by LORRAINE CARPENTER

"I use the word ‘crooner' kind of guardedly," says singer and jazz historian George Evans. "It has bad overtones because of what it's taken on over the years, but our music really swings. It's definitely not hokey or unsuitably romantic or otherwise tacky or out of date. We're all in the moment, working our tushes off on stage and making music that's very much now."

Toronto's John Alcorn, Montreal's John Labelle and Evans - a Cincinnati-born former Montrealer, now based in Toronto - are the Three Crooners, returning to la Sala Rossa this week for an encore performance, backed by John Sadowy (piano), Adam Over (bass) and Jim Doxas (drums). The popular form of vocal jazz, which made Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra superstars in their day, has experienced a resurgence lately with singers like Michael Bublé luring baby boomers by the ton. But while Bublé, Peter Cincotti and up-and-comer Matt Dusk are all in their 20s, the Three Crooners and other slightly older male vocalists are finally being recognized after years of work under the radar, and often happily removed from the showbiz glitz associated with crooners.

"Bublé is a superb vocalist and an excellent musician who excels at a Vegas style of performance, and if that's what he's good at I'm certainly not going to slam him for it - it's the best Vegas show I've seen, ever," says Evans. "But many of us prefer to work in intimate rooms, singing to smaller audiences, to people who are out with a loved one - or someone that they're hoping will be a loved one - looking for something to encourage that, songs that deal with hopes and dreams, songs with passion rendered with intellect and charm."

Listeners have been lapping up such music for years, jazz and pop standards interpreted by the likes of Diana Krall and Norah Jones but, pre-Bublé, the industry had a double standard.

"The men are out here, we're doing this and we're supported among the musicians in the community. Labelle is quite well known on the Montreal music scene, but does he have record label support? Absolutely not. Whereas a young female artist of the same background, let's say a Coral Egan, will instantly get a deal on their first outing. These aren't sour grapes, not at all, it's simply to say our time has come and we're ready to be heard."

And Evans, who has released four critically lauded albums since 1997, is aiding the crooner community by compiling The Canadian Crooner Collection, to be released this spring by Verve Records, where he's employed as an A&R consultant. The disc features all of the Three Crooners and a dozen more male singers from across the country, a project conceived in the same communal spirit that fuelled the formation of the vocal trio.

"Let's get these wonderful artists I've been competing with all these years, let's get them heard, let's be mutually supportive and band together. I want nothing but good things. I've selected people whose work I admire, whose sound I enjoy, and to include myself as an artist alongside all of these people that I respect so much is great fun, and very satisfying."

At la Sala Rossa on Sunday, Nov. 30,
7:30pm, $12 ($8 for students)

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