Ethel Ennis

Known as a Baltimore cultural treasure and the city's "First Lady of Jazz," Ethel Ennis recently celebrated 50 years as a professional singer. Through the years, the Baltimore-born Ennis toured Europe with Benny Goodman and performed with Duke Ellington and Louis Armstrong. She starred at the Newport and Monterey jazz festivals with the Miles Davis-John Coltrane Sextet and sang "The Star-Spangled Banner" at President Richard M. Nixon's 1973 inauguration. "I don't feel like I'm 74, yet some days I do," Ennis said, with a quick laugh.

The choice of Brian McKnight for headliner at Artscape is not the only poor decision made by the Baltimore Office of Promotion and the Arts ("X-rated songs by Artscape headliner stir controversy," July 19). They also nearly eliminated jazz from the concert line-up, except for trumpeter Dontae Winslow (who at least is a good choice). Over the last few years, jazz has been featured on a dedicated stage at the end of Charles Street. The performances have featured many of Baltimore's stellar jazz musicians and have been well-attended.

Jazz Star, Ethel Ennis, and WJZ-TV Co-Anchor, Denise Koch, will be the guest speakers during "Album of Maryland Women: Vision and Action," the annual Maryland Women's History Month Breakfast at 11 a.m. Sunday, March 3, at the Sheraton Inn, Aberdeen. The event is sponsored bythe Harford County Commission for Women.Reservations and payment should be made by Feb. 25.Checks should be made payable to Harford County, Maryland and mailed to Harford County Commission for Women, 220 S. Main St., Bel Air,21014.

Known as a Baltimore cultural treasure and the city's "First Lady of Jazz," Ethel Ennis recently celebrated 50 years as a professional singer. Through the years, the Baltimore-born Ennis toured Europe with Benny Goodman and performed with Duke Ellington and Louis Armstrong. She starred at the Newport and Monterey jazz festivals with the Miles Davis-John Coltrane Sextet and sang "The Star-Spangled Banner" at President Richard M. Nixon's 1973 inauguration. "I don't feel like I'm 74, yet some days I do," Ennis said, with a quick laugh.

Singer Ethel Ennis has been compared to Peggy Lee, Ella Fitzgerald and Sarah Vaughan. She toured with Benny Goodman. She has performed on network television. She has been called "the singer's singer," the chanteuse of choice for jazz connoisseurs.Naturally, then, I expected to talk with her about music. But time and again our conversation would move back to spiritual matters.For instance, Ms. Ennis tells me that she believes her strength lies in singing ballads. We were sitting in the living room of her home near Mondawmin Mall in Northwest Baltimore, a modest brick townhouse where she has lived with her husband for 30 years.

The music world is paying homage to Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington this month, which would have marked his 100th birthday. In Annapolis, jazz vocalist Ethel Ennis will lead the celebration."

The seductive sounds wafting through the floor were a temptation that could not be ignored.Jazz and blues represented the fast life and were forbidden in the WestBaltimore home, as in many homes during that time. But there was no shielding Ethel Ennis from the times. "I could hear the music coming from the apartment below us," she says. So, to get a better earful, the young Ennis got down on the floor, one ear pressed to the concrete.More than five decades later, Baltimore's 65-year-old jazz diva is still soaking up the music she loves.

Two marvelous women, paragons of jazz-singing, talk with warm, generous camaraderie of lives well-lived, songs well-sung, with laughter and good humor for the good times and no trace of bitterness for the bad. Ethel Ennis and Ruby Glover, women of somewhat more than a certain age now, chat at a table in the Center Stage cafe, radiating youthful enthusiasm as if they had just come on the scene a minute ago. They talk in unison, solo and in counterpoint....

Nothing attracts friends like success, and when J. Ernest Green and his Carnegie-approved Annapolis Chorale take the Maryland Hall stage tonight and tomorrow, talented colleagues will abound.At these concerts -- the third in this season's Pops Series, the chorale will be joined by Maryland's first lady of song, Ethel Ennis, in a stylishly conceived program of new tunes and well-loved standards.Accompanying Ms. Ennis at these "Evenings With Ethel" will be the Annapolis Chamber Orchestra and a jazz trio consisting of drummer Paul Heldner, bass fiddler Keter Betts (Ella Fitzgerald's bassist of choice)

Con amore. With love, the Italians say. Performances that are delivered truly con amore are incredibly uplifting and, alas, all too rare.The concert at Maryland Hall last Saturday featuring the extraordinary Ethel Ennis, Maryland's first lady of song, J. Ernest Green's Annapolis Chorale and pianist Stef Scaggiari was one of those uplifting occasions.Everything about the concert -- the singing, the playing, the musical arrangements, the audience response -- was full of love.Each note that comes out of Ethel Ennis is sensitive and joyous, its tonal luster intact.

