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A project of Jazz Appreciation Month, the KNKX and Jazz24 music teams illustrate the different styles that make up jazz history through storytelling and music. From the early 1900’s to present, journey with us from Dixieland to modern jazz styles, big-band to hip-hop.

Building on instrumentals, "vocalese" layers on original lyrics

Eddie Jefferson, Half Moon Bay CA 10/1/78
Brian McMillen
/
Brianmcmillen, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Eddie Jefferson, Half Moon Bay CA 10/1/78

Walk through the history, the decades, and the innovators of jazz with KNKX and Jazz24. You got the music – and I have the words! But more than that - it’s a singer-songwriter taking a musical line and singing original lyrics. It’s a mutual appreciation of poetry and vocals. Paige Hansen walks us down the ‘vocalese’ road.

Listen to the story above or read the script below:

Have you ever found yourself listening to piece of instrumental jazz music you love and humming along – or maybe even specifically with that great trumpet or sax solo? If you know that experience, you are one-step away from performing vocalese.

This may sound familiar:

That’s pioneer of vocalese - King Pleasure.

Vocalese is a style of jazz singing in which words are added to an otherwise instrumental song and more specifically to an instrumental soloist's improvisation.

Here’s Coleman Hawkins saxophone solo on the song “Body and Soul.”

And here’s Eddie Jefferson singing his lyrics to the same solo.

This was the first wave of vocalese – and carried forward in time could also be an example of early foundations for rap and hip hop.

It’s different from scat singing which uses nonsense words like "do bee do bee do.”

The word "vocalese" is a play on the musical term "vocalise"; the suffix "-ese" indicates a language.

Vocalist Jon Hendricks coined the term "vocalese" to jazz critic Leonard Feather using the word to describe the first Lambert, Hendricks, and Ross album, Sing a Song of Basie released in 1957.

Swinging right?

Lambert, Hendricks and Ross, consisting of Jon Hendricks, Dave Lambert and Annie Ross are the best-known practitioners of vocalese who popularized the style. Other performers known for vocalese include Bob Dorough, Kurt Elling, Al Jarreau, and New York Voices.

Joni Mitchell recorded lyrics to Charles Mingus's tunes, with "The Dry Cleaner from Des Moines" and "Goodbye Pork Pie Hat" on her album, Mingus, in 1979.

So maybe – the next time you find yourself humming along to a saxophone solo, try putting some words to it and play along in creating your own vocalese.
Copyright 2024 KNKX Public Radio

Paige Hansen has hosted news and jazz on 88.5 KNKX-FM for over 20 years. She is also an active musician, writer and singer. She lives in the Tacoma area with her husband and sons.