Jazz Reviews : Ruby Wilson Sings the Blues at Biltmore

“The blues is my territory,” Ruby Wilson announced Monday evening at the Biltmore’s Grand Avenue Bar. In the latest of a series of weekly celebrations of the blues, Wilson staked out her claim in no uncertain tones.

In town briefly from Memphis, she was here as a protegee of Linda Hopkins (who will appear in the room herself March 1). Though there are traces of Hopkins in her sounds and phrasing, other echoes could be detected--even an occasional choked-tone hint of Esther Phillips.

Unfortunately, instead of playing from her strength, Wilson spent too much of her set on nondescript pop songs, indifferently accompanied by a trio composed of Herman Jackson on piano, Darrell Crooks on bass and Geno Jones on drums. She displayed a tendency toward such show-biz routines as conversations with the audience and sing-alongs.

Still, when she took off with “Stormy Monday” and followed it with a series of pleasantly unfamiliar blues lines, her right-of-way in the land of the blues was established beyond any doubt. For a bonus, she brought on a dazzling newcomer named Mendy Lee, who belied her youthful beauty by intoning “Since I Fell for You,” an ancient Savoy Ballroom blues-ballad, with a commandingly soulful beat that took the house by surprise.

Next time around, Wilson would be well advised not to play down to the generally hip Grand Avenue Bar listeners by offering them trivial contemporary ditties. Having come here to listen to the blues-and-gospel truth, they need no palliatives to make her message easier to swallow.