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Topic: Vocalese


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In the News (Sun 29 Nov 09)

  
  Vocalese - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Vocalese is a style or genre of jazz singing wherein lyrics are written for melodies that were originally part of an all-instrumental composition or improvisation.
Where scat singing uses improvised nonsense syllables in solos, vocalese uses lyrics, either improvised or set to pre-existing instrumental solos.
The word "vocalese" is a play on the musical term "vocalise" and the suffix "-ese", meant to indicate a sort of private language.
en.wikipedia.org /wiki/Vocalese   (174 words)

  
 Volition & Vocalese
For those that do not understand what “vocalese jazz” is, it is when a jazz vocalist takes a jazz composition or an important jazz solo from the vast jazz repertoire, and they write words to perform to it.
He is the man that the vocalese torch was passed on to from Eddie Jefferson and King Pleasure.
Vocalese artists have always raised the bar as far as their art is concerned, but Elling has raised it higher, and will probably continue to do so in the future.
www.allaboutjazz.com /php/article.php?id=17706   (1333 words)

  
 Vocalese Downloads - Download Vocalese Music - Download Vocalese MP3s
Featuring vocalese covers of "Java Jive" and "Tuxedo Junction" as well as a Top 40 hit in the aggressive gospel tune "Operator," the album rejuvenated the field of vocalese (dormant since the mid-'60s) and made the quartet stars in the jazz community across Europe as well as America.
The genius of vocalese, Jon Hendricks' ability to write coherent lyrics to the most complex recorded improvisations is quite notable, as were his contributions to the classic jazz vocal group Lambert, Hendricks and Ross.
The founder of vocalese (putting recorded solos to words), Eddie Jefferson did not have a great voice, but he was one of the top jazz singers, getting the maximum out of what he had.
www.mp3.com /Vocalese/genre/503/subgenre.html   (2992 words)

  
 CSIndy: Vocalese, If You Please (November 18 - November 24, 1999)
For those of you not familiar with the term vocalese, you might have to mosey yourself on over to the Fine Arts Center for KCME's finale to its Fall Jazz Concerts on Wednesday evening to let Gates, backed by the Eric Gunnison Trio, hip you to some ear training.
Vocalese artists have fashioned lyrics to the music of such greats as Thelonious Monk, Charlie Parker, George and Ira Gershwin, and Miles Davis.
Usually springboarding off the title of the tune, vocalese singers intertwine words and syllables to the notes of the solos and the melodies.
www.csindy.com /csindy/1999-11-18/bangstrum.html   (1302 words)

  
 Vocalese -- Facts, Info, and Encyclopedia article   (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-22)
Where (Singing jazz; the singer substitutes nonsense syllables for the words of the song and tries to sound like a musical instrument) scat singing uses improvised nonsense syllables in solos, vocalese uses lyrics, either improvised or set to pre-existing instrumental solos.
Latter-day performers known for vocalese include (Click link for more info and facts about Al Jarreau) Al Jarreau and (Click link for more info and facts about Manhattan Transfer) Manhattan Transfer.
See also (A genre (usually a capella) of Black vocal-harmony music of the 1950s that evolved in New York City from gospel singing; characterized by close four-part harmonies; the name derived from some of the nonsense syllables sung by the back-up vocalists) doo-wop, (Click link for more info and facts about voice instrumental) voice instrumental.
www.absoluteastronomy.com /encyclopedia/v/vo/vocalese.htm   (262 words)

  
 vocalese   (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-22)
There is nothing really wrong with this concert DVD (aside from the fact that the 80's hairdos and stage costumes look really silly now), but their fanbase should be large enough by now to warrant releasing a more recent slate of shows.
In this show's defense, the material on their "Vocalese" album (which this show was part of a tour to promote) is extremely difficult to sing live, and the Transfer manage to pull it off without missing a beat.
Bassist Charles Mingus was perhaps the most outspoken critic of such attempts to "transcribe" jazz into "vocalese." Whether or not these four exceptional singers are jazz musicians or jazz "ambassadors," all I know is that they've given me pleasure and inspired me to return to the originals.
vocalese.idoneos.com   (513 words)

  
 Directory - Arts: Music: Vocal: Singers: Jazz: J: Jefferson, Eddie   (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-22)
Scat singer and master of vocalese, Jefferson wrote lyrics to and sang be-bop and post-bop.
The Eddie Jefferson Recordings  · cached · Jefferson was one of the creators of vocalese, and sang be-bop.
Vocalese: Eddie Jefferson  · cached · The first vocalese performer to get anywhere at all.
www.incywincy.com /default?p=507669   (149 words)

  
 allmusic
Vocalese is the art of writing lyrics to fit recorded instrumental solos, many of which end up being tongue twisters.
In later years, Hendricks led the Hendricks Family (which revived many of the Lambert, Hendricks & Ross classics), and Manhattan Transfer sometimes used vocalese.
Although it has rarely advanced beyond bop (other than Jefferson's successful transformations of "Freedom Jazz Dance" and "Bitches Brew"), vocalese is still used as an option by today's jazz singers.
www.allmusic.com /cg/amg.dll?p=amg&token=ADFEAEE4781ED846AF7220DCC76A5CE9B076FE08D84CF49A50234558C0B00862945C53EB59E9D1D2B9E577B479ABB328AE5A0AD9CBED469CA1&sql=77:461   (74 words)

