Customer Reviews

The Hottest New Group in Jazz

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I will be brief. Lambert, Hendricks & Ross were a great jazz vocal trio not just because they swung but because they always sounded relaxed and laid-back, something that Manhattan Transfer never quite achieved with superior voices. These Columbia albums, reissued here complete with a few extra outtakes, represent their peak of popularity and include some of their most famous interpretations. But the problem, then as now, is that Columbia's New York studio had just about the driest, most grating sound of any major US label. This doesn't affect Annie Ross's sweet high range too much, but Jon Hendricks sounds almost consistently brittle and hoarse, whereas on their other recordings for other labels the voice sounds much warmer (listen, for instance, to "The Swingers" on Pacific Jazz or the RCA Lambert, Hendricks & Bavan at the Village Gate). The digital remastering does the most with this 2-track stereo, however, and the performances ARE fabulous, so we will leave it at that. Highly recommended to fans of jazz singing in general and LH&R in particular.

Overall this is a great CD that combines three LH&R albums - - The Hottest New Group In Jazz, LH&R sing Ellington and High Flying with The Ike Issacs Trio (ergo a real nice bang for the buck). In my humble opinion, its the material from that 3rd LP (contained on the second CD) that swings the hardest. - - It also comes with a nice swanky 20 page booklet with lot's of pictures and some nice liner notes.

Incidentally, I'd like to add to the reviewer before me, just as The Transfer represented the "third generation" of Vocalese, for those that think it started with LH &R, check out their mentor Eddie Jefferson's CD "The Jazz Singer" - - and speaking of The Manhattan Transfer, their VOCALESE CD.

I do have one complaint though... but its a minor one... there's something odd about the remastering -- but it might be a matter of taste. I like the way the rhythm section is mastered, but something seems too "up front" and thin about the vocals... needs a bit more bottom, but mastering from 2 track tapes aren't so easy and maybe its just me. I'm curious if anyone else has picked up on this ?

Anyway, overall, until you've heard Annie Ross's wild lyics to Twisted and Farmer's Market, Jon Hendricks's wild vocal acrobatics, and the brilliant interactions between this legendary bebop vocalese ensemble... you haven't lived. By hook or by crook, dig 'em.

With due regard for the overused word "Masterpiece," this isn't a "Masterpiece"; it's 3 masterpieces. This is a compilation of "Sing Ellington", "Hi-Fly" and the actual "Hottest New Group in Jazz." It's hard to argue which of the 3 is best, because all have their high points, and all have so very few low points. I love "Caravan", "Charleston Alley", "Night in Tunisia" (both takes), "Twisted", "Main Stem", "Mr. P.C."--oh, what the hey--maybe I should just list what I don't love about this, and make this review shorter! At the risk of sounding redundant viz. the rave I gave to "Sing a Song of Basie", listening to this reminds me of what a tremendous jazz singer Annie Ross was in her prime. Nobody--and I mean nobody--ever sang a straighter straight tone than Ms. Ross. And Lambert and Hendricks have that rare quality about them; individually, their voices aren't the best, perhaps, but together they work magically well. I'm probably writing to people who already know about this; if you are a rare one who doesn't, then treat this as the "Hot 5's" and "Hot 7's" of vocal jazz and buy it now. Your collection isn't complete without it.

This is classic LH&R and has survived the test of time! What a terrific album for anyone who likes "different" jazz sounds! LH&R has been with me for decades and hasn't aged one bit (or byte, by today's standards!). I know you'll enjoy it more and more with each listening!

The bottom line is that every song here swings. On top of that, the voices blend together beautifully, each of the three are excellent singers, and John Hendricks' lyrics are very clever. Just listen to "Caravan", "Cloudburst", or "Centerpiece". I highly recomend this CD.

John Henricks shows his talent has he composes lyrics to many of the best Big Band Hits and then arranges the group into a full Big Band with the three singers swinging all of the parts in Vocalese. A 'must have' for any lover of Big Band, Bop, Vocalese or Jazz.

For those of us that think we discovered vocal range with the Manhattan Transfer, this is even better.

A spine-chilling tour of vocalise from those who should know. Essential.

They were the first group I came in contact with taking the concepts of bop and stretching them out with original lyrics and frantic tempos of the solos of the jazz instrumentalists. That the sales ranking of this compilation of the three albums they did for Columbia has remained this high is a tribute to the talent and respect accorded to this group.

