Customer Reviews

Jazz Singing: America's Great Voices From Bessie Smith To Bebop And Beyond

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Tried hard as I may, but I never found another book as half as passionate about this subject.O.K. I understand that some people have problems with liking the same things as author (I as the first one, LOVE Cleo Laine and he despises her, so what?)but Mr.Friewlad obviously know the field he is writting about and for me its pure pleasure to read this book again and again.I found so many inspirations here, discovered so many names nowadays no one mention anymore and to put it simply, I think this is the best book written about jazz singing.Music being my hobby & passion, I have this book with me as Im travelling and I never get bored with it... I would love to meet Mr.Friewald one day and thank him for the hours of pleasures he gave me with this book and all this suggestions (and to discuss Cleo laine with him)!

Friedwald is not an elegant writer, but he crams a lot of information into the book. This is a controversial subject. I would prefer to limit the lineage to Armstrong-Rushing-Cole-Torme, Holiday-Humes-Fitzgerald-Vaughan-O'Day (and followers), leaving the Crosby-Sinatra-Bennett-Brewer-Clooney group separate as 'jazz-influenced' singers. But it's his book. I think, as others have mentioned, that he really misses the boat by dismissing the Four Freshmen and Hi-Los so contemptuously, and I can't find a thing to admire about Betty Carter's squeaky little voice myself. But those are my opinions. Great discography. Just wince and read on.

Will Friedwald has written the most definitive book on Jazz Singing to date (and I think you'd find it rather difficult to scope out another book solely on this subject). He dared to do what others wouldn't; he's written a book that can never have a final edition. Friedwald is smart enough to know that Jazz singing influenced Pop singing, and the influence was reciprocated (as is the case with Bing Crosby and Louis Armstrong). He's not afraid to write about singers or even entertainers that might have helped bring jazz singing to the mainstream simply by their adopting jazz-vocal characteristics (as is the case with Al Jolson and Eddie Cantor).

Will Friedwald finally gives certain singers their due by showing them to be the trailblazers, pioneers, and inspirations that they were and will always be. He gives Mel Torme the credit he deserves with Cool Jazz Vocals, sighting his artistry, and scatting-the-chorus method. And he finally shows the world that Bing Crosby is the singular most influential American Pop Vocalist of the 20th Century (as his influence effected Jazz singing aswell).

In addition, Freidwald gives exstensive, beautifully written passages on the great Vocalists Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday, Billy Eckstine, and Sarah Vaughn.

He also writes just as brilliantly about the great Jimmy Rushings, Ethel Waters, and Bessie Smith.

All in all, Will Friedwald's "Jazz Singing" is a must for anyone studying American Music, and you MUST HAVE IT if you're a jazz fan!

Friedwald has written a great book--precisely because it's opinionated, un-pretentious, filled with passionate likes and dislikes. Friedwald has apparently listened to every jazz-sung record in history, and his book makes you want to listen to all of it too--in my case, for the first time. For that I'd love to thank him personally. If you believe that understanding the conventions of an art form helps you appreciate it fully, "Jazz Singing" is an eduacation in what to listen for...in how to listen to jazz singing. I don't always agree with Friedwald and neither will you, but so what? A wonderful book about an art that seems unfortunately to be dying out--a book that helps, along with all the CD re-issues that thankfully come out, to keep it alive.

this book is unusual in that mr friedwald, who has obviously listened and studied his subjects recordings to an almost scholarly degree,is one of the very few music writers/critics whose writing is so engrossing that i want to go and buy all the artists recordings of those he reviews in the pages of this book and yet i find some of his sniping against rock music a wee bit tedious not so much that he does but he telegraphs his punches so when he initially attacks it it's ok but after awhile as you read thru' the book it becomes tedious and virtually blaming mitch miller and in particular elvis presley for the fall of western civilisation is again a bit tedious and over the top.his sniping at linda ronstadt i feel is also unfair because it was her records in the mid 80's that made me a fan of the american popular songbook,not so much her singing which i found not really up to the job but she did introduce a 16 yr old boy to those great songs and the wonderful nelson riddle and riddle actually made his first serious money from her records,he was only paid on a per chart basis for his classic work with frank sinatra as i understand it.his over the top praising of mel torme is too much,he was ok but no way deserving of the rapturous kudos handed out to his work by mr friedwald,he also seemed to ignore one my faves in lena horne,yet he wrote the liner notes to two of the best horne cds out there.flawed but i wouldn't be without this book and i would recommend it to anyone .

When I first read this book, I knew very little about the singers featured in it. It opened a new world to me in which I learned about individual singers, their different periods and styles and their relationships to each other. It covered some who currently are not as well known. This gave me an opportunity to enjoy some singers I would never have known about otherwise. In addition, it gave a context to the development of jazz and on who influenced whom. My main criticism is that it is not easy to read, given a "bop" like writing style. This made it more appropriate to browse or to use as a reference book rather than to read it straight through.

