She’s a Broadway baby at home with jazz

One of the first things Christine Andreas said when she walked onstage Thursday at Catalina Bar & Grill was that she had never before appeared in a jazz club. The two-time Tony nominee’s usual territory is the Broadway stage, with occasional forays into cabaret.

But her debut West Coast jazz-cabaret performance suggested that this gifted singer needn’t be concerned about musical boundaries. She’s good enough to do almost anything she chooses.

Andreas sang familiar tunes from the Great American Songbook -- “I’m Glad There Is You,” “They Say It’s Wonderful” and “In a Sentimental Mood” among them.

But she also added such offbeat numbers as Rodgers & Hart’s “It’s Got to Be Love” and Dave Frishberg’s “Listen Here.” Each was rendered in Andreas’ gorgeous bell-tone soprano and interpreted with the insights of a born storyteller.

Other selections displayed her unerring ability to find transformative qualities in her material.

Mary Chapin Carpenter’s “What If We Went to Italy?” was a sunny, utterly entrancing anthem to serenity. “Alfie” became a poignant musical short story. And the combination of “How Insensitive” and “I’m a Fool to Want You” offered a devastating portrait of the darkened hues of love lost.

Andreas was accompanied in efficient fashion by pianist Bevan Manson and bassist Jeff D’Angelo.

Their jazz-oriented settings, mostly drawn from the arrangements on Andreas’ latest album, “The Carlyle Set,” stimulated some imaginative vocal paraphrases from the singer, enhanced by the warmly personal tone she employed on her more intimate ballad interpretations.

Those qualities may not add up to a traditional jazz singer’s, but they certainly indicate a vocalist with a distinct natural bent toward the individualized interpretations and the buoyant sense of rhythmic swing associated with the jazz vocal art.

In any case, Andreas’ performance made it clear that she has every reason to feel at home in any jazz club she chooses to grace with her mesmerizing musical presence.

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Christine Andreas

Where: Catalina Bar & Grill, 6725 Sunset Blvd., Hollywood

When: Today, 8:30 and 10:30 p.m. Sunday, 7 and 9 p.m.

Ends: Sunday.

Price: $18-$25 plus two-drink minimum.

Contact: (323) 466-2210