VALIDATING THE VOICE IN THE MUSIC OF LAMBERT, HENDRICKS & ROSS by Lee Ellen Martin Bachelor of Music, McGill University, 2008 Master of Music, The University of Toledo, 2010 Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the Kenneth P. Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy University of Pittsburgh 2016 UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH Kenneth P. Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences This dissertation was presented by Lee Ellen Martin It was defended on March 23, 2016 and approved by Geri Allen, Masters of Music, Associate Professor Michael Heller, PhD, Assistant Professor Farah Jasmine Griffin, PhD Dissertation Advisor: Gavin Steingo, PhD, Assistant Professor ii Copyright © by Lee Ellen Martin 2016 iii VALIDATING THE VOICE IN THE MUSIC OF LAMBERT, HENDRICKS & Ross Lee Ellen Martin, PhD University of Pittsburgh, 2016 Lambert, Hendricks & Ross was an unusual vocal jazz trio. Made up of Dave Lambert, Jon Hendricks, and Annie Ross, they were the only interracial and mixed gender vocal jazz group in the United States in the late 1950s. In the wake of the Montgomery bus boycott victory and President Eisenhower’s consideration of the Equal Rights Act, the trio became one of the most popular vocal jazz groups of the day by singing lyricized arrangements of famous instrumental jazz recordings through a medium called vocalese. Although they seemed to reflect a utopian ideal of an integrated American society, each member of the group faced unique challenges. Referred to as the Poet Laureate of Jazz, African American lyricist and singer Jon Hendricks considers himself “a person who plays the horn without the horn,” and he is known for his gift with words. Hendricks struggled to find his voice between language and music through vocalese. Annie Ross, also a successful vocalese lyricist, quit writing once she joined the group. As a white woman in a predominantly African American, male musical idiom she engaged in a complex gender performativity. Dave Lambert navigated complex issues of race, since he was a white man arranging the music of iconic African American jazz composers. Together they acted as a microcosm for the most pressing socio- political issues of the day. Employing the voice as the foundation for this study, I address two main questions: What does it mean to have a voice in jazz? And, who is allowed to sing? iv The voice is traditionally understood as either an expression of individuality or as the performance of a particular gendered, racial, or cultural identity. This dissertation examines the voice as an intersection between these two registers. In the words of Farah Jasmine Griffin, the voice is like “a hinge, a place where things can both come together and break apart.” In this intersection, Lambert, Hendricks, & Ross used their voices to engage with race and gender issues in jazz, issues that resonated broadly with the socio-political climate of the United States at that time. v TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF FIGURES…………………………………….....…………………………………………….…………...viii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS………………………...………………………………………………….……………...x 1.0 INTRODUCTION……………………………………………………………………………….……………......1 1.1 DEFINING VOCALESE…………………………………………………………….…...…………......4 1.2 VALIDATING THE VOICE……………………………………………………….……………….......8 1.3 INTERSECTIONS OF RACE AND GENDER…………………………………….……………….…11 1.4 METHODOLOGY………………………………………………..……………….……………….......15 1.5 OVERVIEW OF THE DISSERTATION………………………………………….………………......17 1.6 SIGNIFICANCE………………………………………………………………….……………………21 2.0 THE DEVELOPMENT OF VOCALESE: A HISTORY OF VOCAL/INSTRUMENTAL INTERSECTIONS.........................................................................................................................................24 2.1 THE JAZZ AGE AND THE BEIDERBECKE CONNECTION……………………………………....26 2.2 SWING VOCAL GROUPS, JIVESTERS, AND ELLINGTONIA…………………………………....44 2.3 BEBOP AND THE NAMING OF A VOCAL GENRE…………………………………………….....57 3.0 THE JAMES JOYCE OF JIVE: JON HENDRICKS’ HIP INTELLECTUALISM………………...………......71 3.1 THE POET LAUREATE OF JAZZ AT WORK………………………………………………….…...74 3.1.1 Listening Practices……....………………………………………………………….…....74 3.2 THE INTERSECTION BETWEEN MUSIC AND LANGUAGE………………………………….…83 3.2.1 The Singing and the Signing Voice………………………………………………….…..83 3.2.2 Hip Intellectualism…………………………………………………………..…………...86 3.3 DIG THIS! SINGING IN THE VERNACULAR……………………………………….…….……….93 3.3.1 Traditions and Influence………………………………………………….……….……..99 vi 4.0 A CHICK SINGER OR A DIVA? GENDER PERFORMATIVITY IN VOCAL JAZZ……………………...107 4.1 AN UNUSUAL CANARY……………………………………………………………….…………..112 4.1.1 Voice and Instrument……………………………………………………….