Larry Kart Posted July 5, 2008 Report Share Posted July 5, 2008 First sentence of Holden's review of L, H & R Redux: "At 86 the visionary musical sage John Hendricks, who along with Ella Fitzgerald and Eddie Jefferson originated the jazz style called vocalese -- the setting of swing and jazz instrumentals with playful scat lyrics -- is as voluble as ever." Vocalese and scat singing are two different things, no? In the former, words (newly invented) are set to recorded jazz instrumental improvisations (e.g. "Twisted," "Moody's Mood for Love," the L-H-R stuff). In the latter, onomatepoetic or nonsense syllables, not words, are used, and the singer, depending on his or her skill, improvises on the framework of the given song as much as an instrumentalist would. I would think, then, that no vocalese performance would have "scat lyrics" -- scat lyrics being an oxymoron anyway. Further, Ella of course did lots and lots of scat singing, but I don't recall a single vocalese recording from her; thus she could not have "originated the jazz style called vocalese," right? Or am I forgetting something? And even if I am, vocalese and scat singing are still two different things. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Weiss Posted July 5, 2008 Report Share Posted July 5, 2008 I think you've busted Holden quite succinctly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marcello Posted July 5, 2008 Report Share Posted July 5, 2008 You are correct of course, Larry. There is no mention of the man who taught Hendricks; King Pleasure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larry Kart Posted July 5, 2008 Author Report Share Posted July 5, 2008 You are correct of course, Larry. There is no mention of the man who taught Hendricks; King Pleasure. Yes, but even though I like King Pleasure's famous 1949 hit recording of "Moody's Mood for Love" (which preceeds the one on the album above by about a decade), the hip, clever lyrics King Pleasure sings on MMFL are by Eddie Jefferson, who seems to have originated the whole vocalese concept back in 1940 by setting words to Coleman Hawkins' solo on "Body and Soul." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSngry Posted July 5, 2008 Report Share Posted July 5, 2008 You're correct, Larry, except for the part about "onomatopoetic or nonsense syllables". Onomatepoetic, yes, ideally always. But nonsense? Only in the hands of a hack. A good scat singer will "say" the same thing that an instrumentalist would in every way. The sounds/syllables of a good scat singer's work will "mean" the same thing as an instrumentalist's lines for precisely the same reason - the manipulation of sound into a language results in a "message", a specific communication between player and listener based on a language that is commonly understood, in the greater general if not always in the immediate specific. For that reason, that's why there are so few truly successful (imo) vocalese lyrics - finding "regular" words that communicate as precisely as those of the instrumentalist's lines is a task met by either outright failure, "cleverness" (usually, in which case the result is no meaning at all except "cuteness", and depending on the solo, either a cheapening of the original or a rightful positioning of it as the "pop" (or perhaps less potentially offensive, "entertainment") artifact that it ultimately is, and no dis at all intended there), or, at its best (rarely), high-level craftsmanship in the service of artistry and/or genius. For my money, Hendricks, with whose work I am largely but in no way completely familiar with, reaches the latter level when he deals with solos that might be initially thought of as belonging to the second level. In particular, two examples (perhaps lesser known due to their being sung by Yolanda Bevan instead of Annie Ross) consistently spring to mind - his lyrics to Thad Jones's solo on "Shiny Stockings" & to Horace Silver's solo on "Doodlin'". For that matter, the entirety of "Doodlin'" is a delight, playing as it does the quintessential Hard Bop Game of presenting an entertaining exterior over a subtly "deeper" interior. HEndricks could be silly, and Hendricks could be "middlebrow", but on occasion, Hendricks could also Get It Exactly Right, and for that he has my enduring respect, if not my consistent love. Just my opinion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larry Kart Posted July 5, 2008 Author Report Share Posted July 5, 2008 Sorry, the ""onomatopoetic or nonsense syllables" part I borrowed from Jazz Grove. Just thinking about the things that Sarah Vaughan comes up with on "Shulie-a-Bop" makes my knees feel watery. As for successful vocalese lyrics, I think Jefferson's here are just about perfect: MOODY'S MOOD FOR LOVE (He:) There I go, there I go, there I go There I go.. Pretty baby, you are the soul who snaps my control Such a funny thing but every time you’re near me I never can behave You give me a smile and then I’m wrapped up in your magic There’s music all around me, crazy music Music that keeps calling me so very close to you Turns me your slave Come and do with me any little thing you want to Anything baby, just let me get next to you Am I insane or do I really see heaven in your eyes? Bright as stars that shine up above you in the clear blue skies How I worry about you Just can’t live my life without you Baby come here, don’t have no fear Oh, is there a wonder why I’m really feeling in the mood for love? So tell me why stop to think About this weather, my dear? This little dream might fade away There I go talking out of my head again, oh baby Won’t you come and put our two hearts together? That would make me strong and brave Oh when we are one, I’m not afraid, I’m not afraid If there’s a cloud up above us Go on and let it rain I’m sure our love together will endure a hurricane Oh my baby Won’t you please let me love you And give a relief from this awful misery? (She:) What is all this talk about loving me, my sweet? I am not afraid, not anymore, not like before Can’t you understand me? Now baby, please pull yourself together, do it soon My soul’s on fire, come on and take me I’ll be what you make me, my darling, my sweet (He:) Oh baby, you make me feel so good Let me take you by the hand Come let us visit out there In that new promised land Maybe there we can find A good place to use a loving state of mind I’m so tired of being without And never knowing what love’s about... James Moody, you can come on in man And you can blow now if you want to (Both:) We’re through. What could be a more perfect fit to the sound and emotional aura of Moody's solo than: "Am I insane or do I really see heaven in your eyes? Bright as stars that shine up above you in the clear blue skies" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuck Nessa Posted July 5, 2008 Report Share Posted July 5, 2008 Never made the Sarah/watery knees connection myself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AllenLowe Posted July 5, 2008 Report Share Posted July 5, 2008 never heard of water on the knee? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuck Nessa Posted July 5, 2008 Report Share Posted July 5, 2008 never heard of water on the knee? Yes and I have put water on my knee but "the Divine One" was never involved. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSngry Posted July 5, 2008 Report Share Posted July 5, 2008 (edited) Jefferson could indeed be sublime (and often was), but as time passed, I think he got uncomfortably creepy in his "things ain't what they used to be" lyrical orientation. Those lyrics of his to "So What" are nearly vomit-inducing imo, a kind of Jones/Jeffersontown Jazz Kool-Aid which one must be halfway suicidal in the first place to drink. They're meant to flatter Miles, but they end up sounding like a lovesick teenager defending the focus of The Rock Scandal Du Jour to their disapproving parents (and all that that implies...) For me, when Jefferson wrote his lyrics about "regular life", he was good-to-great. When he wrote his lyrics about music, it got pretty weird sometimes, and not in a good way. Still, I have paid my money, taken my chances, and ain't asked for a refund yet. Not even. Edited July 5, 2008 by JSngry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AllenLowe Posted July 5, 2008 Report Share Posted July 5, 2008 well, Bozo may have died, but the real clown is reviewing music for the New York Times - Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuck Nessa Posted July 5, 2008 Report Share Posted July 5, 2008 well, Bozo may have died, but the real clown is reviewing music for the New York Times - The stream of Bozos is as endless as the stream of NYT reviewers. Boy I miss Robert Palmer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSngry Posted July 5, 2008 Report Share Posted July 5, 2008 Boy I miss Robert Palmer. Who doesn't? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F0U5JfGYx4c http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9P2hoO088lc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuck Nessa Posted July 5, 2008 Report Share Posted July 5, 2008 Boy I miss Robert Palmer. Who doesn't? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F0U5JfGYx4c http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9P2hoO088lc Slightly amusing, but not funny. Bob was a friend. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larry Kart Posted July 5, 2008 Author Report Share Posted July 5, 2008 Never made the Sarah/watery knees connection myself. I imprinted on "Shulie-a-Bop," encountered it at age 13 or so on a 1950s 12-inch EmArcy sampler that was among the first jazz records I owned. Can anyone tell me what was on the rest of that album? Charlie Ventura's "East of Suez" with Jackie and Roy is another track I can recall, and I think there was one from a Harry Carney-led, sax-section date on Keynote. Assuming, in my naivete, that I was listening to a reasonable cross section of the music, that sampler left me kind of pleasantly mixed up. I recall, in particular, how weird "East of Suez" seemed. Eventually I realized that it was supposed to sound weird, as in be-boppishly exotic, but at that point I had no musical or social frame of reference for it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AllenLowe Posted July 5, 2008 Report Share Posted July 5, 2008 bright guy - I met his ex-wife in Seattle last April - Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSngry Posted July 5, 2008 Report Share Posted July 5, 2008 Boy I miss Robert Palmer. Who doesn't? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F0U5JfGYx4c http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9P2hoO088lc Slightly amusing, but not funny. Bob was a friend. And a damn fine writer too. No disrespect or diminution intended. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuck Nessa Posted July 5, 2008 Report Share Posted July 5, 2008 And a damn fine writer too. No disrespect or diminution intended. Bob fell prey to smack and died. He did what he did. I liked him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjzee Posted July 5, 2008 Report Share Posted July 5, 2008 Speaking of Robert Palmer, has anyone heard his band The Insect Trust? More info here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
7/4 Posted July 6, 2008 Report Share Posted July 6, 2008 And a damn fine writer too. No disrespect or diminution intended. Bob fell prey to smack and died. He did what he did. I liked him. I didn't realize he died from complications of a habit. Sad, I know a couple of people who knew him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuck Nessa Posted July 6, 2008 Report Share Posted July 6, 2008 Speaking of Robert Palmer, has anyone heard his band The Insect Trust? More info here. Heard the first record before I met him, enjoyed the Mingus influence and didn't hold it against him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul secor Posted July 6, 2008 Report Share Posted July 6, 2008 Speaking of Robert Palmer, has anyone heard his band The Insect Trust? More info here. Hoboken Saturday Night is a minor classic - not sure whether that's an oxymoron. Bought it when it was issued and have enjoyed it since then. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marcello Posted July 6, 2008 Report Share Posted July 6, 2008 (edited) The above is a great Jon Hendricks record, for those who are looking for him doing something other than vocalese. His brother Jimmy (I shit you not, real name) was a friend of mine and they had other family here in the area and he performed and visited often. Jon Hendricks can be a great singer, when he sheds his 'showbiz" cloak. There was a short time, in the '70's, when he was a special vocal teacher to a lot of mainstream performers. I mean big room Las Vegas performers and some of the younger set. I love his "Blues for Pablo". Edited July 6, 2008 by marcello Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clifford_thornton Posted July 6, 2008 Report Share Posted July 6, 2008 Speaking of Robert Palmer, has anyone heard his band The Insect Trust? More info here. Hoboken Saturday Night is a minor classic - not sure whether that's an oxymoron. Bought it when it was issued and have enjoyed it since then. Yes, it's real good as is the first one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kalo Posted July 6, 2008 Report Share Posted July 6, 2008 I dig Robert Palmer. I really don't dig vocalese. One of the deadest ends in all of jazz history, as far as I'm concerned. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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