Sue Raney

Sue Raney, who came and went in two nights at the Vine St. Bar & Grill, brings together in a single performance the most desirable elements one looks for in a jazz-inclined singer. Guaranteed in any Raney show: overall concept, choice of material, sensitive interpretation and, for good measure, physical beauty. On Tuesday evening, her first performance began and ended in a jazz waltz groove, starting with "How's That for Openers?"

When Sue Raney and Joe Massimino appear tonight at Orange Coast College, the singer and the pianist-bandleader will have only known each other, musically speaking, for about seven hours. Their first rehearsal for the concert takes place today at 1 p.m. Raney admits that she's not completely at ease with the situation. "It should be fun, but there is that anticipation when you work with someone for the first time," she said.

Sue Raney's first recording was a dream date. Called "When Your Lover Has Gone," it featured the singer, then 16, doing standards backed by the Nelson Riddle orchestra. But the album, recorded in 1957, didn't exactly become a classic. Now, with a bit more experience under her belt, Raney would like to do it all again. "It's my dream to recreate it," said the singer, who appears tonight and Sunday at Orange Coast College in Costa Mesa.

Sue Raney's first recording was a dream date. Called "When Your Lover Has Gone," it featured the singer, then 16, doing standards backed by the Nelson Riddle orchestra. But the album, recorded in 1957, didn't exactly become a classic. Now, with a bit more experience under her belt, Raney would like to do it all again. "It's my dream to recreate it," said the singer, who appears tonight and Sunday at Orange Coast College in Costa Mesa.

Remember the albums of such classic standards as "What's New" and "My Old Flame" that Linda Ronstadt made with Nelson Riddle's orchestra in the early '80s? Those albums, still available as " 'Round Midnight," a two-CD set on Asylum Records, have sold in the hundreds of thousands and are thought to have sparked the current revival in standards that resulted in such smash hits as Natalie Cole's "Unforgettable."

SUE RANEY "Sue Raney Sings the Music of Henry Mancini Trend TRCD 557:***** Is Sue Raney a jazz singer? Does it matter? The elements brought together here are her impeccable diction, her lyrical sensitivity, Mancini's consistently rewarding melodies, and the arrangements by Alan Broadbent, whose adventurous use of a bank of flutes (doubling on clarinets and saxes) is a key factor.

Signed to Capitol Records in 1957 at age 16, Sue Raney took a shot at teen stardom with silly songs such as "Biology," which became a minor hit. But, after 11 albums, Raney burned out in her quest to become a pop diva. Following a subsequent 12-year detour into writing and singing jingles, she resumed her career in 1984, concentrating on warm jazz standards.

Singer Raney's strength is as a ballad specialist, and on several tunes here--including "My Foolish Heart" and " 'Tis Autumn"--she displays that tenderly appealing side of her artistry. Raney does have a couple of vocal quirks: a tendency to scoop tones upward and a habit of adding h 's to certain words ( and becomes hand ). Yet at her best she is one of our most overlooked and under-appreciated singers.

When Sue Raney and Joe Massimino appear tonight at Orange Coast College, the singer and the pianist-bandleader will have only known each other, musically speaking, for about seven hours. Their first rehearsal for the concert takes place today at 1 p.m. Raney admits that she's not completely at ease with the situation. "It should be fun, but there is that anticipation when you work with someone for the first time," she said.

Remember the albums of such classic standards as "What's New" and "My Old Flame" that Linda Ronstadt made with Nelson Riddle's orchestra in the early '80s? Those albums, still available as " 'Round Midnight," a two-CD set on Asylum Records, have sold in the hundreds of thousands and are thought to have sparked the current revival in standards that resulted in such smash hits as Natalie Cole's "Unforgettable."

Signed to Capitol Records in 1957 at age 16, Sue Raney took a shot at teen stardom with silly songs such as "Biology," which became a minor hit. But, after 11 albums, Raney burned out in her quest to become a pop diva. Following a subsequent 12-year detour into writing and singing jingles, she resumed her career in 1984, concentrating on warm jazz standards.

Singer Raney's strength is as a ballad specialist, and on several tunes here--including "My Foolish Heart" and " 'Tis Autumn"--she displays that tenderly appealing side of her artistry. Raney does have a couple of vocal quirks: a tendency to scoop tones upward and a habit of adding h 's to certain words ( and becomes hand ). Yet at her best she is one of our most overlooked and under-appreciated singers.

SUE RANEY "Sue Raney Sings the Music of Henry Mancini Trend TRCD 557:***** Is Sue Raney a jazz singer? Does it matter? The elements brought together here are her impeccable diction, her lyrical sensitivity, Mancini's consistently rewarding melodies, and the arrangements by Alan Broadbent, whose adventurous use of a bank of flutes (doubling on clarinets and saxes) is a key factor.

Sue Raney, who came and went in two nights at the Vine St. Bar & Grill, brings together in a single performance the most desirable elements one looks for in a jazz-inclined singer. Guaranteed in any Raney show: overall concept, choice of material, sensitive interpretation and, for good measure, physical beauty. On Tuesday evening, her first performance began and ended in a jazz waltz groove, starting with "How's That for Openers?"

Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity was kicked off the San Diego State University campus today for at least five years for its role in an alleged rape of a freshman Delta Gamma sorority pledge at a party, a university spokeswoman said. In addition, 30 of the fraternity's 110 members face administrative charges that could lead to expulsion from the university, spokeswoman Sue Raney said. Delta Gamma sorority, whose members attended a party at the Pi Kappa Alpha house last Nov.

Joan Fry Flory, 71, who worked in the 1950s as a big band singer under the name Joan Durell. Born in Toronto, Flory was a runner-up Miss Canada in 1949. She sang with the orchestras of Art Mooney, Claude Thornhill and Ray Anthony and appeared at the first Monterey Jazz Festival in 1958. She married alto saxophonist and band leader Med Flory in 1952, and retired from performing in 1960, returning to the stage briefly in the '80s to lead a nine-piece band, Joanie and Her Nighthawks.