Validating the Voice in the Music of Lambert, Hendricks & Ross
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.
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