Jazz History Class: Jazz Vocalists and Cool Jazz

Vocalists: Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughn, Billie Holiday. Billy Eckstine,

Nat King Cole, Frank Sinatra

Cool Jazz and Third Stream

Topics we will discuss and learn:

Vocalists role in jazz
Impact of popular music
Cool Jazz and Third Stream

Vocalists role in jazz

Since the early years of jazz vocalists were secondary to the band and many of them jumped around from band to band not having any permanent home.

Near the end of the big band era many vocalists became prominent and more important than the bands themselves and even lead their own bands.

Female singers had to deal with many obstacles such as being regarded as “canaries” because they did not play an instrument. Sarah Vaughan, however, was respected among many musicians because she played the piano. Female singers also had to deal with the sexism, racism, verbal and sometimes physical abuse that occurred while touring and performing.

Impact of popular music

The “great American songs” by songwriters, Irving Berlin, George & Ira Gershwin, Cole Porter, Duke Ellington and the vocalists who sang them were now the most popular selling recordings. Singers like Frank Sinatra, Nat King Cole, Sarah Vaughan, Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday and Louis Armstrong were some of the most popular singers.

Some Songs that were popular

All of Me

Tenderly

Tisket a Tasket

Just Friends

Rhythm and Blues became popular as well and would be the precursor to rock and roll. Singers like Louis Jordan took the riff style of the Basie band and bands like his to make a swinging, blues, riff-based music called R&B.

Cool Jazz and Third Stream

Gil Evans and Miles Davis recorded an album entitled “Birth of the Cool,” which spawned a movement among many west coast musicians as well as many white musicians with a few exceptions.

Miles used a nine piece group of trumpet, alto saxophone, baritone saxophone,

trombone, tuba, French horn, piano, bass, and drums known as a nonet.

The music was more subdued than bebop and used lighter tones.

There were also more instruments than bebop (except for the bebop big band of

Dizzy Gillespie)

Musicians who played cool jazz:

Miles Davis - trumpet

Gil Evans - arranging

Gerry Mulligan – baritone saxophone

Lee Konitz – alto saxophone

Paul Desmond – alto saxophone

Chet Baker - trumpet