Vocalese is a style ofjazz singing in which words are added to an instrumental soloist's improvisation.
Vocalese uses recognizable lyrics that are sung to pre-existing instrumental solos, as opposed toscat singing, which uses nonsense words such as "bap ba dee dot bwee dee" in solos.[1] In the "first wave" of vocalese creation, that sometimes took the form of a tribute to the original instrumentalist. The word "vocalese" is a play on the musical term "vocalise"; the suffix "-ese" is meant to indicate a sort of language. The term was attributed byJon Hendricks to the jazz criticLeonard Feather to describe the firstLambert, Hendricks, and Ross album,Sing a Song of Basie.[2]
Most vocalese lyrics are entirely syllabic, as opposed tomelismatic. That may lead to the use of many words sung quickly in a givenphrase, especially in the case ofbebop.
King Pleasure recorded several pioneering examples of vocalese beginning in 1949. Vocalese's best-known practitioners and popularisers areLambert, Hendricks and Ross, consisting of Jon Hendricks,Dave Lambert andAnnie Ross.[3] Other performers known for vocalese includeBob Dorough,Eddie Jefferson,Giacomo Gates,[4]Kurt Elling,Al Jarreau,Mark Murphy,Roger Miller,New York Voices, The Royal Bopsters andThe Manhattan Transfer, whose Grammy-winning version ofWeather Report's "Birdland" featured lyrics by Jon Hendricks. In 1990, Hendricks released "Freddie Freeloader", a vocalese rendition of the Miles Davis song, which featured Jarreau,George Benson, andBobby McFerrin.
Joni Mitchell recorded lyrics toCharles Mingus's tunes, with "The Dry Cleaner from Des Moines" and "Goodbye Pork Pie Hat" on her album,Mingus, in 1979.[5]
Vocalese singers around the world includeLes Double Six, popular in the 1960s, and in Canada,Emilie-Claire Barlow.
Some performers, notablySlim Gaillard,Harry Gibson,Cab Calloway, andLeo Watson, combine vocalese improvisations with scat singing.