What Is Vocalese In Jazz?
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 ...
Just What Is Vocalese?
It is a style of jazz singing wherein lyrics are set to a melody that was previously recorded as an instrumental piece.
And the words to fit the tune are not simply a spontaneous invention, but are the result of much hard work.
The originator of this jazz idiom was Eddie Jefferson, who started this jazz singing "movement" in the 1940s.
He soon, however, had a competitor in King Pleasure, some of whose work was copied from Jefferson's pioneering efforts.
But the true master of vocalese was Jon Hendricks. His dexterity in setting lyrics to instrumental solos was unmatched. He created many such settings for his famous trio of Lambert, Hendricks & Ross.
Later performers of this jazz singing style include groups like Manhatten Transfer and New York Voices.
Well, here's a half-dozen of them for your consideration:-
1 Eddie Jefferson - "Moody's Mood For Love"
2 King Pleasure (really: Clarence Beeks) - "Parker's Mood"
3 Jon Hendricks - "Sing A Song Of Basie"
4 Annie Ross (really: Annabelle Short) - "Twisted"
5 Mark Murphy - "Jazz Standards"
6 Kurt Elling - "Live In Chicago"
* Profile of Hendricks - Commentary & Audio Samples
* Just click "LISTEN" - and RealPlayer comes on
* Click "Hear The Music"
* Information on bios and other aspects of jazz vocalese artists.
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