Singing Swing
There was certainly jazz singing before the 1930s and
'40s. But most of it came across as classic blues--music
with a swing tempo and a fairly strict blues structure. So
while Bessie Smith and Sippie Wallace are great foremothers
of jazz singing, their styles were quickly obscured by
vocalists in front of big bands who could sing music in a
more popular, often more demanding vein. Even in the shadows
of crowd-pleasing blues vocalists, Billie Holiday shone
brightly with stirring early works in the 1930s that seem to
chirp with newness and bounce.
Bessie Smith:
REVIEW
Early Billie Holiday:
REVIEW
Ella's Bag:
The Queen of Jazz Singing
In every era of jazz, there have been women vocalists who
reshaped the singing tradition. Jazz divas share with their
sisters in opera a mastery of technique and a distinct aura.
Where Bessie Smith belted out songs with all her heart and
Billie Holiday sang with an inimitable mix of the pretty and
the painful, Ella Fitzgerald came along on a track parallel
to Holiday's. But even in the 1930s, Fitzgerald sang with
glee as she dismantled traditional lyrics and rebuilt them
in scatted vocals. Fitzgerald's scat singing bounced over
words and let her solo and riff as any saxophonist
would. She spent decades as jazz's leading singer and as one
of the premier popular song interpreters in the world. And
although her name was synonymous with swinging, uptempo
jazz, it took until the 1960s for Fitzgerald and big-band
leader Count Basie to combine their inventive, riff-happy
takes on swing. The result, "Ella and Basie!", remains one
of three classic Fitzgerald sessions that capture her genius
succinctly. And while she earned her jazz wings singing in
front of big bands, "Pure Ella" captures her in an intimate
but grand display of jazz vocal perfection.
Early Ella:
REVIEW
"Pure Ella":
REVIEW
"Ella and Basie":
REVIEW
1950s Triumvirate:
Sarah Vaughan, Dinah Washington, and Betty Carter
Sarah Vaughan had enough formal musical training (she was
a pianist) to match bop soloists note for note on their
convoluted adventures. She sang in the bop-friendly big
bands of Earl "Fatha" Hines and Billy Eckstine in the 1940s,
and she showed repeatedly that her voice could sweep from
rasping intensity to sweet floridness. Dinah Washington also
helped update the jazz vocal tradition, except she
approached the issue from the vantage point of gospel and
R&B. Washington had Bessie Smith's belting power, with a
quick-stop prowess that allowed her tremendous versatility
in shaping vocal phrases and giving them angles that
resonated with fans in the 1950s, just as R&B and jazz were
crossing paths to great effect. While Vaughan charted a more
complex range of phrasing and Washington forged a more soul-
inflected approach, Betty Carter developed first a style
similar to Vaughan's in its range, but she made the voice
into an instrument more fully than any of her predecessors.
Sarah Vaughan:
REVIEW
Dinah Washington:
REVIEW
Betty Carter:
REVIEW
The Sincerest Form of Flattery:
Diva Tributes
The jazz-diva tradition is built on a few foundations, one
of which is the importance of paying homage to key influences.
As we see the evolution of the century from the precipice of
the new millennium, it's not surprising that several key
vocalists pivot off of the work of their influences. The
hugely successful Diana Krall views Nat "King" Cole as her
chief aesthetic forebear. Her tribute to Cole astonishes
with its deft updating and her clarity as an innovator.
Similarly, Dee Dee Bridgewater, who has sung jazz, pop, and
soul tunes professionally since the 1970s, tips her hat to
Ella Fitzgerald on a 1997 tribute. Fitzgerald is an
influence on Bridgewater in terms of tune selection and in
technique, offering the younger of the pair a solid platform
from which to intersect jazz and pop. The far more seasoned
Shirley Horn won props from the Grammys in 1998 for her
heart-touching nod to Miles Davis. She has often mentioned
how much Davis's playing informed her own development, and
her best performances evoke the subtlety of Davis's early
1960s work.
Diana Krall:
REVIEW
Dee Dee Bridgewater:
REVIEW
Shirley Horn:
REVIEW
Free Associations:
Jazz Vocals Go Everywhere
Some of jazz's best vocal divas have been tireless
explorers. Whether it's Abbey Lincoln singing off-key
alongside avant-garde greats about civil rights in the 1960s
or young Chicagoan Patricia Barber putting impressionistic
poetry to music, there are always new generations of divas
bounding forward with fresh conceptions and a sure footing
in the past. Lincoln's "Wholly Earth" returned the singer to
a more stark, streamlined setting enhanced winningly by
vibraphonist Bobby Hutcherson and young trumpeter Nicholas
Payton. Barber has done something entirely different, taking
the vocal tradition's more gritty elements and working them
into her own wildly hip take on the music. Barber sings with
disarming frankness and incredible confidence. And then
there's Cassandra Wilson, who helped usher the newest
generation of jazz vocalists to unprecedented commercial
heights. She has seen to it that tributes to the Monkees
and the blues can go hand in hand in an almost skeletally
rootsy folk-blues setting. Wilson's hipness has never
crested higher than her "Blue Light 'Til Dawn."
Abbey Lincoln:
REVIEW
Patricia Barber:
REVIEW
Cassandra Wilson:
REVIEW
Further Listening
For every innovating jazz diva flying within the commercial
radar, there are dozens more flying out of range, juicing up
the tradition for the future. Whether it's British vocalist
Norma Winstone (who excels at wordless song play and comes
out of the 1960s British free-jazz scene) or the amazingly
underaccorded Tina Marsh (based in Austin, Texas, and leader
of the long-standing Creative Opportunity Orchestra),
artists around the world update traditions without fanfare.
Then there's Dominique Eade, who has made her mark deeply
enough to land a major recording contract but has still not
broken into the leading pack of jazz vocalists. She's more
straightahead, but in the know on the varieties of jazz
vocal expression.
Norma Winstone:
REVIEW
Tina Marsh:
REVIEW
Dominique Eade:
REVIEW