Queen, featuring Paul Rodgers -- Verizon Center / '70s rock band Queen, which brought such well-known tunes as "Bohemian Rhapsody" and "We Are the Champions" to musical culture, heads to Washington with Paul Rodgers singing tonight at 8. The concert is at the Verizon Center, formerly the MCI Center, 601 F St. N.W. in Washington. Tickets are $38-128. Call 410-547-SEAT or visit tick etmaster.com to order. W.A.S.P. -- Rams Head Live / Heavy-metal band W.A.S.P. performs at Rams Head Live, 20 Market Place, with openers aFreudianSlip and Falls Ending, on Monday.

Two marvelous women, paragons of jazz-singing, talk with warm, generous camaraderie of lives well-lived, songs well-sung, with laughter and good humor for the good times and no trace of bitterness for the bad. Ethel Ennis and Ruby Glover, women of somewhat more than a certain age now, chat at a table in the Center Stage cafe, radiating youthful enthusiasm as if they had just come on the scene a minute ago. They talk in unison, solo and in counterpoint....

Paul M. Pearson II, an Annapolis developer who mixed jazz with historic preservation, died Saturday of complications from a stroke at FutureCare Chesapeake in Arnold. He was 76 and had lived in downtown Annapolis until 1995. Mr. Pearson's interests in jazz and in developing aged buildings in Maryland's capital came together in the early 1970s, when he opened King of France Tavern, a former employee locker room and beauty parlor in the basement of the Maryland Inn, and recruited the musicians who played there.

IN CASE you haven't checked, Valentine's Day falls on a Wednesday this year. Not exactly the best date night of the week. Here's a thought -- save your big night out for the weekend, and spend Valentine's evening snuggled up on the couch with your sweetie, watching a great romantic movie. Big question -- which romantic movie? There are lots out there at your video store -- some you like and your sweetheart doesn't, some the love of your life adores and you abhor. You need a flick that you both can enjoy, with an ending -- happy or sad -- that will leave you both feeling all warm and fuzzy inside.

The music world is paying homage to Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington this month, which would have marked his 100th birthday. In Annapolis, jazz vocalist Ethel Ennis will lead the celebration."

Social calendarOct. 8: Second annual "Taste of Hampden" benefits the Hampden Family Center. 1104 W. 36th St. 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. $25 a person. Features food from neighborhood eateries. Call 410-467-8710.Oct. 8: Sixth annual crab feast for the benefit of Manna House, which offers a soup kitchen, transitional housing and other programs for the poor. At Jimmy's Famous Seafood, 6526 Holabird Ave. 7 p.m. to 11 p.m. Tickets $45. Call 410-889-3001.Oct. 9: 29th annual Grand Opera Ball celebrates "A Magnificent Italian Circus!"

An update on the concert scene: newly announced shows and ticket availability. For ticket information and purchase, call Ticketmaster at 410-481-SEAT or visit www.ticketmaster.com unless otherwise noted. Just announced Comedian Dennis Miller performs at the Meyerhoff Symphony Hall Nov. 23. Call 410-783-8000. Rock great Chuck Berry will perform at the grand opening of Federal Hill's Funk Box, formerly the 8x10 Club, on Sept. 4. Also, Bo Diddley is there Sept. 5. Still available Benefit concert for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation starring Martina McBride at 1st Mariner Arena tomorrow.

The choice of Brian McKnight for headliner at Artscape is not the only poor decision made by the Baltimore Office of Promotion and the Arts ("X-rated songs by Artscape headliner stir controversy," July 19). They also nearly eliminated jazz from the concert line-up, except for trumpeter Dontae Winslow (who at least is a good choice). Over the last few years, jazz has been featured on a dedicated stage at the end of Charles Street. The performances have featured many of Baltimore's stellar jazz musicians and have been well-attended.

Ethel EnnisIf Women Ruled the World (Savoy Jazz 9915)Jazz singing works by different rules from rock or R&B. With rock, melody is a singer's foremost concern, followed by the desire to convey a depth of feeling; with R&B, the emotional component is a bit more important, as is a certain vocal virtuosity, but as with rock, putting the tune across still comes first.Jazz singing, by contrast, is less about the song than what the singer can do with it. Just as a jazz instrumentalist will use the elements of harmony and melody to construct an improvisation, the jazz singer is out to reinvent the material, turning each performance into a song of self.