[Dixielandjazz] [australian-dance-bands] Scott Yanow's "The Jazz Singers" (press release)

[Fred Spencer]

Dear Denis,

What is a jazz singer? The answer is as varied as "What is Jazz?" Was the 
Swing Era of the 1930s and 1940s the pinnacle of jazz singing--but for some 
purists was swing music really jazz? There have always been vocalists who 
were labeled as jazz singers from the "Smiths" of the 1920s to today's Abbey 
Lincoln and Teri Thornton. Five of the 21 artists in Jazzwomen: 
Conversations with Twenty-One Musicians (University of Indiana Press, 2004) 
are listed as singers in the The New Grove Dictionary of Jazz. Does their 
selection automatically make them jazz singers? Books about jazz singing 
often address this paradox by wandering into the world of popular music. Can 
any book be written about an art that dedfies definition without 
adulteration?

Duke Ellington, Benny Goodman, Artie Shaw and a few other big band leaders 
regarded singers as an annoying adornment to their music. As George Simon 
wrote in his book The Feeling of Jazz (Simon and Schuster, 1961): "Look but 
don't listen [to singers] because if you're like me and a hundred other 
musicians I respect, you're not going to be able to take it." Have there 
really been 521 "jazz" singers? Cheers.

Fred

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Denis King" <dcking01 at optusnet.com.au>
To: <australian-dance-bands at yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Thursday, July 24, 2008 5:00 PM
Subject: [australian-dance-bands] Scott Yanow's "The Jazz Singers" (press 
release)


> --- In songbirds at yahoogroups.com, Songbirds moderator <peggyfan at ...>
> wrote:
>
> Scott Yanow Completes 'The Jazz Singers,' His Tenth Jazz Book
>
> Burbank, CA, July 24, 2008 -- Scott Yanow, a veteran jazz journalist
> who has written about all styles of jazz during the past 30 years,
> recently completed "The Jazz Singers." The huge book, which has
> profiles on the top 521 jazz singers of all time, is scheduled to be
> published and released by Hal Leonard in October 2008.
>
> "The Jazz Singers" covers every significant jazz vocalist from 1900-
> 2007, ranging from Bessie Smith, Billie Holiday and Mel Torme to
> Diana Krall and Jamie Cullum. It follows a long string of important
> and highly rated books by Yanow, including "Classic
> Jazz," "Swing," "Bebop," "Afro-Cuban Jazz," "Trumpet Kings," "Jazz on
> Film" and "Jazz on Record 1917-76." Yanow's vast knowledge of both
> jazz history and the current jazz scene has resulted in his work
> becoming definitive books that are widely read and consulted.
>
> In his career, Scott Yanow has contributed to virtually every
> important jazz magazine including Jazz Times, Jazziz, Downbeat,
> Cadence, Coda, The Mississippi Rag and the Los Angeles Jazz Scene
> plus the All Music Guide website. He was the jazz editor for Record
> Review, co-produced a series of reissue CDs for Allegro Imports, has
> contributed to several festival programs (most recently the Playboy
> Jazz Festival), has penned over 500 liner notes and was the editor of
> the 3rd edition of the "All Music Guide to Jazz." It is believed that
> he has written more jazz record reviews than anyone in history.
>
> Scott Yanow also writes liner notes, bios, press releases, and
> website content. Interested parties can contact him at 818-848-2866.
>
> Copies of his books can be acquired through his website
> http://www.scottyanow.com/
>
> --- End forwarded message ---
>
>
>
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