Simply Super

Ava sparkles on her debut CD

by Bob Gulla

Ava

She's not what you'd expect. At 22 -- and with the kind of effervescence most women her age possess -- you'd expect her to be concerned with things like beefing up her social life and finding a decent first job. But that ain't what you get with a girl named Ava Schlink. The irresistible brunette, daughter of jazz hero Bob Schlink, is more concerned with her coursework in the Business of Music at Berklee; she's more concerned with getting to New York City after her curriculum's done, with how people like her first record, with her utter obsession with music. But Ava doesn't play just any kind of music. At 22, she digs old school soul.

"The first time I ever listened to it, I loved it," she says. "Rufus, Sly and the Family Stone . . . The artists I respond to today are the ones who have the same influences. Erykah Badu, Jamiroquai, and D'Angelo all have that old school thing going, that old soul thing."

Schlink, whose dad is also a professor at Berklee, grew up with her father's jazz in the house. But that didn't stop her from developing her own intense preferences, as well as the ability to write music and lyrics. Those abilities and that intensity are both reflected in her very first recording, Super Girl, a six-song EP that will be officially released this week.

"I think it's an accurate representation of me for the time," she says. "I was kind of anxious [in the studio]. It was the first time I ever recorded my own stuff. Because I knew I was a beginner, I spent a lot of time trying to convince myself that I had the right to be here performing my music."

Of course, if you've heard the disc or have seen her at one of her Green Room gigs lately, you know it didn't take Schlink that much time. She has a remarkably steep learning curve, considering she's been dedicated to performing music for less than a year. "Like any artist, you grow and develop a style more specific to what you feel is you. It's a good record, but I can already feel myself growing beyond it. I mean, it was the first thing I ever tried to do."

Schlink spent most of her adolescence developing her skills as a dancer and actor. (Her mom's an actor.) But it's music, her newest infatuation, which seems to be taking hold. "I was going to another school for acting and I changed my mind part way through," she says. "When I first started getting into music, I didn't know how to express myself in a musical way. Dancing and acting I could do it fine." Last summer, Schlink played the lead female role in a local feature film, In Search of Barry Nils, a Palmer Emmett/Still Moving Pictures production.

"Dancing, acting, and singing are all in one way the same thing," she says. "It's about expressing emotion to other people. You have to find ways to do that. In dancing you have your body to express it. Acting you have facial expressions and body language and tone of voice to do it. In music, there's a lot more media to work with. You have poetry, lyrics, and the way you sing the lyric, the chords and the dynamics of the band. It all creates a mood. The best songs happen when all of that stuff works together."

Since discovering the power of the sung note, music -- as a performer, student, and songwriter -- has almost completely dominated Schlink's artistic schedule. Then again, there's the distant hope of crossing over and back into both acting and music. "They're both passions of mine," she admits. "There are so many crossover artists these days, like Jennifer Lopez and Brandy. It's something right now that I think it could work out to my benefit."

Not that Schlink is in the same bubblegum company as J. Lo, et al., but she is versatilely talented, so much so that she has toyed with choreographing some of her performance. Musically, too, she's miles ahead of the pack, saturated in the kind of sultry, contemplative soul that feels sweaty and sweet, lusty and rich, straight from the minds of Chaka Khan, Marvin Gaye, and even more modern acts like Mazzy Star. Helped in the arranging department by her brother Rob, Super Girl smokes with a Lolita-like sexiness, especially on "Just To Think" and "(You Got That) Troubled Look." It's the kind of material you'd be hard-pressed to find in Providence, and it feels like a cool breeze off the bay.

You can feel it when Schlink brings her act to the Green Room for her record release party this Friday, March 2.

PAYBACK, V.5. Fresh off a tour with perv-boogie kings Southern Culture On the Skids, the Amazing Crowns are back in town just in time to throw one of the year's best rock and roll bashes. The 5th Annual Providence Payback goes down this Friday, March 2. The Crowns haven't played town in nine months, a testament to the road dog ethic of the band, so they're ready to go in a big way. This year should be special, since both Lupo's and the Met Cafe will be hosting the evening, with band start times staggered so there's no overlap. "Last year we were packed in like sardines at the Met," says Jason Kendall, the Crowns' front guy. "I hope people will come this year despite what happened." Kendall says that Dennis Kelly will be spinning records between sets on the Lupo's side, and you can be sure those tunes will keep the energy scorching.

The lineup for the Payback is rough, but it starts like this. The doors open at 6 p.m. and the first band, Unluckysouls, goes on at 7. From there you've got the Moneyshots (RI; the gig is billed as their last ever), Lost City Angels (MA), Kings Of Nuthin (MA), Hudson Falcons (NJ), Shanty Sounds (RI), Darkbuster (MA), Sinners & Saints (MA), Louisiana Hayride (RI), Jaya the Cat (MA), and Turbo ACs (NYC). The Crowns will hit the stage around 11:30 at the Heartbreak Hotel.

As for the Crowns' always interesting update, well, after seeing another of its labels (this time Time Bomb) go belly up, the ever-invincible band will soldier on without any financial support from much of anyone. It's a credit to their conviction and dedication to providing scorching, drag-strip rock and roll from coast to coast. "Either that," says Kendall, "or we're just really stupid."

WANDERING EYE. On Saturday, March 3, the Cautions will be throwing a record release party for their self-titled CD debut at the Green Room. Check out the tunes at their Website: www.thecautions.com. Jimmy Jack Stark opens.

Barbara Kessler appears at the Stone Soup Coffeehouse on Saturday, March 3. The enormously popular singer-songwriter brings her friend Jan Luby to open the show at 8 p.m. at Slater Mill (67 Roosevelt Avenue in downtown Pawtucket). Admission is $10.

E-mail me at b_gulla@yahoo.comb_gulla@yahoo.com.