Cooling out

Paul Saitowitz

As the notes jump off the fret board and into your ears, the

born-to-be pleasantly sprinkled in the background contemporary jazz

sounds manage to wrangle their way past the hum of the refrigerator

and into your conscious.

Joyce Cooling -- maybe the last name has something to do with it

-- finds a way to separate herself from the elevator-laden genre to

deliver some soulful, heartfelt music with her latest release, “This

Girl’s Got To Play.”

Her virtuoso-esque guitar style stands out, but the lyrics of the

title track are what gives the album its teeth.

“It basically goes back to what happened on Sept. 11, 2001,” she

said. “After witnessing the horror of what happened and the bravery

of the people who stepped in to help contain the situation, I stopped

playing music for a while ... I kind of lost my purpose. Then after

some time I realized this was what I had to ... I had to play.”

Cooling, who grew up on the East Coast, comes from a musical

family. Her father played in big band projects and her mot- her

taught music and played the piano and the cello. Her uncle played

with Billie Holiday and Ella Fitzgerald.

“My family was definitely a big influence in me going down the

musical path, but it was never really a conscious decision that I

made,” she said. “It was just something I did ... it’s a part of my

life.”

Cooling dabbled in the piano and organ, but really found her niche

with the guitar. Although she never formally played in bands during

her youth, music was always her passion.

“I had the largest record collection of anyone I knew, I was

always going to concerts and shows and trying to get my hands on more

records,” she said.

Although she had some formal introduction to jazz, it wasn’t until

a friend’s older brother gave her a collection of jazz records in

junior high that she really became enamored with the genre.

She had the opportunity to study music after high school, but the

classroom was not for her.

“I just wanted to play ... to get out in the clubs and play with

other musicians, school wasn’t for me,” she said. “I definitely wish

I was more schooled in music and knew more about it. I pick up a lot

of stuff by ear that I have never formally learned.”

Cooling moved to San Francisco and started playing as often as she

could. She would also fly back to New York for six-month stints

playing at clubs around town. While playing on a Brazilian jazz

circuit, she was paired with keyboardist Jay Wagner.

“That was back in the ‘80s, and since then I can’t even tell you

how many songs we have written together,” she said.

The two write all the songs on Cooling’s albums and record them at

Wagner’s studio.

“We come up with the general songs, but it’s not until we play

them out with the band that they truly begin to take shape,” Cooling

added.

Check out how they take shape in person Saturday at the Hyatt in

Newport Beach at 7:30 p.m. as part of a concert put on by KTWV-FM

(94.7 the Wave).

* PAUL SAITOWITZ is a news editor. He may be reached at (949)

574-4295 or by e-mail at paul.saitowitz@latimes.com.