The Male Of The Species . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Male Jazz SingersOf The Two Varieties, The Male Of This Species Of Singers - Male Jazz Singers - Appears To Be The More Rare And, Therefore, The More To Be Treasured! Here's A Treat Of A Half-Dozen . . .
A HALF-DOZEN OF THE BEST MALE JAZZ SINGERS
Here's are some brief notes on a handful of the best of the breed - namely, male jazz vocalists.
1 LOUIS ARMSTRONG (1901-1971)
Among the early male jazz singers of the 1920s, Louis Armstrong was most influential. He sang as famously as he blew the trumpet.
Noted as the first genuine jazz singer, Armstrong was a founder of vocal jazz, setting many standards for jazz singing. Moreover, he made scat singing - using non-verbal syllables in place of words - an important part of jazz vocalism in the 1920s.
Even in his late years, Armstrong had song hits to his name, like "Hello, Dolly" and "What A Wonderful World".
Armstrong's singing style influenced jazz and pop singers for generations thereafter.
Recordings/Songs
* Heebies, Jeebies
2 FRANK SINATRA (1915-1998)
Francis Albert Sinatra was a great popular singer, but he had considerable jazz influence in his work. And what made him a male jazz singer was the subtle emotional and musical shadings he brought to a tune.
Sinatra was born in New Jersey. He played with and listened to great jazz musicians and then created something his own.
He played with the big bands of Harry James and Tormmy Dorsey, and listened to Billie Holiday and Bing Crosby. He worked with arranger Nelson Riddle and other jazz greats and recorded albums with Count Basie and Duke Ellington.
Recordings/Songs
* Come Fly With Me
3 NAT KING COLE (1917-1965)
Nathaniel Adams Cole was the first famous crossover musician. A dazzling pianist, he came over to become a greatly-loved male jazz singer. His clear, warm, baritone voice charmed his ethnic rainbow audiences.
Born in Alabama, Cole grew up in Chicago. He sang in church and played the organ at age 12, and formed his own jazz group when he was 17.
Cole settled in Los Angeles in 1936. There he founded the famous King Cole Trio, a rare piano trio, and made many successful recordings.
But the trio scored greater success when Cole began solo singing. Eventually, singing took precedence over piano. And by the 1950s, Nat King Cole was exclusively a superstar jazz singer.
By the 1960s, however, Cole swung away from jazz and crossed over to mainstream pops.
He left another legacy in the person of Natalie Cole, his daughter and also a popular singer.
Recording & Songs
* The Trio Recordings
4 JOE WILLIAMS (1918-1999)
Joe Williams is noted for his long singing career, and for the long while it took him to achieve success. But one he did, he soared.
Born in Georgia but raised in Chicago, Joe dropped out of high school to go singing. At 20 he joined Jimmie Noone's bandand toured with other musicians. But success was intermittent and he took on other jobs for survival.
In 1954, at age 36, his fortunes took a happy turn when Count Basie engaged him as his lead singer. With songs like "Every Day I Have The Blues", Basie's band became rejuvenated.
Williams became very popular male jazz singer. His rich baritone voice, his singing style and his kind of blues - all served to pleasure his audiences.
In 1961, Joe went solo. Having achieved great popularity, he settled in Las Vegas, but toured extensively.
In 1984, he garnered a Grammy Award for "Nothing But The Blues". And in 1989, he was given a tribute concert in New York and his star was placed next to Count Basie's in Hollywood's Walk of Fame.
Recordings/Songs
* Every Day I Have The Blues
5 MEL TORME (1925-1999)
Melvin Howard Torme was an American jazz musician of unbelievable versatiliy and talent. An influential jazz vocalist, he was also a songwriter, composer and arranger, as well as being a pianist, actor and author. Can anybody do more in one lifetime?
But we are here for his prowess as a male jazz singer. And Torme began professional singing at age 4. He composed his first hit "Lament to Love" when he was only 15. And by age 17, he formed his own quintet, Mel Torme and His Mel-Tones.
In 1954, he recorded his first live album. And he won 2 Grammy Awards for being the best male vocalist in 1982 and 1983. Mel continued performing until struck down by a stroke in 1996.
Torme wrote over 300 songs. Amongst the most familiar is "Christmas Song" cowritten with Robert Wells, with the opening lines "Chestnuts roasting on an open fire". This song was made famous by Nat King Cole in 1946 and has been recorded in more than 1,700 versions!
His autobiography, "It Wasn't All Velvet" was written in 1988.
Recordings/Songs
* Lament to Love
6 GEORGE BENSON (born 1943)
Benson was a male jazz singer and guitarist. He became famous by switching to simple pop-jazz style of guitar and by focussing on singing.
Born in Pittsburgh, George became a singer at age 8. As a teenager he already played guitar alongside jazz stars. He also played with Miles Davis and recorded with Count Basie and Jon Henricks.
Benson's smooth voice and wide range of styles enabled him to work with many styles of jazz.
Recordings/Songs
* Tenderly
HERE'S MORE INTERESTING INFO ON JAZZ MUSIC:- Skip-scat, Skoodle-dee-doo .. dah-bah-dah .. hi-dee-ho ... This Is How Scat Singing Goes. But What It Actually Is, How It Has Evolved, Who Its Famous Proponents Are .. You'll Soon Be Enlightened!
Vocalese - What Is This? Do You Mean Vocal Improvisation? Is It Scatting, Or Just Another Jazz Style? Well, You'll Find The Answers In The Following Passages ...
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