medjuck Posted January 8, 2004 Report Posted January 8, 2004 What was the first recorded example of vocalese: ie putting lyrics to a recorded instramental solo. "Moody's Mood for Love" maybe? Or perhaps "Twisted"? Which reminds me: Jon Hendricks has always claimed that Annie Ross was originally just part of a chorus who showed up to sing on "Sing a Song of Basie". But wouldn't he and Dave Lamberts have known about "Twisted"? Quote
brownie Posted January 8, 2004 Report Posted January 8, 2004 King Pleasure is usually regarded as the first one with his interpretation of 'Moody's Mood for Love' which was recorded for Prestige in February 1952. Annie Ross' 'Twisted' came shortly after. This was recorded in October 1952, for Prestige too! Quote
EKE BBB Posted January 8, 2004 Report Posted January 8, 2004 King Pleasure is usually regarded as the first one with his interpretation of 'Moody's Mood for Love' which was recorded for Prestige in February 1952... ... for which Eddie Jefferson wrote lyrics to tenor saxman James Moody's 1949 improvisation on the standard "I'm in the Mood for Love." Quote
EKE BBB Posted January 8, 2004 Report Posted January 8, 2004 But... ...isn´t there a live session from 1949 (released on Spotlite) where Eddie Jefferson sings lyrics to "Parker's Mood" and Lester Young's solo on "I Cover the Waterfront." ??? Quote
EKE BBB Posted January 8, 2004 Report Posted January 8, 2004 This could be interesting (from harmonyware.com) (bold letters are mine) What is vocalese? Vocalese is the setting of lyrics to established jazz orchestral instrumentals. The word was coined by jazz critic Leonard Feather to describe the first Lambert, Hendricks, & Ross album, Sing a Song of Basie. On that album, overdubbing was used so that the three singers using Jon's lyrics could replace the entire horn section of the Count Basie Orchestra. Jon feels that the word most properly applies to such elaborate multi-voice orchestral works, and it is in this context that Jon is the "Father of Vocalese". The term is muddied, however, because most commentators leave the word "orchestral" out of the definition. They do not distinguish between the multi-part works pioneered by Hendricks & Lambert, and the earlier style pioneered by Eddie Jefferson and King Pleasure, where one solo instrument's part is replaced by a single singer. The styles are obviously closely related, and it can be hard to tell where one shades into the other. It was this definition of vocalese that Kurt Elling was thinking of when he called Jon "the godfather of vocalese and perfecter of the art." Whatever definition you use, vocalese is not scat, though one is commonly mistaken for the other. Scat is singing nonsense syllables, generally to a tune which is improvised on the spot. Vocalese is singing words to a pre-arranged tune. Two predominant threads in vocalese lyrics are storytelling and tributes. The latter is perhaps more obvious -- frequently lyrics are a tribute to the musician who originally recorded the tune in question. For instance, Eddie Jefferson's lyrics for Coleman Hawkins' famous recording of "Body and Soul" sing the his praises -- "Don't you know, he was the king of saxophones." Likewise Jon's "I Remember Clifford [brown]". Tell a story through the solo is another common trend. Kurt Elling's "Those Clouds Are Heavy, You Dig?" is an adaptation of Rainer Maria Rilke's story "How the Thimble Came to be God" set to a Paul Desmond solo. Jon's "Cottontail" retells the familiar children's tale "Peter Cottontail" to Duke Ellington's tune. Quote
mikeweil Posted January 9, 2004 Report Posted January 9, 2004 King Pleasure is usually regarded as the first one with his interpretation of 'Moody's Mood for Love' which was recorded for Prestige in February 1952... ... for which Eddie Jefferson wrote lyrics to tenor saxman James Moody's 1949 improvisation on the standard "I'm in the Mood for Love." This is in dispute among vocalese specialists. Jefferson didn't really claim the lyrics for himself, he wrote another set of lyrics later on, and the topic and choice of words is more like King Pleasure. We'll probably never know. The story about Annie Ross being in the choir for the first attempt to record "Sing a Song of Basie" is correct. The complete story is in the booklet to the excellent Verve reissue of this LP, which as a bonus includes Hendricks' and Lambert's first joint effort, their take on "Four Brothers" from May 1955. Jefferson own first vocalese tracks were recorded for Prestige in February 1953, so chronologically, King Pleasure was the first. Quote
mikeweil Posted January 9, 2004 Report Posted January 9, 2004 (edited) But... ...isn´t there a live session from 1949 (released on Spotlite) where Eddie Jefferson sings lyrics to "Parker's Mood" and Lester Young's solo on "I Cover the Waterfront." ??? Correct, that would make him the first, but it was not issued at the time, it seems. Matrix numbers have the prefix "hl", was that for the Hi-Lo label? There is a Jefferson session from July 1952 for Hi-Lo later bought by Savoy. Edited January 9, 2004 by mikeweil Quote
JSngry Posted January 9, 2004 Report Posted January 9, 2004 Surely somebody from the pre-bop days put lyrics to a solo? Quote
