Lisa Fischer no longer just ’20 feet from stardom’

For most of her musical life, Lisa Fischer was just fine with being 20 feet from stardom.

And then came "20 Feet From Stardom."

The Oscar-winning 2013 documentary focused on pop music's largely unsung backup singers — including Fischer.

Starry colleagues from Sting to Chris Botti sang her praises. ("That's a powerhouse voice," according to Sting. "I think of her as a star.")

Live footage captured her fiery "Gimme Shelter" duet with Mick Jagger, which he called "always a high point in the show for me." (Fischer's worked with the Rolling Stones since 1989's "Steel Wheels" tour.)

The documentary also featured clips of her 1991 Grammy-winning R&B hit "How Can I Ease the Pain," which found Fischer triumphing over (among others) another star she's backed: the Queen of Soul herself, Aretha Franklin.

And while Fischer's already played Vegas — with Botti and the Stones, Cher and Nine Inch Nails — she finally takes center stage this weekend at The Smith Center's Cabaret Jazz.

The success of "20 Feet From Stardom" has "allowed me the freedom to get lost in the music with a band I totally adore," Fischer writes in an email interview.

That band is Grand Baton, led by JC Maillard, "our musical director, arranger, multi-instrumentalist and vocalist," Fischer explains. Drummer and percussionist Thierry Arpino and bassist and singer Aidan Carroll round out the lineup.

"Without their love and musicianship, I wouldn't be able to have this unique experience," Fischer notes.

At Cabaret Jazz, they'll perform "songs that have been a part of my history as a backup singer," along with songs from her "So Intense" CD (the origin of her aforementioned 1991 Grammy-winner) and "other songs I resonate with."

Although Fischer's center stage at Cabaret Jazz, her musical approach hasn't changed — much — with her shift from backup to lead.

"My approach has always been to do my best by serving the music and the artist equally when I sing background," she explains. "The subtle difference now is that the music has become the artist for me. It's a longer storytelling thread to share with the audience."

Fischer first remembers singing at 5 or 6, back home in Brooklyn's Fort Greene neighborhood.

Fischer credits her backup breakthrough to the Crystals' Deedee Kennibrew, "who auditioned me and gave me my first job touring." As a result, "I felt a whole new world had opened up to me."

Asked whether she was disappointed by her backup status, "not at all," Fisher replies. "I adore making sound with others and the vibration or unison and harmony is one of the most extraordinary spaces in the world to me."

Exactly how extraordinary became clear "the first time I sang a duet with Luther Vandross for a Bob James project," Fischer remembers.

"The song was called 'Under Me,' and I was so excited I could barely think straight," she writes. "Luther was so patient and he guided me through each section of the song. I just remember the feeling of flying on his vocal wings when we sang unison together. In those moments, we were no longer two voices but one sound."

In short, to Fischer, "it felt eternal." (Their music may live on, but Vandross — with whom she worked for more than 20 years — died in 2005.)

Among the musical luminaries Fischer's backed through the years, onstage or in the recording studio: Diana Ross, Tina Turner, Dionne Warwick, Al Jarreau, George Benson, Bobby McFerrin, Teddy Pendergrass …

Depending on whom she's backing, Fischer adjusts her singing style, taking into account — among other factors — "the artist and where they are vocally, emotionally and physically," along with the setting and "how the music is living and breathing at the time."

In the process, "I try to fit myself into these factors like a puzzle piece," she explains.

As for her favorites of all the singers she's worked with, Fischer cites Patti Austin, Chaka Khan, Ella Fitzgerald and Nina Simone.

"It's the uniqueness of weight and color spinning around in their voices and how they use it," she writes. "For each of these singers, you know it's them the moment you hear them."

And now, Lisa Fischer has the chance to be one of those unique voices, too.

"The strange thing is I've never thought of singing as making a living," she muses, "as much as I think of it as a way to live."

Read more stories from Carol Cling at reviewjournal.com. Contact her at ccling@reviewjournal.com and follow @CarolSCling on Twitter.