Jefferson playing at Half Moon Bay California October 10, 1978 Photo: Brian McMillen
One of my favorite forms of jazz is the genre called "vocalese" which is related to scat singing but differs because lyrics are used along with (borrowed from scat) improvisational sounds and syllables.
Pioneered by soloist Eddie Jefferson it soared to fame in group format with the harmonics of Lambert Hendricks and Ross.
We can perhaps say that the genesis of the movement started with the lyrics to Moody's Mood for Love, sung by King Pleasure.
James Moody (saxophonist) (March 26, 1925 – December 9, 2010) created his improvised solo in 1949 on a visit to Sweden. Moody’s version clearly shows the influence of Charlie Parker[2]. Later in 1952 , jazz singer Eddie Jefferson wrote lyrics to this improvisation by Moody, a practice known as vocalese [3]. This particular arrangement of the song did not come to be known by its now common title of "Moody's Mood for Love" until King Pleasure released a very popular vocal version in 1954[4]. Following King Pleasure's successful hit version of "Moody's Mood for Love" Jimmy McHugh the original author of "I'm in the Mood for Love" sued for copyright infringement and won a partial victory in court. He and Moody eventually agreed to share the proceeds on sales of any versions of the tune.[5] . King Pleasure's version included vocals by Blossom Dearie as well as instrumental contributions from Teacho and Band. Other artists who later released renditions of the song include Van Morrison, George Benson, Aretha Franklin, Queen Latifah, Tito Puente, Kermit Ruffins, The Ray Gelato Giants, Amy Winehouse, and Georgie Fame. In 1995 Quincy Jones released a multi-harmony version of the track with his album Q's Jook Joint featuring the artists Take Six in collaboration with Brian McKnight [6]. The TONY award-winning musical Jersey Boys featured the song. The song also has been featured on an episode of The Cosby Show, as well as in an early 1990s Gap television commercial .
The lyrics are often incorrectly attributed to King Pleasure because he was the first to record it. However, some sources report that when Pleasure was asked to write more lyrics to solos he confessed that he had not written this one. He had heard Jefferson perform it in a jazz club some years before and asked permission to reproduce it. James Moody later hired Jefferson to come on the road with him. Jefferson also appears on several recordings with Moody.
Another repercussion of Jefferson’s lyrical marriage to Moody’s solo was the impact it had on jazz singer Jon Hendricks. The story goes that Hendricks was sitting in a café when the King Pleasure recording of "Moody’s Mood" came on the jukebox. According to Hendricks, he had been writing “unpopular” songs for some time, but when he heard the recording and realized that it was a saxophone solo with words he decided to change his approach to songwriting. “I didn’t have to stop at 32 bars. Now I could write lyrics for all the parts in the orchestra.” He went on to collaborate with singer/arranger, Dave Lambert, and singer, Annie Ross, to form the group Lambert, Hendricks & Ross. The group multi-tracked their voices and recorded the album Sing a Song of Basie in which they sang lyrics by Hendricks to the full arrangements of the Count Basie Orchestra (Ross singing all the trumpet parts, Hendricks singing the saxophone parts and Lambert singing the trombone parts). With the exception of a small rhythm section, all 13 horn parts were reproduced by the three voices dubbed over.
Here is James Moody's instrumental and the vocal version by King Pleasure
I used to listen to Symphony Sid play this over and over on his jazz radio show in NY and years later it was also the sign-off tune for DJ Frankie Crocker.
Eddie Jefferson - Parker's Mood (bless my soul)
Freedom Jazz Dance
Jeannine
Another person on the New York Jazz be-bop scene singing vocalese as well as performing as a poet and comedian was Babs Gonzales.
Babs Gonzales (October 27, 1919 – January 23, 1980), born Lee Brown, was an American jazz vocalist of the bebop era most notable for penning the song "Oop-Pop-A-Da", which was originally recorded and performed by his own band (Three Bips and a Bop) and was later made famous by Dizzy Gillespie . Babs was also once the chauffeur for Errol Flynn. In 1967, Babs published an autobiography entitled: "I Paid My Dues: Good Times... No Bread - A Story of Jazz."
Gonzales was born in Newark, NJ. He was known to be an exponent of vocalese, an example of this would be his version of the Charlie Parker bop standard "Ornithology". From 1950 to 1953, Gonzales was road manager and vocalist for the James Moody band and later gigged and recorded with musicians such as Jimmy Smith, Bennie Green, Lenny Hambro and Johnny Griffin. Sonny Rollins also made his recording debut with Gonzales. He was also a Beat poet.
Though much of Babs live material is out of print, I got the chance to listen to some of his work at the home of jazz drummer Roy Haynes. Babs was known for giving musicians nicknames and telling humorous tales about their doings. On his Tales On The Famous – Guess Who? he dubbed Thelonious Monk "Melodious Thunk" and referred to Illinois Jacquet as "Michigan Coat", and "Smart Snakely" was Art Blakey.
BABS GONZALES - Manhattan Fable
Babs' Dream - Babs Gonzales
Bab’s and Sonny Rollins
When I was a teenager in New York City attending the High School of Music and Art, the test among jazz students and singers for whether or not you were really "hip" was if you could sing "Cloudburst" by Lambert Hendricks and Ross. We used to stand outside of school and sing all the lyrics in frenetic time. Our greatest pride was that two music students from our group were actually invited to perform as substitutes with the group when there was an opening.