Friedwald has definitely got to be the currently most prolific writer on all matters related to the "Great American Songbook" and its performers. His name appears constantly on CD liner notes, his voice is regularly heard on NPR, and his face appears on television whenever an assessment of a recently expired pop star or jazz great is called for. It stands to reason that his opinions wield influence, so as a champion of the music that is the subject of his discourse, I can only hope that his pronouncements are for the better.

In most instances, his judgements seem sound, and he usually expresses them with a directness and verve that make for engaging reading. Among the better moments in the book are his dismissal of a Michael Feinstein, a Johnny Mathis, or an Andy Williams as subjects worthy of discussion in a serious book about American popular music.

The musicians he devotes chapters to are all deserving, and he provides no small amount of insight into the historical significance and unique talents of his subjects. Still, he can strain a bit too hard to make a case for a singer such as Bing Crosby, proclaiming him a better all-around musician than Sinatra and insisting that the man, if anything, got better with the passing of time. I get the sense that Friedwald knows quite a bit about music, but perhaps not quite enough. And it's not clear that he's ever had much experience performing music. If he had, he'd be more aware of the differences in vocal production, say, between a stand-up singer and a pianist-singer. Or of the kind of risk that is present not only in Sinatra's persona but in the approach to a lyric and its elocution that are part of his music. Bing may have a good ear and good time, but even on his noisy (thanks to Bregman's orchestration) Sinatra-style 1950's session, his time is leaden. He's thinking two-beat instead of 4/4 swing, and he plops his syllables right on top of each beat in order to be able to "think" the 2nd beat that characterizes his Dixieland approach.

But if there's any genuine disappointment with the book, it's with what's been left out. Whether it's because he's too busy writing or completing his Crosby collection, Friedwald seems totally unaware of singers like Jack Jones, Shirley Horn, Nancy Lamott and, most notably of all, Etta Jones. One can only hope that a book such as this will lead readers to make their discovery.

Jazz Singing covers 20th jazz singing from classic blues to post-bop singers. The book is notable for breadth, Friedwald's often sharp humor, and a knack for exploring underrated singers such as Kay Starr and Helen Humes. Though I don't always agree with him he is passionate and knowing.

Jazz Singing is more of a commentary than a history of jazz singing and lacks the thoroughness and balance of a book written by a cultural historian as opposed to a fan/critic/liner note writer/compiler.

The book is haunted by a defeatist nostalgia the author is too young for and obvious theses repeated ad nauseam. The author holds simplistic notions of how black and whites sing and never actually differentiates between adult and kiddie pop. Is this simply a matter of musical sophistication or assumptions about how love can be expressed? The assertion (one shared w/ Stanley Crouch and Donald Clarke) that adult pop is dead, is one that must be argued not simply asserted.

It is also peculiar that Friedwald never devotes any attention to the fact that kiddie pop novelties, pre and post Mitch Miller largely define the careers of many singers he praises including Bing Crosby, Jo Stafford, Peggy Lee and Doris Day--(who,for example indulged w/ novelties during her Les Brown stint).

Jazz Singing is also growing dated, a hazard of such a nostalgically minded, cynical book. Strangely even in the 1996 edition Jimmy Scott (who came back in the '90s) and Shirley Horn (who came back in the '80s) are absent, [except very brief comments] Blues/R&B-based singers w/ jazz-oriented careers (i.e. Ruth Brown, Etta James, early Ray Charles and Aretha Franklin) are overlooked. Finally, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Kevin Mahogany, Dianne Reeves, Patricia Barber, Diana Krall, Kurt Elling, etc. whose careers overlap the 1996 edition are barely mentioned [except a mention of Elling]

This is a fun book but more useful as a consumer guide based on its discography and several choice passages. If you want a history of jazz singing you would do better to check out Gary Giddins' anthologies (where is his jazz singing book?!) and instrumental and vocal jazz histories by Giola and Shipton, respectively.

I will keep this short and simple: Friedwald is a bad writer. This book contains a lot of bad jokes, forced analogies, a juvenile prose style and some occasional mistakes. However, this book is invaluable for someone who knows little about jazz singing, for it contains much information and most, if not all, the really important names in vocal jazz. However, if you are a more experienced listener, you will be put off by his off-handed dismissals of legends like Helen Merrill and talented minor figures like Lee Morse and Julie London, with little or no justification for his dislike of them. But he praises people like Perry Como, Dinah Shore and Doris Day.
Hmmmm.

Will Friedwald loves his subject and it shows. I learned a lot and agree with, perhaps, 95% of his judgments. But some of his dismissals sound perfunctory and I'm not even sure that he even reviewed the relevant material. Example: Jonny Mathis in the "Must Avoid" Department. Generally true, but certainly not the very first albumn (CK 64890) which has some excellent vocals and arrangements in the jazz idiom. "Easy to Love" and "Star Eyes" are splendid and his "It Might as Well be Spring" is one of the best, at least to my ear. But I almost forgive him since he praises the much-neglected Dakota Staton. Almost, but not quite. And, please, David Raksin deserves to have his name spelled straight. Anyone who could compose "Laura" and "The Bad and the Beautiful" deserves editorial accuracy.