Great Jazz Singers Of The Past

What Is Jazz?Jazz is a musical style that originated at the

beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in

the southern United States.

It was born out of a mix of African, European and American musical traditions. Its African influence

is evident in its use of “blue” notes, improvisation, polyrhythms, syncopation and swing rhythms. From its early development until

the present day, jazz has also incorporated music from American popular music.

What Is Jazz?Jazz began as a style of popular music. During the

1920s, 30s and 40s, Jazz was the principal style of all American popular music.

But with the advent of Rock and Roll in the 1950s, Jazz became a secondary style in American popular

music, and eventually evolved into what is now considered a type of classical music that

is uniquely American.

Throughout the 20th Century, Jazz as a musical style spread around the world, resulting in

specific varieties of Jazz in many countries.

Ella Fitzgerald(1917-1996)

59-year career; Winner of 13 Grammy Awards, National Medal of Arts / Presidential Medal of Freedom

Known as “The First Lady of Song.”

In her younger years, Ella Fitzgerald’s voice was known for its quality of tone accuracy of

pitch, wide range and flexibility.

In her later years when the quality of her voice began to decline,

she became more famous for her improvisational style of singing

known as “scat singing.”

Musical Example: But Not For Me” (next slide)(1930 – from “Girl Crazy” by George & Ira Gershwin)

In vocal jazz, Scat Singing is vocal improvisation with

wordless vocal sounds, nonsense syllables or without words at all.

Scat singing gives singers the ability to sing improvised melodies and rhythms,

creating the equivalent of an instrumental solo using their voices.

Musical Example: Stompin’ At The Savoy” (next slide)(1934; music by Edgar Sampson, 1907-1973)

(1961 performance; the pianist is the very famous jazz pianist Oscar Peterson)

Billie Holiday (1915–1959; Born in Philadelphia, PA)

Considered one of the greatest jazz vocalists of all time, Holiday had a thriving career for many years before she lost her battle with substance abuse. Her autobiography was made into the 1972 film Lady Sings the Blues. 

Billie Holiday – Musical Examples:

“What A Little Moonlight Can Do” (next slide)(1933; music & lyrics by Harry M. Woods)

“Good Morning Heartache” (following slide)(1946; music & lyrics by Irene Higginbotham,

Ervin Drake, and Dan Fisher)

[Note: Irene Higginbotham, a classically-trained musician, was one of the few successful popular

songwriters of this period who was an African-American woman. Later, in the 1950s

and 60s, many more would follow.]

Sarah Vaughan (1924–1990; Born in Newark, NJ.)

Described by jazz critic Scott Yanow as having “one of the most wondrous voices

of the 20th century."

Sarah Vaughan – Musical Examples:

“Misty” (next slide)(1954; music by Erroll Garner)

“So Many Stars” (following slide)(1968; Sergio Mendez & Alan & Marilyn Bergman)

(1989 recording; this is an example of “Bossa Nova” music)

Bossa Nova: Bossa nova is a well-known style of Brazilian jazz, developed and popularized in the 1950s

and 1960s. The phrase bossa nova means literally "New Trend" in Portuguese. A lyrical fusion of samba and jazz,

bossa nova acquired a large following in the 1960s initially from young musicians and college students. Since its

birth, it remains a vital part of the standard jazz repertoire.

Joe Williams(1918-1999)

was a well-known jazz vocalist, a baritone singing a mixture of

blues, ballads, popular songs, and jazz standards.

Often associated with the Count Basie Orchestra, with which he was the lead singer for many

years, Joe Williams is considered to be one of the most influential

singers in the history of jazz.

Musical Example: “Every Day I Have The Blues”

(1949, next slide)

Peggy Lee (1920 – 2002)

was a highly influential American jazz and popular music singer, songwriter,

composer, and actress in a career spanning six decades. From her

beginning as a vocalist on local radio to singing with Benny Goodman's big

band, she forged a sophisticated persona, evolving into a multi-faceted

artist and performer. She wrote music for films, acted, and created

conceptual record albums encompassing poetry, jazz, pop,

and art songs.

Musical Example: Fever (next slide)(1956; music by Otis Blackwell; lyrics by Eddie Cooley & Peggy Lee)

Billy Eckstine(1914–1993)

was an American singer of ballads and a bandleader of

the swing era. Eckstine's smooth baritone voice and

distinctive vibrato broke down barriers throughout the 1940s,

first as leader of the original “bebop” big-band, then as the

first romantic black male in popular music.

