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Jon Hendricks in Paris!
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Jon Hendricks is an inventor of vocalese, a prolific lyricist and swinging singer. And now he is the Distinguished Professor of Jazz Studies at the University of Toledo.
In May 2002, Professor Hendricks was invited to lecture at the most famous university in Paris, the Sorbonne. So he brought his class to France! And we're with them, this week on JazzSet.
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Hendricks on NPR
Photo: Tim Owens
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Born in Newark, Ohio, in 1922, Jon was one of 17 children. As a teenager, he sang with the virtuosic Toledo pianist Art Tatum. During World War II, young Jon was a soldier, landing safely on Utah Beach twelve days after D-Day. After the war, he resettled in New York for the jazz action.
In the mid 1950s, he joined with friends Annie Ross and Dave Lambert to write lyrics for popular big band arrangements -- clever, intelligent, hard-to-sing lyrics. Jazz singers have been trying to figure out his words ever since. Lambert, Hendricks & Ross performed them with the Count Basie Orchestra for several years. They were a huge hit! Vocalese was born, and so was Jon's international career.
Hendricks says, "As long as I live, no great music is going to go unvocalized." (He's working on the Rimsky-Korsakoff Sheherazade for a performance with the Toledo Symphony.) At Les Ducs de Lombards jazz club in Paris, Jon's scat-singing daughter Michelle joins him toward the end of our show. She gets the spotlight on "Nice Work if You Can Get It" with her French trio. Enjoy your night in Paris with JazzSet!
 Profile: Jon Hendricks (RealAudio)
Thurston Briscoe, currently the program director at WBGO-FM, profiled Hendricks for NPR in 1985.
SONG LIST
First Set: Jon Hendricks and his trio, with Mark Keiswetter on piano, guitarist Ed Levy, Bruno Rousselet on bass, and drummer Andrea Michelutti
"I'm Getting Married in the Morning" (Lerner/Loewe)
"Retrato em Branco e Preto" (Jobim/Hendricks)
"Blues March" (Golson/Hendricks)
Second Set: Jon Hendricks and the Vocal-stra
"Avenue C" (Clayton/Hendricks)
"My Ship" (Weill/Hendricks)
"April in Paris" (Duke/Harburg/Hendricks)
Third Set: Jon and Michele Hendricks with Arnaud Mattei on piano, Bruno Rousselet on bass, and drummer Andrea Michelutti
"Cookin at the Continental" (Silver/Hendricks)
"Nice Work if You Can Get It" (Gershwin)
"Cloudburst" (Harris/Hendricks/Kirkland)
RESOURCES
WBGO-FM interview with Jon Hendricks and Annie Ross
John Hendricks page
University of Toledo Jazz Program
La Maison du Jazz in Paris
Radio France, France Musiques
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CREDITS
The concert was presented by la Maison du Jazz in Paris, founded by Anne Legrand and Laurent Cugny. The recording for "Jazz Club" on Radio France (France Musiques) was produced by Claude Carriere with Jean Delmas, engineers Yvan Charbit and Franck Malabry
This show as written and produced by Becca Pulliam, with Mark Schramm. Post production by Technical Director Duke Markos, with audio engineer Ginger Bruner of Nevada Public Radio/KNPR-FM in Las Vegas. Executive Producer is Thurston Briscoe, Program Director of Jazz 88/WBGO-FM in Newark, NJ.
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Copyright 2007 NPR
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