All Jazzed Up, Part 2: Vocal

If you’ve missed the first installment and doesn’t want to back-read, here’s the short of what All Jazzed Up is. It’s my (now) series of posts about my top five jazz albums of a particular kind - guitar for part 1. This is my way to recommend which albums to get if you are a fan of jazz, or if you want to get into jazz. Today, I am listing 5 of my favorite vocal jazz albums. But before that, let me state my two rules for these lists, so that you’d know how things work here. 1.) An artist will not appear on a list twice. I want to encourage everyone to check out as many artists as they can. Jazz is after all a very diverse field of music, and it has a plethora of performers with their own styles. 2.) I am not including compilation albums. I don’t hate compilation albums, but I think the main albums are the ones to listen to if you want to understand an artist’s works and visions. If you are unable to find copies of the listed albums, though, compilations are good substitutes.

5. Julie London - Julie is Her Name vol. 1

When you hear many jazz vocalists, your reaction upon reading this may be a beffudled "why Julie?" You might say that she’s not the most talented musician, and that her voice has a very limited range. Those are true, of course, but I like this album’s minimal approach. Most other vocalists’ albums are backed by a sometimes overwhelming big band, or at least by a trio. This album, however, only has a guitar and a bass accompanying Julie. Since it’s merely the 3 of them, the songs have a very muted feel and they achieve a very film-noir-ish ambience. Who can hear her sing Cry Me A River and not feel bluesy and chilly?

Cry me a river (Julie London)

4. Ella Fitzgerald - Sings the Johnny Mercer Song Book

Ella’s songbook albums are legendary. On each of them, she sings songs focused on one of many famous jazz composers - like Ira and George Gershwin, Cole Porter, Duke Ellington, etc. Of her many songbooks, I like Johnny Mercer’s the most (and Cole Porter’s at a very close second). But, I advice you not take this particular choice too seriously. By all means, discover Ella songbooks. There are too many to choose from and arguing which one is best is simply a matter of which composer and which arrangement you like the most. I like Johnny Mercer Song Book for the often understated big band arrangement, and for the ebullient lyrics of the songs. As for Ella Fitzgerald, in terms of vocal range and purity of voice, she’s arguably the best among all jazz vocalists.

Something’s Gotta Give (Ella Fitzgerald)

3. Billie Holiday - Songs for Distingue Lovers

Billie Holiday is also one of the finest jazz vocalists. She sounds like she has her vocal chords continuously yanked, and that results to her voice having limited range. But rather than letting her limitations cripple her, she knows how to use them to give her songs more personal touches. She has a penchant to the blues, too, which helps. I like this ablum’s choice of instruments, which include piano, drums, bass, saxophone, guitar and a muted trumpet. I also like the arrangement. All songs have a soft, intimate, and bittersweet feel. They’re the kind of music ideal for when you’re dining with your love. Thank me later for that advice.

A Foggy Day (Billie Holiday)

2. Gil Scott-Heron and Brian Jackson – Winter In America

I put this here because I read that this is a jazz album. Frankly, I don’t know what’s jazzy about it. Sure, there are improvisations, but improvisations are not restricted to jazz. None of the songs here swing. I guess Brian Jackon’s organ-and-flute-playing is the reason this is considered "jazz". If you’re a purist and if you don’t like the merging of jazz and funk/soul music, you might not like this album. I love it. Gil Scott Heron isn’t the best vocalist, but he puts so much feeling into his lyrics that it’s impossible not to like him. And his songs are always originals. That’s right, folks, while other albums here are renditions of jazz standards, Winter in America – as is the case of every Scott-Heron’s albums – consists entirely of original compositions. Each song is distinct, fresh and unrepetitive. These songs also span no-nonsense topics like drug addiction, alcoholism, platonic love, newborn child, going home, and even the Watergate scandal. (Someone of the present generation needs to take a page from  Scott-Heron and to stop singing about personal "angst") His songwriting is influential, that he is often cited as a progenitor to rap music. Intelligent rap music, that is.

(Make sure you get the extended edition of the album, which includes 4 live performances. The live version of The Bottle is remarkable. I uploaded both the studio and the live version, so that you can compare.) 

The Bottle (Gil Scott-Heron & Brian Jackson)

The Bottle (Live) (Gil Scott-Heron & Brian Jackson)

1. John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman – Self-Titled

This album is billed to both Johnny Hartman (a vocalist) and John Coltrane (a saxophonist), but I consider Coltrane’s role here as secondary. That’s not to say his contributions aren’t significant. Quite the contrary, as he complements Johnny Hartman perfectly. Although he’s well known for playing heavy and aggressive avant-garde jazz, here he proves that he can do just as well when playing soft ballads. As for Johnny Hartman, imagine an archetypical crooner from the 50’s and you’d have an idea how he sounds like. Now imagine such crooner accompanied with a saxophone, a piano, a bass, and a drum, and you still wouldn’t come close to predicting how beautiful the entire album sounds. Every songs here create a very romantic atmosphere, and I dare suggest that you play them when you and your love ones are, well, close.

My One And Only Love (John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman)

So those are my selections. Again, if you have anything else to suggest, go abuse my comment box!