I’m a big jazz guy and I have a love of jazz vocalese. And one of my favorite vocalist is Mr. Kurt Elling. He is a Grammy award winning jazz vocalist and an album I think you would dig is “Live in Chicago.” On this album his virtuoso technique and remarkable abilities are on full display, especially in the live format. If you close your eyes you can almost imagine smells of a nightclub and find yourself in the middle of the room. And when things get cooking you can feel the energy of the crowd and almost see the faces of the performers light up. My favorites are My Foolish Heart and Goin’ to Chicago. The latter also features Jon Hendricks on vocals!
But here’s a little video of Elling with the Al Jarreau, who was the first person I’d heard sing in this “jazz vocalese style. In fact somewhere there is a photo of me with Mr. Jarreau. I met him while in NYC when I was in high school, a great guy who clearly wanted to get home after a show, but was kind enough to stop and talk with a kid who had been mesmerized by his performance.
And I thought you might dig this as well:
Red Chair Music 