[Dixielandjazz] Vocalists

[John Petters]

Charlie said
>     Then you realized that while Sinatra was a fine singer, Louis could
have
> stolen the show from him at any time!  As a singer.  Not just as a trumpet
> player.  But put them both together, and Frank wouldn't have stood a
chance.
> And Frank Sinatra was one helluva singer!  A musicians' singer in lots of
> ways.  But, of course, Louis was Louie, voice or no voice.

Absolutely spot on Charlie. Louis was the beginning and the end of jazz
singing. The voice doesn't matter, its the timing and phrasing, like any
jazz horn. He was the inspiration for Bing, who along with Teagarden,
Carmichael and Mercer and a handful of others demonstrated that white
performers could do it too. But listen to Bing scatting on some of the early
30s things like Dinah and compare it to Louis and you will hear that Bing is
much more trapped by the beat.

I've seen some idiots in the jazz press make ridiculous statements about
Hoagy, like "of course he was not a jazz singer". Well what is a jazz singer
if Hoagy ain't one?
A good singer who phrases and improvises is an asset to a band. It is not
easy.

> "Perhaps those of you who vocalise should listen to yourseleves and then
> listen to Ella or Cleo or any other top class vocalists. Perhaps then
you'll
> learn to appreciatre what proper vocalists should sound like."

I became a reluctant vocalist because no one in my band would sing and
bookers wanted a singer. I heard recordings of my voice and hated it. The
timing was ok but the intonation was lousy. In '99 I was let down by a
singer who was to do my Hoagy Centenary show, so I figured that Hoagy's
pitch wasn't that great, so I went off and got some lessons. My pitch is now
much better. The object lesson is that the voice is an instrument that needs
to be worked on. Some musicians are appalling singers. Bechet for example or
Ory. Benny Goodman was hopeless, whereas Woody Herman was good. My guess is
Woody worked on it whereas the others didn't.

>But I assure you that, no matter how bad we
> may sound, we are not deaf: We've listened to Ella.  Honest Injun!  And to
> Cleo.  Really we have.  But we strive not to think of them while we are
> "singing."  Too demoralizing.

The voice is a funny thing. It is more personal than a horn sound, which to
some degree is always at arms length to the player. The voice though comes
totally from within and I know very few singers who actually like the sound
of their own voices. The secret is to sing yourself and not to try to clone
anyone else because you will probably fail.

Sinatra in my view was not the natural jazzer that Bing was. His early
recordings with James and Dorsey are just examples of good ballad crooning.
It took Nelson Riddle to turn him into a great jazz performer, which he was.
For me though, there is more depth in Nat King Cole as well as a great
natural jazz time.
I would not want to be without Lee Wiley, Anita O'Day, Mildred Bailey,
Bessie Smith, Connee Boswell, Billie and a host of other great female jazz
artistes.


John Petters
www.traditional-jazz.com
Amateur Radio Station G3YPZ