  
 Compare Prices and Read Reviews on Couldn't Be Hotter - Manhattan Transfer at Epinions.com
When the group sticks to jazz and vocalese, their albums are excellent.
Vocalese became even more popular when Lambert, Hendricks and Ross perfected it in the 1950's.
It has to be listened to and this song is what vocalese is. Kilmas adds a fine soprano sax solo which trades fours with Johnson's guitar.
www.epinions.com /content_121062395524   (1190 words)

  
 The Orleans Hotel and Casino   (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-22)
The album rejuvenated the field of vocalese and made the quartet stars in the jazz community across Europe as well as America.
Vocalese was another commercial and critical smash, matching lyrics penned by songwriter Jon Hendricks, to classic jazz instrumentals.
Vocalese was rewarded with 12 Grammy nominations and two Grammy awards.
www.orleanscasino.com /entertainment/manhattan-transfer.html   (383 words)

  
 ICM - International Creative Management, Inc.   (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-22)
However, it was the 1985 release of Vocalese, produced by Tim Hauser, that became known as the group’s tour de force effort.
Vocalese included some highly complex material that ably tested the quartet’s capabilities - a challenge which they met magnificently.
When The Manhattan Transfer toured Japan for the Vocalese tour, a recording was made of the shows, and the group’s second live album, Live in Tokyo, was released in 1987.
www.icmartists.com /musperf/profiles/70075.html   (1130 words)

  
 hipbopvocalese.com - Home
The World According to Bop: Hip Bop Vocalese lyrics is a treasure of folklore from the perspective of the source culture of the bebop and hard bop eras.
The book of jazz lyrics is a poetic oral history lesson told through the music by a master storyteller who fluently speaks the idiomatic languages of bop, hip talk and scat… the basic elements of vocalese.
Learn these lyrics as a phat rapper or a hip singer and be on the cutting edge of the new hip bop phenomenon ushering in the new millenium.
www.galaxymall.com /virtual/hipbopvocalese/home2/index.html   (170 words)

  
 Jazzitalia - Lezioni Storia: Il Vocalese - Moody's Mood: Studio dell'esecuzione
I brani vocalese hanno in genere un'estensione molto ampia.
Il vocalese non è un esercizio scolastico da studiare a memoria e basta, quando si studia è una palestra, dopo dobbiamo anche metterci del nostro in qualche modo.
In questo vocalese non ci sono più altre grosse difficoltà.
www.jazzitalia.net /lezioni/storia/vocalese/gp_moodysmood.asp   (1595 words)

  
 Best Vocalese Gospel sites
Vocalese" is the art setting established instrumental jazz solos to lyrics and singing them.
The album rejuvenated the field of vocalese and made the...
It was a rare night of jumping jive, jazz, blues, and "primarily acapella" harmonies of the Manhattan Transfer at the Royale Pavilion of the Rivera Hotel and Casino's Convention Center in Las Vegas.
www.creativepowerwebsites.com /cgi-bin/metasearch.cgi/?skin=x&keywords=Vocalese+Gospel   (755 words)

  
 Vocalese: Jon Hendricks
Vocalese didn't really take off until Jon Hendricks got his hands on it.
He wrote scads of great vocalese lyrics for that group and later the Manhattan Transfer, plus a long solo career which is still going strong.
Jon's vocalese is on a Lester Young solo, Judith's is Buck Clayton's.
www.deathstar.org /~colomon/vocalese/hendricks.html   (445 words)

  
 The Vocalese Page
Jon has also formed a vocalese ensemble (the "Vocalstra") at the University of Toledo, with somewhere from seven to sixteen singers, depending on the needs of the material they are working on.
He's also very interested in seeing other vocalese ensembles form, and is intent on getting his book of lyrics out soon to help them.
A contemporary of LHR that's still active, he's written at least a smattering of vocalese lyrics and sung perhaps twice as many.
www.ralf.org /~colomon/vocalese/vocalese.html   (1406 words)

  
 Jazzitalia - Artisti: Carmen Nikol
In June of the same year she went into the studio to record a CD's worth of material utilizing this art form (vocalese) which originated in the USA in it's native English language.
She could have fallen back on the typical melodies of the day, but instead has opted for the discipline of jazz, she has taken melodies that were based on improvisation, and has added lyrics to these more or less known instrumental solos.
The Carmen Nikol Vocalese Experience is a musical project in which the innovative singer / lyricist / composer Carmen Nikol sings vocalese for the first time in the history of jazz, in Spanish.
www.jazzitalia.net /artisti/carmennikol_eng.asp   (1362 words)

