By Marilyn Lester***Los Angeles-based jazz and contemporary pop vocalist, Judy Wexler has quite a pedigree. She’s a sophisticated performer who’s earned acclaim for her six album, and is by all accounts in press on the West Coast, a local treasure. Her appearances in New York are all too rare, so this outing at Pangea was a special treat for an audience packing the room.
Wexler is one of those relaxed, assured performers with superb audience skills. You’re in a club, but you might as well be in her living room, welcomed with friendly patter and a wealth of song. She’s also got a comedienne’s heart; in look and demeanor she might be the love child of Joan Rivers and Barbra Streisand. What’s also striking is her versatility. Wexler says she’s been inspired by artists such as Shirley Horn, Blossom Dearie and Irene Kral. It’s her choice of music (just check out those six albums) there’s a great deal of variety, with much of the material deserving but under-represented in the performing world.
Opener was an homage to lyricist Carroll Coates (still with us at age 94) “Too Much in Love To Care” (Music by James J. Kriegsmann) with a light swing, early on demonstrating Wexler’s prime sense of phrasing and timing. Tunes ranged to the quirky, with a fun delivery of the Wizard of Oz classic, 
“If I Only Had a Brain” (Harold Arlen, Yip Harburg), sung earnestly by Ray Bolger as Scarecrow in the film, and with a twist of irony by Wexler. Also in the realm of “not much done,” she offered Richard Jones’ “The Moon Is Made of Gold;” and while there were very few golden-age standards, she did sing “That Sunday, That Summer” (Joe Sherman, George David Weiss), a sound hit for Nat King Cole. In these numbers especially, Wexler demonstrated a smooth and flowing sense of rhythm that moved these ballads along nicely.
Backing Wexler was music director-pianist Jim Ridl, a fine jazz musician in his own right. He had plenty of spotlight moments to demonstrate his flexibility and improv skills on the keys. Essiet Essiet provided a solid bass line, but the influence of drummer Sylvia Cuenca defined much of the set, often using clave patterns to establish a Latin feel to many numbers. Cuenca is also a well-established jazz musician, and her choice to also apply brushes and cymbals during the set also helped define the success of Wexler’s overall presentation.
