Hearing Is Believing : Despite their 'suburban California white chicks' image, the Scarletts have found their groove in a soul sound.

By DAVID S. BARRY

Dec. 30, 1994 12 AM PT

SPECIAL TO THE TIMES, <i> David S. Barry is a frequent contributor to The Times</i>

STUDIO CITY — Because four of the five Scarletts are women, the second thing you notice about them is their superb musicianship, which immedi ately marks them as seasoned pros.

Of course, the first thing you notice is that they’re female (except for the drummer) and strikingly attractive.

Mentioning gender and looks in connection with professional skill is asking for trouble from the political correctness police, but not from the Scarletts, who casually refer to themselves as “chicks” or “girls” on stage.

“Guys come in when we’re playing and order drinks,” says keyboardist / singer Susie Davis, who is tall and slender with flowing black hair and a Vogue cover girl face.

“They start bouncing to the music,” says Davis, 31, of North Hollywood, “then glance at us, and then go ‘whoa!’--like they can’t believe what they’re hearing is coming from us.”

The incongruity of the band members’ glamour, and their absolute, studio-grade mastery of their instruments, is unsettling. Except for drummer Kevin Austin, the Scarletts simply do not look like people who can flawlessly render the 1960s soul sounds of Sam & Dave, Wilson Pickett, Otis Redding and Marvin Gaye that dominate their repertoire.

The Scarletts enjoy the apparent contradiction between their looks and their sound.

“Not bad for a bunch of ‘suburban California white chicks, huh?’ ” Davis jokes through the applause for the driving Wilson Pickett classic “Somethin’ You Got” on a Saturday night at Residuals, the Studio City bar where the group plays alternate weekends.

The point behind Davis’ quip is that the industry is accustomed to all-girl rock bands whose playing, at best, is adequate. It is not used to hearing females tackling the highly challenging turf of soul music, which is most often played by males.

“Being so close to the studios, our clientele is pretty musically hip,” says Residuals owner Craig Tennis, “and they love the Scarletts.”

“It’s gone way beyond them being a girls’ band who can play,” says Tennis, “to being perceived as a great band of really terrific musicians.”

A direct measure of the group’s credibility as a white-girl soul band is the caliber of the pros they draw to listen and sit in. At Residuals, they have attracted former Tower of Power singer Hubert Tubbs, Stevie Wonder bass player Alvino Bennet, session guitar legend Dean Parks and drummer James Gadson, whose lengthy resume includes gigs with Wilson Pickett, Otis Redding, Booker T and Bill Withers.

“I recorded ‘Use Me’ with Bill Withers,” Gadson says of the 1972 hit that the Scarletts play, “and of all the groups I’ve played it with, the Scarletts come closest to the right feel of the original. That’s saying a lot, because it’s a difficult song, with a lot of syncopation.”

Less than a year old in its present configuration, the San Fernando Valley-based Scarletts are a group that combines diverse ambitions and backgrounds. Susie Davis, originally from San Francisco, joined the Scarletts after several years touring as keyboard player and backup singer with such artists as Prince, Van Morrison, Deborah Harry, Melissa Etheridge, Billy Idol, Mick Jagger and Sinead O’Connor.

Vocalist Gia Ciambotti, 31, of Studio City, spent 18 months touring as a backup singer for Bruce Springsteen before joining the Scarletts. Lauren Ellis, 32, of Glendale, played guitar and sang as a teen-ager with Susie Davis in Marin County, played bar bands in Oregon and toured Japan with ex-Monkee Peter Tork before joining the Scarletts.

Bassist Lynne Davis, 31, of Hollywood, pursued classical piano study from childhood in Wilmington, Del., to the Austro-American Institute in Vienna before chucking classical piano for a rock bass career.

Unlike the rock bands formed to seek collective stardom through original material, the Scarletts set out to play their own renditions of their favorite soul records.

“I’ve always loved soul music,” says Ellis, who cites Memphis guitar legend Steve Cropper as a musical role model.

“I love the gospel-type harmonies,” she adds, “the specific rhythms and the simplicity of the playing.”

Originally an all-female band, the Scarletts gave up on girl drummers after several disappointments and enlisted Kevin Austin, who does not consider gender an issue.

“It’s just the same as playing with guys,” says Austin, a thirtysomething ex-New Yorker who spent 14 years playing in bands in Europe after his discharge from the Army. “Once we’re playing, I’m thinking of them as musicians, not as women.”

Davis, Ciambotti and Ellis write original songs and split the lead vocal work, sometimes passing it back and forth within a single song and serve as their own backup chorus. Two or three original songs are performed each set.

Late in an evening at Residuals, Ciambotti mesmerizes the crowd with a searing version of her ballad “Underwater.”

With a style that evokes the tortured, hoarse-edged intensity of Joe Cocker, Ciambotti’s singing is a reminder that the blues, from which soul and R & B derive, is music of pain and despair, entertaining people by celebrating sadness.

There is a respectful silence after the applause.

“For me, Gia’s got the quality to be a star,” says Gili Mizrahi of Valley Village, at the bar with her friend, Laurie Frazer. “You feel her presence very much.”

The moment of reverie is short. This is a bar, and the Scarletts are a rowdy, wise-cracking group, with frequent double- and triple-entendres tossed out by Susie Davis and Lauren Ellis.

The faces of the male customers who crowd the stage suggest there is more than music on their minds when they listen to the Scarletts.

“Yeah, they’re a sexy group,” says Residuals regular Phil Morgan of Van Nuys. “Susie Davis is stunning, and she’s also a phenomenal keyboard player. That girl Gia sings like nobody else, and drives practically every guy in the place crazy with her gyrations.

“But they’re all terrific, extremely talented musicians,” Morgan says, “and their original songs are fabulous.”

Being the part of their listeners’ sensual fantasies doesn’t bother the Scarletts.

“You’re allowing yourself to be a fantasy factor for the guys when you’re playing,” says Susie Davis, “and they’re welcome to it. That’s what you’re there for, as long as they respect us, and I know they do, because they talk to us.”

While their primary purpose is to have fun playing, the Scarletts hope the focus they put on the gender issue will help break down sexist stereotypes in music.

“We enjoy dispelling the notion, as much as we can, that women can’t play this kind of music,” says Lynne Davis. “It’s also a super-huge bang standing on stage, and seeing all those people smiling. It’s nice to make people happy.”

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Where and When

Who: The Scarletts.

Location: Residuals, 11042 Ventura Blvd., Studio City.

Hours: 9 p.m. Saturday.

Price: $10 cover.

Call: (818) 761-8301.