  
 CD Review of Giacomo Gates - Centerpiece on Origin Records @ jazzreview.com
One of the saxophone masters who inspired some of the classic vocalese renditions is still with us: James Moody, who seemed to attract the leading practitioners of the form, like Eddie Jefferson or Babs Gonzales.
With only Jon Hendricks remaining of the rare group of male vocalese masters, it’s gratifying to have Giacomo Gates back from Alaska for good to continue the vocalese tradition for the current generation, reminding us of its ability to delight and its vitality.
The concern for its perpetuation, though, seems to be the conversion of recently recorded jazz solos, such as Houston Person’s or Tom Harrell’s, to vocalese interpretations, lending the same sense of immediacy to vocalese that it offered in the 1950’s.
www.jazzreview.com /cdreview.cfm?ID=7600   (762 words)

  
 SING A SONG OF BASIE Lambert, Hendricks & Ross: Jazz CD Reviews- Feb 2001 MusicWeb(UK)   (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-22)
The early 1950's were a time of great change in the jazz world; the LP record had caused all the jazz names to re-think their performances, to accommodate the new media.
The term vocalese was invented at that time, to mean the use of the human voice, to replace the instruments of the Orchestra.
King Pleasure was also into the vocalese business at that time, but what had not been done was to use the human voice to replace all the horns in a Big Band.
www.musicweb-international.com /jazz/2001/Feb01/Sing_a_song_of_Basie.htm   (364 words)

  
 Living Encyclopedia of Global African Music - Forum   (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-22)
Vocalese is a term used to describe the application of lyrics to previously existing jazz tunes or instrumental solos.
The conversion of scat into lyrics and story lines marks the beginning of vocalese which dates back as far as the late 1930s but was perfected by Eddie Jefferson in the early 1940s.
Such an application must take account of the articulation of the instrumentalist vs. the vocal technique of traditional singing, hence musicians make the best scatters and vocalese performers in spite of their sometimes diminished vocal talents.
aainnovators.com /CMS/modules/newbb   (483 words)

  
 Jazzitalia - Lezioni Storia: Il Vocalese - Capitolo 2: "Twisted" e gli altri vocalese di Annie Ross
I due choruses di tema iniziali raccontano la circostanza dell'incontro del narratore con il protagonista della storia, un topolino di nome Jackie, che, nei choruses sul solo di Wardell Gray, narra in prima persona la propria storia di musicista di jazz, i propri successi musicali e le incomprensioni da parte del mondo commerciale musicale.
Il vocalese è giocato sui doppi sensi della parola "mouse", topo, che qui è usata sia in contrapposizione a "cat", gatto, che in gergo jazzistico significa "musicista jazz", sia nell'altra accezione slang di "ragazza".
Lo stile compositivo del vocalese è unitario nei tre testi e dimostra una notevole conoscenza delle tecniche di versificazione contemporanee ed anche una particolare attenzione alle tecniche della composizione orale.
www.jazzitalia.net /lezioni/storia/vocalese/gp_capitolo2.asp   (2555 words)

  
 Amazon.ca: Music: Vocalese [Import]   (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-22)
This set was quite a bit different, for it is dedicated to the vocalese of the great Jon Hendricks.
This is one of their finest jazz recordings and a classic of its kind.
Eddie Jefferson was the Godfather of Vocalese -- the art of ascribing lyrics to often humorous high speed heavy swinging bebop solos, which is what this album was about...
www.amazon.ca /exec/obidos/ASIN/B000002II2   (635 words)

  
 The Manhattan Transfer: Vocalese Live DVD   (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-22)
Recorded live at Nakano Sun Plaza Hall, Tokyo, Japan, on February 20 and 21, 1986 during The Manhattan Transfer's tour in support of the Vocalese album.
Please note that this was recorded in 1986 and was originally release in VHS and BETA versions.
The DVD release does reveal some limitations in the quality of the video and sound due to the recording method of the day, but it is still a great performance and Image Entertainment has done a fine job on this release.
www.tmtfanclub.com /vocaleselive.html   (84 words)

  
 CD reviews: "Couldn't Be Hotter" "Friday Night Special" and "Talk of the Town"
The band's not had a hit in years, and their new live album is unlikely to get them airplay on many non-jazz stations – but "Couldn't Be Hotter" also shows that this quartet has lost none of its edge, creativity or eternal supper-club brand of classiness.
No other band has so seamlessly blended the vocalese stylings of the Boswell and Andrews Sisters with modern sounds, and they again meet that standard here.
It is at minimum, and quite inarguably, one of the best Manhattan Transfer recordings yet made in a remarkable career, and shows that the band remains a singular force of music.
www.trageser.com /archive/music/album-manhattanxfer.html   (970 words)

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