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Sarah Vaughan Finally Gets the Biography She Deserves
Washington Post ^ | July 24 | Farah Jasmine Griffin

Posted on 07/25/2017 8:04:31 PM PDT by nickcarraway

Along with Billie Holiday and Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan is part of the triumvirate of classic jazz vocalists. Together they laid the foundation of contemporary jazz singing and as such, helped to shape all of popular music.

Holiday has been the subject of several significant biographies, and there is at least one authoritative tome devoted to Fitzgerald, with another long-awaited one soon to follow. But Vaughan has not inspired the same attention, which makes “Queen of Bebop,” by Elaine M. Hayes, all the more necessary and exciting. This comprehensive examination of Vaughan’s life and work benefits from Hayes’s technical knowledge of music and her thorough research on the historical context.

In a sense, though, “Queen of Bebop” is a misleading title. It limits the scope of Vaughan’s music and the book’s actual exploration of her career. Although Vaughan established herself as an innovative bebop vocalist, she spent much of her life trying to break free of the limitations of category. Hayes documents this journey with painstaking detail. Having collected a rich trove of material, she organizes her presentation around the concept of crossover, as a way to honor Vaughan’s “flexibility as a performer and the breadth of her career.” Following that crossover journey yields a solid narrative that documents Vaughan’s struggles, triumphs and unprecedented success as a “symphonic diva, singing jazz in venues previously reserved for classical music and opera.”

As a Newark choirgirl, Vaughan won the Apollo’s famed Amateur Night and toured with Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker and Billy Eckstine. After her appearance at New York’s Town Hall in 1947, critics took notice and identified her as the bearer of something new. Here was a vocalist who, like her instrument-playing

(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...


TOPICS: Books/Literature; History; Music/Entertainment
KEYWORDS: jazz; music

1 posted on 07/25/2017 8:04:31 PM PDT by nickcarraway
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To: nickcarraway

She’s my favorite of the three singers mentioned.


2 posted on 07/25/2017 8:06:55 PM PDT by TigerClaws
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To: TigerClaws

Too bad no one mentions Connee Boswell, who was Fitzgerald’s favorite singer.


3 posted on 07/25/2017 8:08:51 PM PDT by nickcarraway
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To: nickcarraway

bttt


4 posted on 07/25/2017 8:11:45 PM PDT by Liberty Valance (Keep a Simple Manner for a Happy Life :o)
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To: nickcarraway

Sarah Vaughan has to be (at least) tied for the sexiest voice in the history of lasses that sing.


5 posted on 07/25/2017 8:14:35 PM PDT by stevem
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To: TigerClaws

What a voice. My favorites:

Speak Low

Always

Make yourself Comfortable


6 posted on 07/25/2017 8:15:22 PM PDT by rlmorel (Donald Trump: Making Liberal Heads Explode 140 Characters At A Time.)
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To: stevem

Dusty Springfield is right up there with Sarah.

.


7 posted on 07/25/2017 8:15:56 PM PDT by Mears
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To: stevem

Yes...very sultry!


8 posted on 07/25/2017 8:15:57 PM PDT by rlmorel (Donald Trump: Making Liberal Heads Explode 140 Characters At A Time.)
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To: Mears
Dusty Springfield is right up there with Sarah.

I could never argue against Dusty Springfield...another...at least...tied.

9 posted on 07/25/2017 8:18:37 PM PDT by stevem
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To: nickcarraway

She did an album of Micheal Legrand songs. When I was in high school I took it out of the local library and played it to death.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aDhwdM-1h8w


10 posted on 07/25/2017 8:22:14 PM PDT by CaptainK (No collusion.No obstruction.He's a leaker.)
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To: rlmorel

You forgot “Broken hearted melodies.”https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=Broken+hearted+melodies&&view=detail&mid=482AB3D18FD8EFECC512482AB3D18FD8EFECC512&FORM=VRDGAR
How could you forget this?


11 posted on 07/25/2017 8:28:09 PM PDT by Fungi (Mucor roxii is not a rock band.)
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To: Fungi

Of course...I was just going off what popped into my head!


12 posted on 07/25/2017 8:57:07 PM PDT by rlmorel (Donald Trump: Making Liberal Heads Explode 140 Characters At A Time.)
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To: Fungi

And how about Brazilian Romance album? As an elderly woman? Incredible!


13 posted on 07/25/2017 8:57:35 PM PDT by jobim
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To: jobim

Stiff, hard on the ears, not melodic.


14 posted on 07/25/2017 10:11:14 PM PDT by Fungi (Mucor roxii is not a rock band.)
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To: Fungi
Are you saying Brazilian Romance was stiff, hard on the ears, not melodic?

Would you care to explain more?
15 posted on 07/25/2017 11:06:20 PM PDT by jobim
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To: nickcarraway; Publius

Of Interest Ping


16 posted on 07/26/2017 8:14:45 AM PDT by left that other site (You shall know the Truth, and The Truth Shall Set You Free.)
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To: left that other site

Thanks. I have a lot of Sassy’s material in my Gershwin retrospective.


17 posted on 07/26/2017 10:38:30 AM PDT by Publius ("Who is John Galt?" by Billthedrill and Publius available at Amazon.)
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