Cloudburst
Lambert Hendricks and Ross
Vocal arranger Dave Lambert wrote dense clusters of vocal lines for each voice that, while only distantly related, came together splendidly. Jon Hendricks wrote clever, witty lyrics to jazz standards like "Summertime," "Moanin'" and "Twisted," and Ross proved to be one of the strongest, most dexterous female voices in the history of jazz vocals. Together Lambert, Hendricks & Ross paved the way for vocal groups like Manhattan Transfer while earning respect from vocalists and jazz musicians alike.
The act grew out of apartment jam sessions by Lambert, a pioneering arranger and bop vocalist who had appeared in groups led by Gene Krupa and Buddy Stewart -- though he had also gained infamy leading a vocal choir on the disastrous "Charlie Parker with Voices" session recorded for Clef in 1953. That same year, Lambert met Jon Hendricks, who had similar vocal specialties that extended to lyrical changes. The pair debuted with a radically reworked version of "Four Brothers," which featured lyrics by Hendricks and note-for-note duplications of the original solos by Al Cohn, Zoot Sims, Stan Getz and Woody Herman.
They recorded a few other sides but were unsuccessful until a chance meeting with solo vocalist Annie Ross hit paydirt. The first LP by Lambert, Hendricks & Ross was 1957's Sing a Song of Basie. Though the trio originally intended to hire a complete vocal choir to supplement their voices, the general incompetence of the studio voices led them to multi-track their own voices. The results were excellent, incredible vocal recreations of complete solos from Basie classics like "One O'Clock Jump," "Down for Double" and "Avenue C" with added lyrics by Hendricks. The next year's follow-up, Sing Along with Basie, featured the bandleader himself and his group in a supporting role.
Perhaps realizing that multi-tracking was a bit of a gimmick, Lambert, Hendricks & Ross then recruited a straight rhythm trio and began touring and recording that way. The first studio effort, 1959's The Swingers!, represented a leap in quality and musicianship, leading to a contract with Columbia later that year. The trio recorded three albums for the label during the next two years, including a tribute to Duke Ellington. All three had pursued separate solo projects during the trio's run.
Twisted
Four
Everybody’s Boppin
Every Day
Airegin (Nigeria spelled backwards)
Going to Chicago
Summertime
Bijou
LHR's music had international fame and influenced the formation of a french group The Blue stars, by Blossom Dearie, who had done the female vocals on Moody's Mood with King Pleasure.
Blossom Dearie was born on April 28, 1924, in East Durham, New York to a father of Irish-Scottish descent and a mother of Scandinavian descent. Different sources state her given names variously as Blossom Margrete, Marguerite Blossom, or Margrethe Blossom. As a child she studied Western classical piano but switched to jazz in her teens. After high school Dearie moved to New York City to pursue a music career and began to sing in groups such as the Blue Flames (with the Woody Herman Orchestra) and the Blue Reys (with Alvino Rey's band) before starting her solo career.
She moved to Paris in 1952 and formed a vocal group, the Blue Stars of Paris, which included Michel Legrand's sister, Christiane, and Bob Dorough. In 1954 the group had a hit in France with a French-language version of "Lullaby of Birdland". The Blue Stars would later evolve into the Swingle Singers.
Blossom Dearie and Blue Stars
Blue Stars: Lullaby of Birdland
Alumni of the Blue Stars would continue the vocalese tradition. Bob Dorough went home to the states, and I love his tribute to Charlie Parker, Yardbird Suite:
Christiane Legrand would later join the vocalese group formed by Mimi Perrin - Les Double Six
Les Double Six (also known as the Double Six of Paris) was a French vocal jazz group established in 1959 by Mimi Perrin. The group established an international reputation in the early 1960s. The name of the group was an allusion to the fact that the sextet used overdubbing techniques to achieve twelve-part singing. The membership of the group varied from recording to recording.
They sang in French jazz standards, particularly themes by Quincy Jones and Dizzy Gillespie, thanks to the poetic or humorous texts written by the imaginative Perrin.
Double Six of Paris
Tickle Toe
For Lena and Lenny
Les Double Six Stockholm sweetnin'
1962 Ward Swingle from the double Six would form The Swingle Singers and Christiane Legrand would join him.
Though known widely for their vocal interpretations of classical music, they were a perfect fit for John Lewis' Modern Jazz Quartet who had also been doing jazz arrangements of European classical tunes.
The Swingle Singers & The Modern Jazz Quartet - Air For G String
The Swingle Singers with the MJQ - Little David's Fugue
Back in the States, after the death of Dave Lambert who was killed by a hit and run driver, and the retirement of Annie Ross, Jon Hendricks would go on writing and performing, as well as influencing the next generation of vocalese talents. Bobby McFerrin, Al Jarreau, Kurt Elling are some of the soloists, and groups like Manhattan Transfer, New York Voices and Take Six and Vocal Sampling pay tribute to and owe much of their style to LH&R.
JON HENDRICKS "Parker's Mood"
Freddie Freeloader - Jon Hendricks & Friends
In Walked Bud (Monk)
Jon Hendricks Art Blakey And The Jazz Messengers Along Came Betty
Bobby McFerrin
My Favorite Things
Round Midnight
Al Jarreau
Al Jarreau 1976 -Take Five
Freddie the Freeloader – Jon Hendricks, Bobby McFerrin, Al Jarreau
Don't Get Scared by Kurt Elling and Jon Hendricks
Manhattan Transfer
Jeanine
Ragtime in Pixieland Chick Corea
New York Voices
Giant Steps
Desafinado
Sassy Samba
Groups of even younger artists like Take Six, would borrow from the vocalese repertoire.
A Quiet Place
Jazz Vibe
And last, but not least, vocalese went Latin, in the work of Vocal Sampling
La Negra Tomasa
Thanks for listening.
Hope this music helps with today's housework.