“Isn’t It A Lovely Day” (next slide) (1935; music and lyrics by Irving Berlin)

Nat “King” Cole(1919–1965)

was an American musician who first came to prominence as a leading jazz pianist. He owes most of his

popular musical fame to his smooth baritone voice, which he used to

perform in big band and jazz genres. More than 45 years after his death, his recordings still retain worldwide popularity. He is considered one of

the most important musical personalities in U.S. history. 

Musical Example: “Route 66” (next slide)(1946; music & lyrics by Bobby Troupe)

Dinah Washington

(1924–1963)was an American blues, Rhythm & Blues and jazz singer. She has been cited as "the most popular black female recording artist of

the '50s" and called "The Queen of the Blues.” Her vocal style was

at home in almost any type of music; she was considered both a Jazz singer and a

Rock and Roll singer.

Musical Example: “Teach Me Tonight” (next slide)(1953; music by Gene De Paul lyrics by Sammy Cahn)

Nina Simone(1933–2003)

was an American singer, songwriter, pianist, arranger, and civil rights activist widely associated with jazz music.

Simone aspired to become a classical pianist while working

in a broad range of styles including classical, jazz, blues,

folk, R&B, gospel, and pop.

Nina Simone’s musical style arose from a fusion of gospel and pop songs with classical

music, in particular with influences from her first

inspiration, Johann Sebastian Bach, and accompanied with

her expressive jazz-like singing in her characteristic low female

tenor voice. She injected her classical

background into her music to give it more depth and quality.

After 20 years of performing, she became involved in

the civil rights movement and the direction of her life shifted.

Simone's music was highly influential in the fight for equal

rights in the United States.

Musical Example: “Summertime” (next slide; start at 2’52”)

(1935; music by George Gershwinlyrics by Ira Gershwin)

Frank Sinatra(1915-1998; born in

Hoboken, NJ) was an American singer

and film actor.

Beginning his musical career in the swing era as a singer with bandleaders Harry James &

Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly

successful solo artist beginning in the early 1940s.

Nicknamed the “Chairman of the Board,” (of show business)

Sinatra developed a singing style that enabled him to

perform with great success to audiences worldwide over a

period of sixty years. His discography lists over 950

recordings.

He is widely considered the greatest entertainer of

the 20th Century.Musical Example: Fly Me To The Moon (1954; music & lyrics by Bart Howard)

Louis Armstrong(1901–1971)

nicknamed “Satchmo,” was an American jazz trumpeter

and singer from New Orleans, Louisiana.

Armstrong was a foundational influence in jazz, shifting the

music's focus from collective improvisation to

solo performance.

With his instantly recognizable deep and distinctive gravelly

voice, resembling the sound of his trumpet, Armstrong was also

an influential singer, demonstrating great dexterity as an improviser, bending the lyrics

and melody of a song for expressive purposes.

He was also greatly skilled at ”scat singing.”

Musical Example: Saint Louis Blues (1914)

by W.C. Handy (1873-1958)

Renowned for his charismatic stage presence and voice almost as much as for his

trumpet playing, Armstrong's influence extends well beyond jazz music, and by the end of

his career in the 1960s, he was widely regarded as a

profound influence on popular music in general.

The influence of Louis Armstrong

on the development of Jazz is virtually immeasurable.

Musical Examples:

“Mack The Knife”(Kurt Weill, 1928)

“La Vie En Rose”(Edith Piaf, 1945)

In 1952, when DownBeat magazine, the magazine of the

world of jazz, created its

“DownBeat Hall Of Fame”

for jazz musicians, Louis Armstrong

was their first inductee.

At the end of the Twentieth Century, a time capsule was created to preserve for the future things of great historic and

cultural importance from Twentieth Century America.

It is called The National Millennium Time Capsule

and it is stored in the National Archives in Washington D.C.

It will be opened in the year 2100.

Some of the items in this time capsulethat were deemed to be

of great importance in the history of

the Twentieth Century are:

A recorded transcript of the “I Have A Dream” speech of August 28, 1963

by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

A Map of the Human Genome

A photograph of U.S. troops liberating concentration camp survivors in World War Two

Video Footage of the Landing on the Moonon July 20, 1969

Among these artifacts and items of great importance,

there is one musical instrument.

Louis Armstrong’s Trumpet

The National Millennium Time Capsuleon exhibit in the National Archive in Washington, D.C.

containing Louis Armstrong’s Trumpet.

On August 4, 2001, the centennial of Armstrong's birth, New Orleans' airport was renamed the

Louis Armstrong International Airport in his honor.