In an era when talented young trumpeters, saxophonists, pianists, drummers and the like are in abundance, the dearth of top-notch vocalists has proved frustrating for jazz listeners.
Yet the latest wave of recordings by young singers (which, in jazz, means anyone under 50) as well as some late bloomers sustains an unfortunate trend of the ’90s: First-rate jazz vocalists remain in perilously short supply.
Perhaps that’s why last month’s release by Chicago singer-pianist Patricia Barber, “Companion” (on Premonition/Blue Note), instantly leaped to No. 9 on the Billboard jazz chart: Listeners quickly snapped up a recording by one of the few modern-day singers with something significant to say and the technique with which to say it. “Companion” has won wide critical praise, and it’s not difficult to understand why. Barber’s clever original lyrics, sleekly understated vocal style, radical reinterpretations of standard repertory and atmospheric instrumental settings instantly distinguish her from most of her peers.
Consider the new release from Chicago singer Jackie Allen, whose recording “Which?” (Naxos Jazz) represents the antithesis of Barber’s work, in every way imaginable. If Barber’s singing is emotionally searing and stylistically unaffected, Allen’s hardly could sound more contrived. The swooning, overwrought phrases might not sound so overbearing if produced by a larger, more imposing instrument. But Allen’s voice is so tiny and her expressive range so slender that the mannerisms become all the more conspicuous. Here’s proof that it doesn’t take much for a jazz singer to get a recording contract these days, in part because standards have sunk so low since the heyday of Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan, Betty Carter and Carmen McRae.
Even so, there are glimmers of hope, and not only in Barber’s ground-breaking work. Janis Siegel may not be half so adventurous or intellectually provocative as Barber, but she nobly affirms the traditions of mainstream jazz/swing singing on “The Tender Trap” (Monarch Records). Though probably best known for her work with the long-running vocal group Manhattan Transfer, Siegel is a first-rate soloist who needs no assisting vocalists.
No female singer of the past decade has matured as dramatically as Ann Hampton Callaway, a former Chicagoan whose instrument sounds bigger, fuller and more sumptuous than ever on “Easy Living” (After 9). Though long billed as a cabaret singer with Broadway ambitions, Callaway with this recording establishes herself as one of the best equipped jazz vocalists swinging today. Yes, her scat singing owes a debt to Ella Fitzgerald’s, but whose doesn’t? More important, Callaway tosses off complex lines at daring tempos with apparent ease. In an era when major labels put their marketing muscle behind lovely looking lightweights such as Diana Krall and Harry Connick Jr., Callaway emphasizes more important assets: plush sound and virtuoso technique.
Much press and publicity have been expended on Teri Thornton, whose late-in-life signing to Verve Records suggested that perhaps the American record industry wasn’t thoroughly obsessed with youth after all. Alas, Thornton’s well-worn voice shows its age on virtually every track of “I’ll Be Easy to Find” (Verve), her wobble on ballads and unflattering timbre elsewhere rendering this recording deeply flawed.
One of the more eagerly anticipated vocal recordings of the season has been “Joe Williams Presents Nicole Yarling” (Jazz MCG), in which the veteran crooner attempted to launch a younger artist. Williams didn’t live long to help promote the release, but his efforts probably wouldn’t have mattered, because it’s vastly disappointing. Yarling’s mundane tone, questionable pitch and unreliable vocal technique make one wonder why Williams was so smitten. Perhaps she’s better in concert than on record.
Yet despite the paucity of excellent jazz singing, the labels keep cranking out product, perhaps hoping that success will be easier to find on commercial than artistic terms. Thus the record bins overflow with the work of vocalists who are passable but nondescript. They range from Stacey Kent’s solid and straightforward singing on “Love Is . . . The Tender Trap” (Chiaroscuro) to Laverne Butler’s reliable vocals on “Blues in the City” (MaxJazz) to Karrin Allyson’s interpretively somnambulant “From Paris to Rio” (Concord Jazz).
And the prospects aren’t much better among male singers, many of whom still suffer under a misguided desire to be Frank Sinatra. The malady applies, in varying degrees, to James Darren in the backward-glancing “This One’s From the Heart” (Concord Jazz) and Bobby Caldwell in the thoroughly unoriginal “Come Rain or Come Shine” (Concord Jazz).
Kevin Mahogany, who has been marketed as the next great voice in the Billy Eckstine-Johnny Hartman tradition, does not come close to measuring up to the hype in “My Romance” (Warner Bros.). With a smaller sound and considerably less interpretive depth than his proponents would have listeners believe, Mahogany makes a faint impression, at best. If Mahogany is the best bass-baritone that the record industry can find, it’s no wonder jazz listeners are snapping up reissues faster than new product.
Generally speaking, the work of today’s young vocalists does not approach the technical, aesthetic or stylistic achievements of Hartman, Eckstine, Sinatra, Fitzgerald, Vaughan, Carter or McRae. What’s more disturbing is that most of these vocal legends, and others, approached greatness early in their careers, a feat matched by few of today’s emerging singers.
Yet it’s no great mystery why jazz singers are so scarce these days. Young vocalists with talent tend find considerably more opportunities and money in pop, R&B and rock-tinged blues. Thus formidable young vocalists who might match or exceed the work of pioneering swing singers steer clear of jazz projects. The most obvious example is Rachelle Farrell, whose astonishing work on “First Instrument” (Blue Note) demonstrated a vocal range and a scat technique unequalled by any young female singer. Unfortunately, this 1995 release was Farrell’s last in bona-fide jazz idiom; since then, she has veered toward R&B and smooth-jazz projects.
Still, the situation isn’t entirely bleak, so long as singers such as Dee Dee Bridgewater, Cassandra Wilson, Dianne Reeves and Kurt Elling are performing and recording. Unfortunately, none has a new release this season with which to relieve the tedium of the rest.
