Friday, Oct. 30, 2009

Jazz singer Kitty Margolis touches on 'Los Banos' issue, pleases crowd

Saturday evening jazz singer Kitty Margolis opened her debut in town by taking on one of the city's more controversial debates.

She sang to the crowd gathered at the Ted Falasco Arts Center about her personal opinion on how Los Baños should be pronounced. She acknowledged some say it with a strong "N" while others use the passive "Y" sound. Margolis - still speaking within a song - determined the best way to pronounce the name is to drop the first three letters to make it easier to understand the true meaning of the name.

But whether Margolis was solving a hotly contested issue, thanking the audience or expressing her likes and dislikes, nearly everything she did a the Ted Falasco Arts Center Saturday night involved music.

Margolis, a Bay Area native, told the audience how she'd perform at Tiki bars when she began her career.

"Now I'm in a church, the trajectory is mind boggling," she quipped about performing at the arts center.

Margolis, who has made five albums -- as she calls them - spent the evening doing covers of other artists such as Carmen McRae with some of her work mixed in.

It was obvious throughout the night that Margolis is a fan of the jazz technique of scatting. She also told the audience she's a "vampaholic," referencing her fondness of two chord endings to songs.

A piano player, bassist and drummer provided most of the musical accompaniment during Margolis' performance, but her husband, Alfonso Montuori, had two dramatic appearances on stage playing saxophone.

Through the years Margolis has performed and recorded with artists such as Lionel Hampton, Eddie Henderson, Herb Ellis, Hank Jones and others. Saturday the audience at the arts center seemed happy that she came to Los Baños and shared what she learned through the years.

Enterprise staff writer Corey Pride can be reached at 388-6563 or by e-mail at cpride@losbanosenterprise.com.