On The Bookshelf
Jazz Singing | Will Friedwald
The four hundred and fifty five page book is a testament to America’s great voices from Bessie Smith to bebop and beyond. Friedwald has over the past two decades, emerged as the single most recognized authority on jazz singers. His liner notes have enhanced hundreds of vocal reissues, and his books and newspaper columns are equally perceptive.
As the title promises, Friedwald has broadened his scope to 210 singers that are not exclusively jazz but now include pop singers, such as Elvis Presley, Johnny Mathis and Patti Page. For serious jazz vocal fans, he gives us seminal performers Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan, Louis Armstrong and Sinatra, whose analysis of specific albums is consistently enlightening. There are lesser lights-Jackie Paris, David Allyn, Edythe Wright, Irene Reid and several dozen others. The list also reminds us of Doris Day, Jack Jones, Steve Lawrence, Eydie Gormé, Judy Garland and Martha Raye.
Read at your leisure, dive in for one story or two and discover precious nuggets to add to your understanding of a time when jazz was king..
