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Lambert, Hendricks & Ross

The premier jazz vocal act of all time, Lambert, Hendricks & Ross revolutionized vocal music during the late '50s and early '60s by turning away from the increasingly crossover slant of the pop world to embrace the sheer musicianship inherent in vocal jazz. Applying the concepts of bop harmonies to swinging vocal music, the trio transformed dozens of instrumental jazz classics into their own songs, taking scat solos and trading off licks and riffs in precisely the same fashion of their favorite improvising musicians. Vocal arranger Dave Lambert wrote dense clusters of vocal lines for each voice that, while only distantly related, came together splendidly. Jon Hendricks wrote clever, witty lyrics to jazz standards like "Summertime," "Moanin'" and "Twisted," and Ross proved to be one of the strongest, most dexterous female voices in the history of jazz vocals. Together Lambert, Hendricks & Ross paved the way for vocal groups like Manhattan Transfer while earning respect from vocalists and jazz musicians alike.

The act grew out of apartment jam sessions by Lambert, a pioneering arranger and bop vocalist who had appeared in groups led by Gene Krupa and Buddy Stewart — though he had also gained infamy leading a vocal choir on the disastrous "Charlie Parker with Voices" session recorded for Clef in 1953. That same year, Lambert met Jon Hendricks, who had similar vocal specialties that extended to lyrical changes. The pair debuted with a radically reworked version of "Four Brothers," which featured lyrics by Hendricks and note-for-note duplications of the original solos by Al Cohn, Zoot Sims, Stan Getz and Woody Herman. They recorded a few other sides but were unsuccessful until a chance meeting with solo vocalist Annie Ross hit paydirt.

The first LP by Lambert, Hendricks & Ross was 1957's Sing a Song of Basie. Though the trio originally intended to hire a complete vocal choir to supplement their voices, the general incompetence of the studio voices led them to multi-track their own voices. The results were excellent, incredible vocal recreations of complete solos from Basie classics like "One O'Clock Jump," "Down for Double" and "Avenue C" with added lyrics by Hendricks. The next year's follow-up, Sing Along with Basie, featured the bandleader himself and his group in a supporting role.

Perhaps realizing that multi-tracking was a bit of a gimmick, Lambert, Hendricks & Ross then recruited a straight rhythm trio and began touring and recording that way. The first studio effort, 1959's The Swingers!, represented a leap in quality and musicianship, leading to a contract with Columbia later that year. The trio recorded three albums for the label during the next two years, including a tribute to Duke Ellington.

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Radio & Podcasts

Vocalese (1952 - 1961)

Read "Vocalese (1952 - 1961)" reviewed by Russell Perry


Arising out of bebop vocals, a number of singers in the 1950s began to replicate famous instrumental solos with the human voice. The practice, initiated by Eddie Jefferson, King Pleasure and Annie Ross was known as vocalese and reached its peak in the extraordinary recordings of Lambert, Hendricks & Ross. Playlist Host Intro 0:00 King Pleasure Nonet. “Moody's Mood for Love (aka I'm in the Mood for Love)" from Jumpin' & Jivin' (Specialty) 2:43 King Pleasure Quartet. “Parker's ...

162
Album Review

Lambert, Hendricks, and Ross: Sing A Song of Basie

Read "Sing A Song of Basie" reviewed by David Rickert


Lambert, Hendricks, and Ross are pioneers of a unique singing style called vocalese, which involves replacing instrumental jazz with sung lines and invented lyrics. The method was first used by artists such as King Pleasure, who with a rhythm section backing him added lyrics to a Charlie Parker solo in a version that Parker hated. Lambert, Hendricks, and Ross took it to the logical next step, which was to duplicate an entire instrumental arrangement for voices; in this case, Count ...

198
Album Review

Lambert, Hendricks, and Ross: Sing A Song of Basie

Read "Sing A Song of Basie" reviewed by David Rickert


Lambert, Hendricks, and Ross are pioneers of a unique singing style called vocalese, which involves replacing instrumental jazz with sung lines and invented lyrics. The method was first used by artists such as King Pleasure, who with a rhythm section backing him added lyrics to a Charlie Parker solo in a version that Parker hated. Lambert, Hendricks, and Ross took it to the logical next step, which was to duplicate an entire instrumental arrangement for voices; in this case, Count ...

211
Album Review

Lambert, Hendricks & Bavan: Lambert, Hendricks & Bavan at Newport '63

Read "Lambert, Hendricks & Bavan at Newport '63" reviewed by C. Andrew Hovan


When it comes to the classic art of vocalese (i.e. putting words to instrumental solos), no group or individual has really come close to reaching the pinnacle obtained by the group Lambert, Hendricks, & Ross during the late '50s and early '60s. Their versions of “Cookin' at the Continental", “Cloudburst", and “Twisted", too name just a few, are still considered the quintessential examples of this art form. Unfortunately for Dave Lambert and Jon Hendricks, Annie Ross didn't stick around long, ...

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Lambert, Hendricks & Bavan: 1963

Lambert, Hendricks & Bavan: 1963

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers

In 1962, Annie Ross had to take a health break from the wildly successful vocal trio Lambert, Hendricks & Ross. In her place, Yolande Bavan (above) was hired. When I interviewed Yolande in 2007 three months after starting this blog, she told me the story of how she came to join the group (you can read all three parts of my interview here, here and here). Cruising YouTube yesterday, I came across Lambert, Hendricks & Bavan on Ralph Gleason's TV ...

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