Her turn

Toni Lynn Washington keeps time

by Don Fluckinger

Classy, upbeat, and upscale is how you could define the sound of Toni Lynn Washington, a blues diva who counts Ruth Brown, Dinah Washington, and LaVern Baker among the musicians who inspired her early on during a career that spans more than 40 years. Like those great singers, Washington commands attention and can smoothly transition from a quiet, sensual whisper into a full-bore blues blast in the same line. After fronting other groups like Boston Baked Blues Band and Sister's Love (formed by three ex-Raelettes), she's on her own, performing mostly in New England clubs. Her recordings, though, garner national attention. The folks who hand out the W.C. Handy Awards -- the "Blues Grammies" -- nominated her this year for contemporary female blues artist of the year, her second.

But ask Washington, a receptionist in Boston by day, about her music, and she politely refers to it as her "show business career." She'll also tell you she's no musician because she can't even read music. The fact remains, though, that she is an excellent musician, a singer of formidable talent who can mix up a broad palette of styles within the blues context, from big-band swing to R&B to rock and roll. Her style gravitates toward the polished, soulful strains of Memphis and New Orleans, two towns where jazz and blues fused to create powerful, danceable grooves. Tonight she celebrates the release of her new Tone-Cool CD, It's My Turn Now, at Gilrein's. The same six-piece band who accompany her on the CD will be at the club, providing a smooth backdrop of layered horn harmonies and punchy rhythm to complement her sultry, spirited alto voice.

"I like a variety," she says. "I like the rhythm-and-blues, and I do like the big bands. I have musicians who are rock-oriented, blues-oriented, and some are more jazz-oriented. With the mixture, we came out [on the new album] with a pretty good sound and pretty good grooves."

The anchor of the band is keyboardist Bruce Bears, whose association with Washington began in the late 1980s, when they both were member of the Boston Baked Blues Band. Bears and guitarist Tim Gearan write a lot of original material Washington sings, and Bears handles much of the business end of being a band. It was his tune that became the slow-funk title track for It's My Turn Now, which nicely defines this point in the 60-year-old Washington's show-business career.

"It's a really nice tune," she says. "He put some ideas together. I looked over it, I liked it, changed the words a little bit. In doing so, he put my name on it, that was nice of him. Just the words made me feel that it was what I'm all about -- it is my turn now."

Developing the material for the CD, however, was a group exercise. Tenor sax player and guest soloist Gordon Beadle brought in a tape of tunes he thought suitable; among them was Ashford & Simpson's "I Don't Need No Doctor." Washington liked it and retooled it with the band's tenor sax player Paul Ahlstrand.

"We changed it up a little, put a little funky groove to it," Washington says. "I came up with some ideas for the arrangement [which] I voiced to my horn player. He put it down on paper for me."

The process of recording the album took months, working around everybody's day jobs and family schedules. But all the back-and-forth between Washington, Bears, and the rest of the ensemble was worth it. The band's crisp sound and tight arrangements showcase her strong points, which brings us back to Ruth Brown. While she was growing up in North Carolina, Washington sang in Baptist church choirs. On the radio, she enjoyed the Sinatra and Dinah Washington tunes we know as "standards" today. Her family moved to Boston while she was in her early teens, and she continued to follow the music of popular jazz and blues performers, including Brown, whose thrilling vocals inspired Toni Lynn Washington to launch her own singing career. A watershed moment came when she performed the Brown classic "Mama, He Treats Your Daughter Mean" at a talent show.

"She was pretty, she had a lot of style," Washington says of Brown, whose records from the late '40s and early '50s still resonate youthful energy. "She was very talented. To me, she was one hundred percent. I loved her then, and I love her now. I think she was a role model for a lot of singers in those days."

Washington learned much from Brown's example, which will be evident at the Gilrein's show. On the set list will be a selection of tunes from Ruth Brown's era all the way up to contemporary blues.

"It will be power packed," she says. "Bring your dancing shoes. We've got two very lengthy shows picked out with songs . . . all under the blues umbrella. Usually people at Gilrein's enjoy themselves when we go there. I hope that doesn't change."

Toni Lynn Washington performs at Gilrein's on November 7. For ticket information call 791-2583.