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<\/a>Hendricks<\/p><\/div>Many considered Hendricks to be the father of vocalese \u2014 the art of setting lyrics to established jazz standards. Time magazine dubbed him \u201cthe James Joyce of jive,\u201d and music critic Leonard Feather called him \u201cthe poet laureate of modern jazz.\u201d<\/p>\n
In 1957, he formed the jazz vocal group Lambert, Hendricks & Ross. The trio refined vocalese, whereby voices are arranged to sing the parts of instruments. Vocalists Bobby McFerrin, Al Jarreau and the Manhattan Transfer cite the group\u2019s work as a major influence.<\/p>\n
Hendricks was born in Newark, Ohio, in 1921. His family moved to Toledo when he was 4 years old. They lived on the same street as Toledo\u2019s other jazz legend, pianist Art Tatum. <\/p>\n
\u201cEverything for me started right here in Toledo,\u201d the superstar said in a 2012 interview. \u201cWhen I was 12 or 13, I stood in front of the juke box at Stanley Cowell\u2019s hamburger joint on Indiana Avenue and learned every song. And when people would come up to play it, I\u2019d say, \u2018What are you going to play?\u2019 And they\u2019d say, \u2018What\u2019s it to you?\u2019 I said, \u2018Give me the nickel, I\u2019ll sing it.\u2019 And they\u2019d say, \u2018I\u2019d like to hear that.\u2019 So they\u2019d give the nickel, and I\u2019d sing them the song they were going to play.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs I look back on it, that\u2019s where vocalese came from,\u201d Hendricks said.<\/p>\n
At age 14, he started performing at the Waiters and Bellmen\u2019s Club on Indiana Avenue in Toledo. \u201cI met a lot of people at 14 \u2014 Louis Armstrong, Count Basie, Lucky Millinder, Andy Kirk, Don Redman. I met just about anybody that there was because everybody came to hear Art Tatum.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Scott High School graduate sang in Detroit and in the Glass City \u2014 until he was drafted into the army in 1942.<\/p>\n
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<\/a>Dave Lambert, left, Annie Ross and Jon Hendricks in 1961<\/p><\/div>After serving his country, Hendricks returned to Toledo. In 1946, he enrolled at The University of Toledo, where he studied literature and law. Some of his poetry was published in The Collegian, UT\u2019s student newspaper. All the while, he worked as a singer and drummer at night. Hendricks even sat in with Charlie \u201cBird\u201d Parker when he played the Civic Auditorium in Toledo in 1950. It was the saxophonist who encouraged him to go to New York City.<\/p>\n
With $27 in his pocket, Hendricks went to the Big Apple in 1952 and found Parker playing at the Apollo Bar. \u201c[Parker] had already told everybody about me, so I had an instant entry into the jazz world. I had sung with Dizzy [Gillespie], so I knew Dizzy and he talked about me, too. So everybody knew me,\u201d he recalled in a 2004 interview.<\/p>\n
Hendricks started writing and trying to sell his songs. After some success on his own, he teamed up with Dave Lambert. In 1955, they wrote \u201cFour Brothers,\u201d which they recorded as Jon Hendricks and the Dave Lambert Singers. <\/p>\n
The two continued to be innovative in the studio and began recording vocalese versions of Count Basie songs. Enter British jazz singer Annie Ross. She performed the trumpet and piano parts; Lambert took trombone and middle-tone sections; and Hendricks sang saxophone sections. Thanks to multi-track recording, the result was an orchestral sensation.<\/p>\n
\u201cSing a Song of Basie\u201d by Lambert, Hendricks & Ross was released in 1958. Accolades abounded. The trio continued their success, teaming up with the Count Basie Orchestra for \u201cSing Along With Basie\u201d in 1959. Buoyed by their growing reputation as masters of setting lyrics to jazz standards, the group released two more albums that same year \u2014 \u201cThe Swingers\u201d and \u201cThe Hottest New Group in Jazz.\u201d The title of the latter was courtesy of a critic.<\/p>\n
The three became a force in the music world and recorded nearly 30 albums. Ross left the group in 1963, and Lambert and Hendricks went their separate ways a year later.<\/p>\n
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