Jazz
Addison Farmer - Bass
Al Grey - Trombone
Al Haig - Piano
Alan Dawson - Drums
Andy Pino - Sax (Tenor)
Annie Ross - Vocals
Anthony Ortega - Sax (Alto)
Art Blakey - Drums
Benny Powell - Trombone
Bill Conrad - Trumpet
Bill Culley - Trombone
Billy Mitchell - Reeds
Buddy Stewart - Vocals
Charlie Fowlkes - Reeds, Sax (Baritone)
Charlie Ventura - Sax (Tenor)
Christopher Evans - Liner Notes
Clifford Solomon - Sax (Tenor)
Clyde Newcombe - Bass
Count Basie - Organ, Piano
Creed Taylor - Producer
Curly Russell - Bass
Dave Lambert - Vocals
Dave Lambert & His Singers - Vocals
Diego Ibarra - Bongos
Don Fagerquist - Trumpet
Ed Yance - Guitar
Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis - Sax (Tenor)
Eddie Jones - Bass
Francis Antonelli - Sax (Alto)
Frank Foster - Reeds, Sax (Tenor)
Frank Wess - Reeds, Sax (Alto)
Freddie Green - Guitar
Gene Krupa - Drums
George Grossman - Viola
George Wallington - Piano
Gigi Gryce - Musical Direction
Henry Coker - Trombone
Jack Lewis - Producer
Jacob Shulman - Violin
Jerome Reisler - Violin
Jimmy Cleveland - Trombone
Jo Stafford - Vocals
Joe Newman - Trumpet
Joe Triscari - Trumpet
Joe Williams - Vocals
Jon Hendricks - Vocals, Whistle (Human)
Julius Ehrenwerth - Cello
Kenny Burrell - Guitar
Leon Cox - Trombone
Louis Zito - Drums
Marshall Royal - Reeds, Sax (Alto)
Max Roach - Drums
Milt Gabler - Producer
Murray Williams - Clarinet, Sax (Alto)
Nat Pierce - Piano
Neal Hefti - Arranger
Osie Johnson - Drums
Paul Powell - Viola
Percy Heath - Bass
Quincy Jones - Piano
Ram Ramirez - Organ
Ray Biondi - Violin
Red Rodney - Trumpet
Snooky Young - Trumpet
Sonny Payne - Drums
Stan Levey - Drums
Stuart Olson - Sax (Baritone)
Teacho Wiltshire - Piano
Ted Blume - Violin
Teddy Napoleon - Piano
Thad Jones - Trumpet
Tommy Pederson - Trombone
Tony Russo - Trumpet
Victor Pariente - Violin
Vidal Bolado - Conga
Wendell Culley - Trumpet
Lambert Hendricks & Ross are still regarded as the finest jazz vocal group of all time: Their fame comes from their pioneering of vocalese; wordless vocals imitating instruments and they achieved this in an astonishing style that has never been surpassed.
The EL edition is full of rarities, restored and re-issued on compact disc for the first time including numerous superb pre-LHR recordings involving Dave Lambert Singers and Annie Ross and three LHR live tracks from a 1958 radio broadcast; including a wild, nine minute Popity Pop that encapsulates everything about the group that was so extraordinary. Jazz / light vocal pop crossover potential with significant exports to Japan and America. Very modern and cool; Beach Boys, Four Freshmen, Hi-Los, Free Design, Harpers Bizarre, Association etc.
Fans of Lambert, Hendricks & Ross specifically, and vocal jazz in general, have long heard about the early sides recorded before the trio came together in 1957. In fact, each member -- Dave Lambert, Jon Hendricks, and Annie Ross -- was separately a pioneer in bop-inspired vocal improvisation, the type of vocalizing that concentrated on the most purely musical aspects of singing. The El Records compilation, Improvisations for the Human Voice, compiles 25 of those early sides and provides a terrific complement to their best recordings, the string of LPs they recorded for Columbia between 1959 and 1962 (which were collected on an excellent two-CD compilation, The Hottest New Group in Jazz). The LHR story begins in early 1945, when Dave Lambert and his friend Buddy Stewart persuaded top bandleader Gene Krupa to record a side with their modernistic vocalizing (the title was "What's This?"). Lambert and Stewart recorded more sides during 1946, and when Stewart died in a car accident, Lambert inaugurated a full vocal group to record his experiments. By 1955, those experiments also included whiz-kid vocalist Jon Hendricks, perhaps the vocal world's best young Charlie Parker acolyte (as well as friend). Two years later, their apartment jam sessions and recordings began to encompass Annie Ross, who had showed her improv chops as early as 1952, when she recorded with the king of vocalese, King Pleasure. Before they landed on Columbia, however, they recorded an LP of Count Basie charts (Sing a Song of Basie) and another Basie-inspired LP (Sing Along with Basie), but with the complete Basie group playing along. At 25 tracks, this disc is expansive enough to include seven Lambert sides from the '40s, four early Ross songs from 1952, a trio of HendricksLambert recordings (including their landmark version of "Four Brothers"), and still find the space for the majority of Sing a Song of Basie, one track with Basie himself, and five rarities from 1958-1959. It's clear that newcomers should head directly to recordings from the Columbia years, but these tracks comprise a wealth of seminal vocal sides by the most inventive minds in the art of vocalese. ~ John Bush, All Music Guide
Lambert, Hendricks & Ross
Active Decades: '50s and '60s
Born: 1957
Died: 1964
Genre: Jazz
Styles: Bop, Vocalese, Traditional Pop, Vocal Jazz, Harmony Vocal Group
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.
All three had pursued separate solo projects during the trio's run. After constant touring began to wear her out, Ross left the group in 1962. Lambert and Hendricks replaced her with Yolande Bavan, and continued recording for RCA. However, it was nearly impossible to replace a soloist of Ross' caliber, and the three albums Lambert, Hendricks & Bavan recorded between 1962 and 1964 were decidely below par. The group broke up in 1964, and Lambert's death in a traffic accident just two years later quashed any hopes of a reunion. Both Hendricks and Ross continued to perform and record, with Ross doing much theater and film work as well.
--- John Bush, All Music Guide |
