Callahan brings a warm, pliant style to standards

A trumpet-playing jazz singer? That brings a few names quickly to mind, from Louis Armstrong to Chet Baker. But a female trumpet-playing jazz singer? That’s more of a stretch.

All of which added considerable interest to the performance by Anna Callahan at Lunaria on Friday night. The tall, blond singer-trumpeter is one of the rare female artists pursuing this unusual combination.

Callahan, author of a text for a cappella arranging for collegiate ensembles, has vocal skills that are based on a firm foundation. Her voice is warm and pliant, moving easily across three or four octaves. And her scat singing, delivered with brisk rhythmic swing, spun through the chord changes with fluent, knowledgeable ease.

Sticking mostly with standards, she approached each with a clear desire to interpret the familiar material in a new light. The interval-jumping Cole Porter ballad “I Love You� was delivered in a propulsive rhythmic package. Henry Mancini’s “The Days of Wine and Roses� arrived, oddly, in a 7/4 meter. And Jerome Kern’s “Yesterdays� (not to be confused with Lennon and McCartney’s “Yesterday�) was sung over a funk-tinged groove pattern.

Callahan’s vocal interpretations -- despite some shaky intonation passages -- were generally first-rate, expressive of both the music and the poetry of the songs. Her trumpet and flugelhorn playing, however, failed to approach the same level of artistry as her singing.

All of which pretty much shoots down the “female Chet Baker� comparisons that have popped up in some reviews of her performances. But no matter. Callahan’s singing, the work of a performer with considerable potential, is strong enough to stand on its own.