The three albums that make up this two disc compilation is exemplary in that it shows the multiple facets of the group in its approach to the music. The first 10 tracks of the first disc are devoted mainly to swing, early bop standards and the exceedingly humorous "Gimme That Wine" by Jon Hendricks which never fails to break up those hearing it for the first time. Speaking of frantic tempos, dig the tongue twisting lyrics of "Cloudburst" handled flawlessly by Jon Hendricks, and the great scat singing on "Everybody's Boppin'". The remainder of disc 1 is devoted to the music of Duke Ellington and allows the group to show off its talent for harmonizing and the blues. I enjoy the ever popular "Cottontail" but in particular the sultry voice of Annie Ross on "I Don't Know What Kind of Blues I've Got". Her versatility and range is spotlighted on "In a Mellow Tone" and "Caravan". Disc 2 has the original album "High Flying" plus some previously unreleased and additional tracks not released on the original LP. It's a varied mix containing, for example, three Horace Silver tunes,one of Randy Weston's more familiar pieces, "Hi-Fly", two versions of Diz's "A Night In Tunisia", several novelty tunes and bop numbers. I particularly enjoyed "Swingin' Till The Girls Come Home, Oscar Pettiford's composition, which I'd never heard before and which features some excellent vocal imitations of the bass playing of Pettiford, Percy Heath, Paul Chambers, Ray Brown and Charles Mingus.

Great value, jazz and variety for anyone's library!

For many of us, the pictured album was our first glimpse--visually and sonically--of L, H & R, thanks in great part to the aggressive and ubiquitous marketing of the Columbia Record Club located in Terre Haute, Indiana. The album soon became a familiar sight in dorm rooms and it led to some of us driving to the Windy City to catch L, H, & Ross live. Although the tracks of this and the subsequent two Columbia dates have been available in various CD anthologies and samplers, I don't recall, until recently, seeing that familiar cover with the unforgettable by-line: "The Hottest New Group in Jazz." It makes a welcome return to the front position in this comprehensive collection, especially to those of us who have carried the image of the original all these years. In fact, it was largely the impact of this Columbia release that led many of us to take the retrospective route that in turn led to the discovery of the multi-tracked marvel (especially at the time) of the recordings on which the threesome vocally replicated the sound of the whole Count Basie Band.

It's hard to say whether younger, first-time listeners would give the recording the same high marks as some of us with longer memories. Even at the time, I recall that the album had a few "down" tracks (this music can be so difficult that, as is the case with The Manhattan Transfer's superlative and indispensable "Vocalese," there simply must be a few comparatively basic, straightforward numbers, if only to allow performers and listeners alike to catch their breath after the blinding speed of the musical verbiage. Also, like some other reviewers I sense that the voices have less body and forward presence on the digital remasters than was the case on the analog vinyl masters. Still, that's a minor gripe compared to having practically the group's entire Columbia discography in hand. One of the tracks I hadn't heard before was bassist Oscar Pettiford's infectious "Swingin' Til the Girls Come Home." Ella, of course, had a bass vocal impression routine that she frequently worked into a set, but Hendricks and Lambert go one better: they impersonate the distinctive approaches of the giants of the instrument--Percy Heath, Paul Chambers, Ray Brown, Charles Mingus. Granted, you might not identify each vocal transcription in a blindfold test, but once Hendricks announces the name, there's just enough of a distinctive flavor in each instance for the knowledgeable listener to be able to relate the voice to the particular bass player.

Their time in the spotlight as an entity was relatively brief. Unfortunately so, because none of the successors to Annie Ross--as competent as they were--could restore to the ensemble the chemistry of the original threesome. (Even Ross' solo cabaret act suffered when there was no occasion to insert those distinctive high-register trumpet shakes in the mix.) Then Lambert was tragically run down by a speeding car while assisting a driver with a flat tire on the expressway. Ross remained active as a solo act (and was performing in NYC as recently as two years ago). Hendricks remained a viable force, releasing an album for Columbia that should be required listening for every youngster (and the young at heart): "Evolution of the Blues." In fact, were it not for this "Shakespeare of jazz," there definitely would have been no "Vocalese," the title of the 1984 release by TMT that is arguably the finest example in the history of the genre.