Customer Reviews

The Jazz Singers: The Ultimate Guide

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The prolific Yanow has outdone even himself with this book, which in many respects lives up to its title. But I would distrust any quick review claiming that it's the kind of book that can't be put down. It's above all a reference book, encyclopedic in its scope, jam packed with concise verbal portraits (the towering Bing Crosby gets almost a single page, or about as much as the somewhat less famous Ben Sidran). Often Yanow's judgments strike the reader as on the mark, and when they don't, he compensates with information that is nonetheless fascinating and useful. The book is also an invaluable source of quotations, since the author has included numerous interviews of the artists themselves.

Opinions about singers are perhaps held more strongly by more people than opinions about other musicians. Who hasn't taken a shower with Frank Sinatra or Peggy Lee? Many of us who don't know better think of ourselves as singers. So an author of a book about jazz singers is bound to hit discordant notes with more than a few readers--why isn't a "pure" jazz mainstreamer like Etta Jones represented more fully (no, not Etta James)? Her recorded career extends from 1945 to October 2001, when she died on the day of the release of her Billie Holiday tribute. Why aren't Johnny Mandell and Shirley Horn, arguably the most memorable team since Sinatra and Riddle, afforded more space? Additionally, anyone who writes about singers is burdened with the task of sorting through not merely all of the candidates but, given the sometimes radical changes, over time, in vocal timbre and breath support, the numerous "personae" of any one of them (besides the controversy that a Billie Holiday can arouse, there's the other one about her Benny Goodman days vs. her Lady in Satin period). Then there's the question of the criteria that might disqualify an undeniably indelible voice such as Nancy LaMott's--for some of us there's enough jazz sensibility balancing the cabaret approach to justify if not require her inclusion.

Yanow ultimately invites readers to make their own calls, and hopefully his book will provoke them to do so. As often as I've challenged one of those CD anthologies--the Ultimate Art Tatum, etc.--it's led me to deeper and more concentrated explorations of an artist's work. And Yanow's book is practically guaranteed to confront the reader with the names of numerous heretofore unknown, unfamiliar performers while omitting a few along the way (I could easily list a dozen impressive female jazz vocalists whose CDs have arrived at my doorstep in the last several years--but apparently not at the author's). All the same, the author clearly has heard considerably more than most of us, and the book is guaranteed to motivate the reader to start listening more comprehensively and seriously.

Listeners looking for more of an "essay" on the subject may wish to check out Will Friedwald's "Jazz Singing," as noteworthy for the author's felicitous prose style as his occasionally acrimonious judgments (heaven help the singer who, above all, doesn't swing). Readers looking for a book similar to Yanow's but considerably less ultimate, or comprehensive, could get their feet wet (with no attendant damage) by picking up Max Morath's "NPR Listener's Guide to Pop Standards," in which the author includes emphasis on the messengers as well as the medium. One warning: if you're not a Sinatra fan, probably best to steer clear of all books on jazz singing, and the same holds true if, like some, you've become impatient with the ballad ever since Old Blue redefined it, leaving enough space between beats to allow the listener enough time to reflect upon the meaning of his entire existence.

This was an exceptionally thorough review of past & present practioners of the art of jazz vocalizing.
Even very experienced followers will have much useful info here.

Tom Pierce.

Jazz Singers is an outstanding history of vocal jazz. The author has done a tremendous job in researching some incredible, yet little known singers. The information is informative and fun to read. Being a huge jazz fan, I couldn't put the book down. Thank you Scott Yanow for doing this for fans of vocal jazz.

Don't Move
Well, I'm included in this book. But that doesn't mean I don't really appreciate it. I'd read it even if there were no entries about me. Scott is a very considerate and thorough writer. He takes time to get to know the artists, having a true interest in the art form.

I'm honored to have been included. I look forward to learning about everyone in the book!