…………..114 4.1.2 The Songbird at the Juncture of Race and Gender…………………………………......118 4.2 CAN SHE BLOW? GENDER AND IMPROVISATION……………………………………………131 4.3 FROM A THRUSH TO A DIVA, GENDER AND THE VOICE……………………………………135 5.0 SINGING AN INSTRUMENTAL LANGUAGE: DAVE LAMBERT AND THE BEBOP VOCAL JAZZ GROUP…………….……………………………………………………………………………….141 5.1 A STUDIO ARRANGER, A BEBOPPER, AND THE INTERSECTIONS OF SUBJECTIVITY…….…………………………………………………………………………...144 5.1.1 A White Bebopper and the Complexities of Race…………………………………..….146 5.1.2 Beards, Berets and the Bebop Aesthetic………………………………………………..148 5.2 ARRANGING THE VOICE AS AN INSTRUMENT AND THE CREATION OF SING A SONG OF BASIE..............................................................................................................161 5.3 RECIPROCAL VOICING AND PHYSICALIZING AN IMAGINARY INSTRUMENT…………...171 6.0 CHANGING ATTITUDES: THE RECEPTION OF RACE AND GENDER IN THE WORK OF LAMBERT, HENDRICKS & ROSS………………………...……………………………………………180 6.1 THE UNTOUCHABLES AND THE FEAR OF MISCEGENATION………………………………183 6.2 RECEPTION AND PLACE: URBAN LOCATIONS OF PERFORMACE……………………..…..190 6.3 PULCHRITUDE AND THE IDEALS OF FEMINITNITY………………………………………….195 6.4 SING A SONG OF FREEDOM: CIVIL RIGHTS ACTIVISM THROUGH PERFORMANCE……198 6.5 TELEVISING INTEGRATION………………………………………………………………………203 6.6 A RETROSPECTIVE ON CIVIL JAZZ……………………………………………………………...208 7.0 CONCLUSION: THE LAMBERT, HENDRICKS & ROSS LEGACY……………………………………....213 7.1 THE IMPACT OF AN INTEGRATED TRIO……………………………..………………………...223 APPENDIX A: Selected Discography………………………………………………………………………………229 BIBLIOGRAPHY…………………………………………………………………………………………………...232 vii LIST OF FIGURES Figure 2.1 Bing Crosby, “Someday Sweetheart”……….……………………………….……………………………38 Figure 2.2 Bix Beiderbecke, “Way Down Yonder in New Orleans”………………………………….……………...38 Figure 2.3 The Modernaires, “I’m Coming Virginia”……………...………………………………………………...43 Figure 2.4 The Mills Brothers, “Lazy Bones”..………………………………………………………………………47 Figure 2.5 Delta Rhythm Boys, “Take the A Train”……..………………………………………………………..…51 Figure 2.6 Delta Rhythm Boys, “Take the A Train”…….……………………………………...…………………....52 Figure 2.7 Delta Rhythm Boys, “Take the A Train”…….…………………………………...………….……......….54 Figure 2.8 Eddie Jefferson, “Now’s The Time”…………………………………………...…………………………61 Figure 2.9 King Pleasure, “Moody’s Mood For Love”………………………...…………………………………… 66 Figure 4.1 Sing a Song of Basie, Album cover....………………………………...…….………….………………..108 Figure 4.2 Frame Grab, “The King,”Playboy’s Penthouse ……………………….………………………………...133 Figure 4.3 Frame Grab, “Newport Jazz Festival” …………………........................................………...….………..134 Figure 4.4 Lambert, Hendricks & Ross, 1961………………………………………................................................137 Figure 5.1 “The Beards,” Down Beat, July 16, 1947……………………………………………………..…............150 Figure 5.2 "Alge-Bop Explains 'Ees' and 'Oos'"……………………………………………………………....…….155 Figure 5.3. "Gillespie's Gyrations And Gestures Get His Band Going"………………………………...…………..157 Figure 5.4. "Cutting Wax—The Barnet Way"………………………………………...………………………….....158 Figure 5.5 Frame Grab, “Poppitty Pop,” Festival de Jazz D’Antibes Juan-les-Pins………………………….....….173 Figure 5.6 Lambert, Hendricks & Ross, 1959………………………………………………………………………176 Figure 5.7 Frame Grab, Steve Allen Show………………………………………………..…………………..…….176 Figure 6.1 Lambert, Hendricks & Ross. 1960………………………………………………………...…………….211 Figure 7.1 Alvin Chea Bass Ostinato.……………………………………………………………………………….219 viii Figure 7.2 Joey Kibble’s Rendition of Davis’ Melody………….………………………………..…………………219 ix ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Over the past ten years I have worked closely with Jon Hendricks, his family, friends as well as the community of current professional vocal jazz groups that were influenced by Lambert, Hendricks & Ross. Without their support and encouragement I would not be where I am today. I would like to begin by thanking Jon Hendricks, his late wife Judith Hendricks, their daughters Aria and Michelle, as well as Bonnie Hopkins for spending countless hours sharing their memories and experiences with me. Spending time with Hendricks and his family made me realize that their stories had to be written, so I went back to school to try and figure out how to write them. Their generosity and encouragement are the primary reasons that I decided to pursue a PhD in Jazz studies. At the University of Pittsburgh I had the great fortune of working with Professors across disciplines, which really helped to shape this project, and broaden my own understanding of how to study music. Dr. Ron Zboray, and Dr. Mary Zboray encouraged me to pursue my interests in oral history, and broadened my understanding of how to analyze music through media reception. Dr. Lara Putnam inspired me to question the complexities of social configurations of race and gender and how they are contingent on place, which inspired me to explore