A Scot in L.A. by Roger Cairns

And yet,

though life frequently got in the way and Roger had to

put his musical career on hold several times over the

years, never did any of his experiences feed his soul

the way music did and nothing ever replaced his love

of singing.

Roger was born in the small coal mining village of

Gilmerton, a suburb of Edinburgh, in 1946. Not

surprisingly, Roger’s talent and his penchant for

music were neither nurtured nor welcomed by his family

in a post-war Britain more concerned with survival

than entertainment. So when he was 15 years old, Roger

was sent off to complete a five-year mining

engineering apprenticeship with the National Coal

Board.

But eighteen months later, tired of being underground,

Roger emerged from the bowels of the Scottish mines

and headed for London to pursue his dream. He was 17.

Within a couple of years, Roger found himself touring

Germany with London-based Rare Amber and releasing a

blues album on the Polydor label. Then came Rubber

Duck, a nine-piece jazz-rock ensemble which caught the

ear of Bee Gees manager Dick Ashby and earned Roger

backstage congratulations from Jimi Hendrix.

The group Listen, led by Essex-based composer Paul

Abrahams, followed, and won a national rock contest in

1972. With Listen, Roger sang on BBC TV’s flagship Old

Grey Whistle Test, performed live on Britain’s chief

radio station, Radio One, and landed on the front page

of the then best-selling music paper, Melody Maker.

Listen also performed at the Queen Alexandria Hall in

Kensington on the occasion of Prime Minister Tony

Blair’s nineteenth birthday.

More success followed as Roger secured an EMI

recording contract, enjoyed radio airplay across the

dial in the UK, and garnered widespread coverage in

national and regional dailies. He fronted Roger

Berteau & the Radiomen, released a couple of singles

on the Hollywood label under the stage name John

Laine, and landed an interview and performance on BBC

TV’s nationwide Breakfast Time morning program. He was

also a guest on Richard Baker’s celebrated Start the

Week Radio 4 program.

Who is this man? A blues singer? A jazz singer? John

Laine?

If there’s one thing people who know Roger will agree

on, it is that he is a chameleon. He can move

seamlessly between styles and genres, between blues,

jazz, ballads and swing, between musical eras, like

the show tunes of the 30s and 40s, through the lush

ballads of the 50s and early 60s, to the revived

rhythm & blues of the 60s and the fusions of the 70s.

After all, Roger’s musical influences are motley,

ranging from Ray Charles to Mel Torme, David

Clayton-Thomas to Johnny Hartman, Steve Winwood to Vic

Damone. And yet, although it’s tempting to suggest

that Roger’s inimitable sound is a reflection of the

kaleidoscope of music that emerged during his

formative years, Roger’s unique singing style simply

cannot be pinned down. As composer Paul Abrahams

states, Roger has integrated the “disparate strands

[of the masters] into something that is distinctly his

own.”

It’s not surprising if you consider that, as a

teenager, Roger was fascinated with the science of

singing—the phrasing and vocal technique of one

artist, the voice production of another. He was

beguiled with the capacity of certain song stylists to

convey emotion so purely, with such subtle discipline

in their vocal technique, that they were more moving

to behold than any rock star throwing himself about

the stage. He was a student of music itself, immersing

himself in all its breadth and depth. He was soaking

it in, literally communing with sound. As a result,

when Roger performs, he doesn’t just sing, he feels.

And today, it’s jazz that Roger is feeling. In 1992,

he auditioned with the LA-based Dirk Fisher Big Band,

he signed on, and has performed with the band ever

since. But that’s not all. Though the sheer

exhilaration of fronting a big band performing swing

continues to gratify Roger immensely, he could not

resist the draw of leading a small group. With the

enthusiastic support of his new wife, Chitra and the

unstinting help of his hugely talented arranger/pianist/composer and fellow jazz lover Gary

Fukushima, Roger established his new five-piece Roger

Cairns Combo. The less structured setting of a quintet

accommodates improvisation so Roger now enjoys the

freedom to weave in and around material which is as

eclectic as Roger’s past. The resulting sound has the

sense of deja vu but yet feels fresh and original, while at the same time is familiar, comfortable and welcoming without

being tired or jaded.

Jumana Abu-Ghazaleh

March 2006

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