Southern California vocalist Mary Ann Douglas stands apart from most of her counterparts. She is not all that interested in pursuing live appearances. Rather, Douglas prefers to spend her time cutting albums CDs and, most of all, composing. As a speech pathologist in her "other" life, Douglas has the luxury of going down the musical road at her own pace using her own methods. She also eschews singing standards, even though one of her more defining moments in jazz was well-known pianist Gene Harris' kudos on her rendition of "When Sunny Gets Blue" as he insisted she send him more tapes. Douglas believes, however, that there is a lot of, and probably better, singers out there doing standards. Choosing to write her own standards rather then those composed by others with confidence that they are good enough to support an entire CD. Her two albums, True Stories and Sensory, released in 1997 and 1999, respectively, are devoted to her tunes entirely. Douglas has clearly earned respect with her music as she has been able to attract the creme of San Diego jazz musicians in these recording ventures. Mike Wofford, Bob Magnusson and John Rekevics have been on both her sessions and leading guitar player Peter Sprague joined the group for the last release. Douglas writes successfully in many jazz forms: straight-ahead, swing, blues, bossa nova, and even a touch of R&B. One characteristic about her music is that the structure permits interesting and compelling arrangements. One can do things with her songs. Although Douglas may be too self-deprecating about her vocal qualities, she is in fact a fine singer. Like Peggy Lee, she has managed to conquer both the pen and the vocal chord. Her singing style also reflects her admiration for Frank Sinatra, Nat King Cole, and Carmen McRae.~ Dave Nathan