Vocalese


Vocalese is a style or musical genre of jazz singing in which words are added to a soloist's improvisation.

Definition

Vocalese uses recognizable lyrics that are sung to pre-existing instrumental solos, as opposed to scat singing which uses nonsense words such as "bap ba dee dot bwee dee" in solos. In the "first wave" of vocalese creation, this sometimes took the form of a tribute to the original instrumentalist. The word "vocalese" is a play on the musical term "vocalise"; the suffix "-ese" is meant to indicate a sort of language. The term is attributed by Jon Hendricks to jazz critic Leonard Feather to describe the first Lambert, Hendricks, and Ross album, Sing a Song of Basie.
Most vocalese lyrics are entirely syllabic, as opposed to melismatic. This may lead to the use of many words sung quickly in a given phrase, especially in the case of bebop.

History

The inventor of vocalese was Eddie Jefferson, whose rendition of Coleman Hawkins's solo on "Body and Soul" became a hit on its own. Pioneers of vocalese include King Pleasure and Babs Gonzales, Jefferson's former dance partner. Pleasure first gained popularity singing Jefferson's vocalese classic "Moody's Mood for Love", based on a James Moody saxophone solo to "I'm in the Mood for Love". However, Kurt Elling makes a point to recognize Bee Palmer, who sang lyrics to a Bix Biederbecke and Frankie Trumbauer solo on "Singin' the Blues" as early as 1929.

Notable vocalese performers

Vocalise's best-known practitioners and popularisers are Lambert, Hendricks and Ross, consisting of Jon Hendricks, Dave Lambert and Annie Ross. Other performers known for vocalese include Bob Dorough, Giacomo Gates, Kurt Elling, Al Jarreau, Mark Murphy, Roger Miller, New York Voices, The Royal Bopsters and The Manhattan Transfer, whose Grammy-winning version of Weather Report's "Birdland" featured lyrics by Jon Hendricks. In 1990, Hendricks released "Freddie Freeloader", a vocalese rendition of the Miles Davis song, which featured Jarreau, George Benson, and Bobby McFerrin.
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.
Vocalese singers around the world include Les Double Six, popular in the 1960s, and in Canada, Emilie-Claire Barlow.
Some performers, notably Slim Gaillard, Harry Gibson, Cab Calloway, and Leo Watson, combine vocalese improvisations with scat singing.