Lisa Fischer brings magical voice, band to Variety Playhouse

Lisa Fischer has shared the stage or the studio with some of the biggest names in music.

The Rolling Stones, Luther Vandross, Sting, Aretha Franklin and Chris Botti.

Her duet with Mick Jagger on “Gimme Shelter” has millions of hits on YouTube.

So, you know she can hold her own — and then some.

Fischer, who won a Grammy in 1992 for best female R&B performance for her hit single “How Can I Ease the Pain,” will bring her magical voice to Atlanta at 8 p.m. Saturday at the Variety Playhouse.

“It’s different because I’m so accustomed to just being supportive, so it’s a shift,” she said in a telephone interview. “It’s a mental shift for me. It’s not like I’m fronting a band, it’s more like I’m supporting the music and the purpose of the music.”

Fischer, 56, performs with Grand Baton, whose members include JC Maillard, musical director, arranger, guitar, SazBass and background vocals; Thierry Arpino, drums and percussion; and Aidan Carroll, bass and background vocals.

She describes it as a tight, intimate group. “It’s not a competition at all. We’re just making music that feels good.”

Fans are likely to hear work from throughout her career and from her solo CD, “So Intense.”

“It will be mostly stories,” she said. “I love what I’m doing right now because I get to interpret these songs in storytelling through melody.”

She didn’t have her playlist finalized at the time of the interview. “We may wait and let it be a surprise when we get there.”

Some of you may know Fischer from the 2013 documentary "20 Feet From Stardom," which chronicles the lives of the unsung voices behind some of the greatest music. In the film, jazz trumpeter Botti calls Fischer an "incredible artist who stands in front of that room, in front of everyone, and demands their attention in a really graceful way."

Or, as another fan, singer Patti Austin, says in one clip, the New York native “can sing her butt off.”

Her voice is so powerful that one might think some of today’s singers might be a bit, ahem, intimidated to share a stage with Fischer.

“No, no, no,” she said, laughing. “It’s all peace and love.”

Has she ever held back?

“Never,” she said. It’s “way too much fun to let go.”

She still sings background, but right now much of her focus is on touring with Grand Baton.

“I always feel like nothing in this life is permanent,” said Fischer, who lives in New Jersey. “The word almost doesn’t exist in my world. For as long as it’s supposed to, we are just going to keep working and making some really beautiful music that we can connect with and share with people.”

Whether singing background or out front, Fischer says she doesn’t feel she has more control in one setting than the other.

“It’s really the music that’s in control for me,” she said.

Fischer is no stranger to Atlanta. When here, and not performing or resting, she loves to shop in Buckhead (she can’t remember whether it’s Lenox Square mall or Phipps Plaza) and she likes to go out for organic juices and sushi.

One of her local favorites is Umi on Peachtree Road.

While many music lovers will recognize her voice, her popularity increased with the release of “20 Feet From Stardom.”

The documentary was a “gift from heaven,” she said.

“It’s been so cool,” she said. “A few people recognize me from the film. It’s been beautiful and so warm. It’s lovely, the love and the conversation I have with people.”

What does she think her friend and mentor, the late Luther Vandross, would have said about the documentary?

“He would have said, ‘Could you have at least put on a little bit of makeup?’”

She’s in the process of downsizing and repurposing her life at home in New Jersey. “I’m clearing space for what’s coming,” she said. “And I hope it’s filled with more touring. I love the experience of live performances.”