to my parents' records, and I was always drawn to the jazz singers. It seemed like such a cool thing to do."

Calderwood finished a two-year music program at Mount San Antonio College before transferring to Cal State Long Beach, which has a respected jazz program. But a car accident derailed her studies.

"It happened in Pomona in 2002. A lady ran a red light. Pow! She hit me just right," she said.

Calderwood ended up with a broken pelvis and leg, and for a time was confined to a wheelchair. "I had to drop out and rebuild my body, literally," she said.

After an 18-month recovery, Calderwood enrolled in Cal State Fullerton music's department. She was living in Upland, and Fullerton was a less arduous commute than Long Beach.

But problems quickly developed. The voice faculty at Fullerton is focused on classical music; Calderwood's jazz aspirations weren't exactly welcomed with open arms. "The voice faculty thinks that (jazz) is not a legitimate route to go if you're going to be a professional singer," she said.

Calderwood's voice teacher, Alvin Brightbill, explained the music department's position.

"The styles (of classical and jazz singing) are different, but the technique is not different," he said. "When you listen to great jazz singers, there's the same effortless flow of air, and the voice is full, just like in classical singing."

Brightbill and his colleagues in Fullerton's voice program thought that even if she wanted to be a jazz singer, Calderwood needed to get the benefit of classical training.

When that ultimatum was given, Calderwood briefly considered going back to Cal State Long Beach. "But I had already transferred, and it would have been a huge hassle. I knew if I transferred again my chances of finishing were very slim. I'd have to retake some classes." Calderwood was also aware of the growing gulf of years separating her from the average undergraduate. "This was it for me. I didn't have the energy to go through it again."

Not everybody at Cal State Fullerton opposed Calderwood's plans to major as a jazz singer. Chuck Tumlinson, who directs the music department's jazz studies program, helped smooth the way for her. Thin, pale and bespectacled, Tumlinson looks like an accountant, but he's the real deal – a graduate of the University of North Texas, one of the best schools in the country for jazz musicians.

"She seemed very serious about wanting to do this, and I thought, 'Well, why not?' " Tumlinson said. He and others helped Calderwood design a program that allowed her to take the jazz courses she wanted.

"I took jazz history, theory, composition. I ended up with the equivalent of a music degree in jazz," Calderwood said.

Music theory is especially important for a jazz singer, she said. "If you're going to scat and improvise a lot, you have to understand harmony pretty thoroughly."

And scat she does.

For her graduation "project" at Steamers – it couldn't be called a recital, because her customized program is classified as a B.A., not a bachelor's of music – Calderwood put her skills through their paces, improvising effortlessly with the band. She also showed that she knew how to front an ensemble, telling personal anecdotes and giving thumbnail histories about some of the songs before she sang them. Tall and fair, with long, light brown hair falling over an old-fashioned evening dress, she cut an appropriately striking figure, too.

Calderwood and Tumlinson agree that she has a long road ahead of her before she can perform successfully on the high-end jazz circuit, a small and exclusive coterie of clubs scattered across the country, many of which host famous names almost exclusively.

"Intonation is something she's been working really hard on," Tumlinson said. "She's come a long way, but she still has some work to do." Calderwood is going back to Cal State Long Beach next year to work on her voice and jazz repertoire at the graduate level.

But there's one thing Calderwood has perfected at this early stage of her career: the burning desire to succeed. She said she constantly tries out new material, including a few songs that aren't in Ella's repertoire.

"I'm working on some (Billy) Strayhorn stuff right now and a Leonard Cohen song, believe it or not, and a beautiful song by Dori Caymmi called 'Like a Lover.' I like to do unusual forms."

Calderwood has already endured many hardships to reach her goal – she acknowledged another setback that happened right after the Steamers concert. "I broke up with my boyfriend, Tom. We'd been together for a while, and he was around when I struggled with a lot of things." (He played tenor saxophone in her band.) Calderwood sighed. "I've been through a lot, and I know I have to allow myself to be sad for a while. Then I'll be fine. I'm just singing a lot more slow ballads right now."

Calderwood is never far from her first love. "I'm a waitress at Steamers, so I hear a lot of the best (musicians) in the business. I'm living on Top Ramen noodles, but at least I have live jazz seven nights a week. Hey, if I wasn't doing this I'd probably be starving anyway – I'd be going out every night and spending all my money on jazz clubs."

As she readied herself for another gig at Steamers, Calderwood marveled at the praise and support she'd received at her graduation concert. Her mother and sister were there, the latter with a big bouquet of flowers. The long, narrow room had been crammed with friends and fellow students from Cal State Fullerton.

But there was one conspicuous absence.

"I got an 'A' for the concert, but my voice teacher didn't even come. I assumed that he would go, but I didn't see him. I'm not surprised. I'm not really bummed." She laughed. "I did it! That's what's important."

To see and hear Andrea Calderwood, go to ocregister.com