mikeweil Posted January 9, 2004 Report Posted January 9, 2004 Surely somebody from the pre-bop days put lyrics to a solo? I doubt this. Maybe to a theme written before, but not to an improvised solo. Some German jazz scholar wrote his doctoral dissertation on this subject, I'm sure he would have located any predecessor. Jon Hendricks always quoted King Pleasure and Eddie Jefferson for vocalese pioneers, and Leo Watson for scat (besides Satchmo, of course). Quote
mikeweil Posted January 9, 2004 Report Posted January 9, 2004 Dave Lambert and Buddy Stewart did some things a little earlier, with Gene Krupa's orchestra, but it was scatting or lyrics to their own themes. Quote
mikeweil Posted January 9, 2004 Report Posted January 9, 2004 Well, Ira Gitler wrote in the liner notes to Prestige 7828 that Jefferson concocted his lyrics to Coleman Hawkins' "Body and Soul" as early as 1940 ..... Quote
JSngry Posted January 9, 2004 Report Posted January 9, 2004 (edited) I'd have thought that somebody would have put words to one of Louis', or maybe Bix's, solos at least once. Guess not, eh? Wonder why nobody had the idea? Edited January 9, 2004 by JSngry Quote
mikeweil Posted January 9, 2004 Report Posted January 9, 2004 If that gives you some consolation, Hendricks did one of Louis' solos later on, if my memory serves me right. Quote
medjuck Posted January 9, 2004 Author Report Posted January 9, 2004 I just looked at the liner notes for the Verve re-issue of Sing a Song of Basie and in them Will Friedwald claims that vocalese has been around since the '30s. But he cites no examples. (I often find his liner notes to be lacking.) Quote
mikeweil Posted January 9, 2004 Report Posted January 9, 2004 Didn't he write a book on jazz singers? Perhaps there's something in there. Quote
mikeweil Posted January 9, 2004 Report Posted January 9, 2004 (I often find his liner notes to be lacking.) The reviews of his book at amazon.com confirm this. Quote
brownie Posted January 9, 2004 Report Posted January 9, 2004 For all I know, Louis Armstrong was the first jazz vocaliser when he recorded 'Heebie Jeebies' Quote
jazzman4133 Posted January 28, 2004 Report Posted January 28, 2004 If that gives you some consolation, Hendricks did one of Louis' solos later on, if my memory serves me right. Yes, that's true. Hendricks did a great version of Louis' solo on Stardust. The album is "Freddie Freeloader", Denon 817576302. Quote
bichos Posted March 13, 2012 Report Posted March 13, 2012 it seems that bix beiderbecke is the first one who was first used for a "vocalese" recording! his famouse solo on the frankie trumbauer recording of "singing the blues" from 1927. two years later trumbauer recorded with bee palmer: i´m shocked!!!!!!!!! and here is the second one! from 1934 also "singing the blues" by marion harris: that´s amazing, isn´t it??? keep boppin´ marcel Quote
mikeweil Posted March 13, 2012 Report Posted March 13, 2012 King Pleasure is usually regarded as the first one with his interpretation of 'Moody's Mood for Love' which was recorded for Prestige in February 1952... ... for which Eddie Jefferson wrote lyrics to tenor saxman James Moody's 1949 improvisation on the standard "I'm in the Mood for Love." Ira Gitler told so in his notes to a 1970 Prestige LP with recordings by Jefferson, Ross, and Joe Carroll - but in his 1992 liner notes to King Pleasure's collected recordings for now EMI owned labels, he disputed this. Pleasure had always claimed the lyrics to himselves, and their style is closer to what Pleasure wrote than what Jefferson usually wrote. Jefferson probaly invented the idea, writing lyrics to Coleman Hawkins's famous Body And Soul solo as early as 1940 ... The February 19, 1952 King Pleasure session was the first recording, however, but followed closely by one more session on December 12, 1952, and Annie Ross' on October 9, 1952 - Jefferson's first was on February 20, 1953. Jefferson early Prestige sessions and the Charlie Ferguson session instrumental tracks serving as the base of some of his lyrics were never properly documented, there are still some unissued tracks. No idea if they still exist. Jon Hendricks' recording of Four Brothers with Dave Lambert was close behind on May 12, 1955, but he always acknowledged Pleasure's and Jefferson's influence and that they and Annie Ross were before him. Quote
mikeweil Posted March 13, 2012 Report Posted March 13, 2012 it seems that bix beiderbecke is the first one who was first used for a "vocalese" recording! his famouse solo on the frankie trumbauer recording of "singing the blues" from 1927. two years later trumbauer recorded with bee palmer: i´m shocked!!!!!!!!! and here is the second one! from 1934 also "singing the blues" by marion harris: that´s amazing, isn´t it??? Indeed! Quote
JSngry Posted March 13, 2012 Report Posted March 13, 2012 Marion Harris sounds pretty gangsta, talking about killing her man and all that. Tough broad! That Bee Palmer, though, who thought that was a good idea? Well, ok, it was a good idea, it's she herself who wasn't. Quote
Ted O'Reilly Posted March 13, 2012 Report Posted March 13, 2012 Well, ok, it was a good idea, it's she herself who wasn't. Exactly MY thoughts! Quote
Christiern Posted March 13, 2012 Report Posted March 13, 2012 Great find Bichos. Never mind how well she sounded, the Bee got it! Guess that answers the question better than anyone expected.. Quote
_forumlogo.png.a607ef20a6e0c299ab2aa6443aa1f32e.png)
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.