Friday, Jan. 4, 2002 | 8:56 a.m.
Jerry Fink's lounge column appears on Fridays. Reach him at jerry@ lasvegassun.com or 259-4058.
Jessica Marciel began singing at home for family friends when she was 3 years old.
The friends included such legendary entertainers as Joe Williams, Joel Grey, Ray Bolger and Rosemary Clooney.
"It was normal for us," Marciel said.
Nothing has ever been truly normal for the 50-year-old singer, who had her first recording contract at the age of 12 and who spent her high school years opening for such groups as Steppenwolf, Three Dog Night and Santana.
Marciel is the daughter of Irv Kluger, a legendary musician himself. Kluger, 80, is a drummer who has performed with countless other legends, including Artie Shaw, Gene Kruppa and Buddy Rich. For the past 16 years Kluger has performed every Friday night with his jazz band at Pogo's Tavern, 2103 N. Decatur Blvd.
Recently the father and daughter united for a memorable evening at the lounge.
"Daddy is such a wonderful musician," she said, "but I don't often get to perform with him."
Marciel said growing up in Los Angeles with one of the country's greatest drummers "was crazy."
"There was always a party," she said. "Celebrities were at the house all the time.
"When I was really little, Daddy was always on the road, so when he came home it was party time."
The only lesson Kluger gave his daughter was in the form of advice.
"When I was 3 I just opened my mouth and I could sing in tune," she said. "He told me to listen to the intonation of Ella (Fitzgerald), to the phrasing of (Frank) Sinatra and to the emotion of Eydie Gorme and to do my own thing."
"She's one of the best singers around," Kluger said pridefully of his daughter.
Marciel's first professional gig was in the recording studio. Her father got her a two-year contract with Capitol Records.
Her first record, "Johnny Let Me Go," was written by the Everly Brothers and peaked at No. 98 on the Billboard charts.
"It was a teeny-bopper thing," she said. "It was very exciting. With his own money, Daddy flew all over the country to promote my records."
As they say, in show business timing is everything. Just as it seemed the preteen was going to shoot to stardom the Beatles landed. They had also signed a contract with Capitol.
"Capitol recorded me again, but did nothing with me," Marciel said. "I was a has-been by the time I was 14."
But by then her father was playing drums for dancer Juliet Prowse, who was performing in Las Vegas.
"He decided it would be a good move to come here," Marciel said.
She arrived in time to start high school.
"Because of my record in L.A., I was sort of a celebrity in Vegas," Marciel said.
She performed professionally with bands throughout her high school years.
"I never went to movies or out on dates," she said. "I was always performing."
The day she graduated from high school she flew to Los Angeles and auditioned for a new musical called "Hair," a popular play of the day perhaps best known for a brief nude scene.
"The nude scene was optional," she said. "I didn't do it the first couple of months, but when I felt comfortable I did it. I didn't do it when my family and friends came to see the show."
She was with the production from 1969 to '71, the entire run of the show.
"It was exciting," she said. "We went to Hugh Hefner's house parties. Janis Joplin used to come to the show and hang out with us in the green room -- she was this little bitty, sweet 4-foot-11-inch, nice girl from the Midwest.
Marciel studied acting at a class attended by, among others, Michelle Phillips of the Mamas and the Papas.
"Jack Nicholson would come and sit in back of the class because he was dating Michelle at the time," Marciel said.
Marciel decided to give up acting to concentrate on her singing career after she realized there was a heavy price to pay to get parts in movies.
"I couldn't deal with it," she said.
So when "Hair" ended she returned to Las Vegas and joined Sonny Charles and the Checkmates.
Marciel made a comfortable living performing in lounges until the lounge scene changed in the '80s.
"People used to line up around the corner to get into a lounge," she said.
Then corporations took over the hotels and casinos and demanded profits from every aspect of the venues.
"They (hotels) started treating lounge musicians badly," she said. "Live music lost its importance. They started hiring dance bands to perform in lounges. When I was doing it, lounge musicians did more than play music. They entertained, they talked to the audience, they told jokes. Now, when you go to a lounge, it's just a dance band. There's no showmanship."
She says that's why she switched from lounges to doing corporate gigs and other private functions. She and partner Michael Shane perform as Midnight Affair.
Business was good until the Sept. 11 attacks.
"My dates are down by 80 percent," Marciel said.
That's a shame for someone with so much talent.
"I didn't plan on being famous or a star," she said. "I just knew what I was going to do from the age of 3. You don't sing because you want to be famous, you just do it because you have to do it."
And when Marciel sings, you have to listen.
Lounging around
The Tailspin, 6295 S. Pecos Road, has brought in trombonist/vocalist Brian O'Shea and keyboardist Dennis Mellen for a late-night gig on Saturdays. The music begins at midnight. Some of the musicians' friends and fellow entertainers have been dropping by to sit in on the gig -- jazz singers April Spain and Alan Broze were among the recent guest artists.
Marv Koval and his All-Star Band took a couple of weeks off from their gig at the Jazzed Cafe on West Sahara Avenue. They're back now, performing Thursday nights.
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