Rare is the vocalist who possesses the talent, experience, and courage needed to truly personalize the cabaret song. With years of passionate performing and living resonating in her voice, Susan Berthiaume is such an artist.

The daughter of a Big Band singer, Susan was raised on the songs of the Gershwins, Cole Porter, Johnny Mercer, and Lorenz Hart, and inspired by the sounds of June Christy, Chris Connor, Nancy Wilson, and The Four Freshmen. In the 1960s she toured with Nino Tempo and the Righteous Brothers, managed special projects for the Rolling Stones, and worked in artist relations at Warner Bros. Records. For more than 30 years Susan has concentrated on solo work, establishing herself as a performing and recording artist in the jazz and cabaret clubs of the San Francisco Bay Area.

In the 1980s Susan began performing with—and wed—renowned pianist and arranger Denny Berthiaume. Although they are no longer married, these “friends for life” continue to work together. The CD Love on Track: Ballads & Beyond is their latest gift to music lovers. It brings together some of the Bay Area’s best musicians, with Denny’s rich and intuitive talents perfectly framing Susan’s deeply nuanced vocals. Love on Track: Ballad & Beyond features fresh and compelling interpretations of standards such as “Lover Come Back to Me” and the classic ballad, “The Very Thought of You,” and of not-so-standard surprises including Duke Ellington’s life-affirming “What Am I Here For?” and Porter’s blithe ditty, “Experiment.”