Sassy: The Life Of Sarah Vaughan [Paperback] Review

While Gourse's biography of the Divine One traverses Vaughan's life decade by decade, it does so in a very cursory way, so if you know anything at all of Vaughan's life, you've probably already been exposed to most of the contents of this biography.While this book is decent in its cursory examination of Vaughan's life and her wonderful contributions to American and world music, one doesn't go away from this book feeling he or she has encountered Vaughan on an intimate level...the Devil's in the details, but it seems as though many of the details that would have allowed for an ampler and fuller study of Vaughan on a quotidian level were not provided.There are some interesting photographs of Vaughan, her family, her friends, her coterie of fans and colleagues, included in this biography, but those pictures should have been in bold, beautiful color, full pages, allowing the reader to see the vagaries of Vaughan in all her glamour, sophistication, and wit.One will learn more from listening to Vaughan's vast recording history.Still, this book will be of interest to Sass's devoted fans.

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The Big Book of Torch Songs 2nd Ed. (Piano/Vocal/Guitar Songbook) [Paperback] Review

I have a wide range... can sing soprano and alto quite easily, but when I sing torch songs or other jazz/blues standards, I prefer to sing them in my lower register. This book is great with offering these types of songs, but the keys they are in are HORRIBLE! They must be transposed down to even be comfortable for a woman to sing them in that "sulty-torch-song" style. I wouldn'trecommend it at all... instead, I found a book called "Belter's Hot Standards." This has been my Bible of music! Go find that book if you're a woman looking for low jazz songs.

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Product Description:
Features 75 heart-on-the-sleeve standards, such as: Angel Eyes * As Long as He Needs Me * Bewitched * Black Coffee * Crazy * Cry Me a River * Glad to Be Unhappy * Good Morning Heartache * Here's That Rainy Day * I'll Be Seeing You * Misty * Mood Indigo * My Man * My Old Flame * The Party's Over * Skylark * So in Love * Stormy Weather * When Sunny Gets Blue * and more.

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The Definitive Jazz Collection (Definitive Collections) [Paperback] Review

No "fake book", or "real book" this.You get full, well-thought-out harmonizations.This isn't how Jazz pianists acquire their numbers, but hey, this graduate of the weekly visit to the traditional read-the-music-and-play-it-exactly-as-written piano teacher likes it just fine this way.Having played through about 25% of the songs, I'll say there are no really bad arrangements, and quite a few very good ones.The technical difficulty is toward the higher end of the non-classical stuff you find in the music stores -- the average song is about as hard (if you want to play all the notes) as a Chopin Waltz or a Clementi Sonatina.

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Product Description:
A once-in-a-lifetime collection of 90 of the greatest jazz songs ever compiled into one volume. Includes: Ain't Misbehavin' * All the Things You Are * Birdland * Body and Soul * A Foggy Day * Girl From Ipanema * Here's That Rainy Day * The Lady Is a Tramp * Love for Sale * Mercy, Mercy, Mercy * Midnight Sun * Moonlight in Vermont * Night and Day * Skylark * Stormy Weather * Sweet Georgia Brown.

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The Jazz Singers: The Ultimate Guide [Paperback] Review

The prolific Yanow has outdone even himself with this book, which in many respects lives up to its title.But I would distrust any quick review claiming that it's the kind of book that can't be put down.It's above all a reference book, encyclopedic in its scope, jam packed with concise verbal portraits (the towering Bing Crosby gets almost a single page, or about as much as the somewhat less famous Ben Sidran).Often Yanow's judgments strike the reader as on the mark, and when they don't, he compensates with information that is nonetheless fascinating and useful.The book is also an invaluable source of quotations, since the author has included numerous interviews of the artists themselves.

Opinions about singers are perhaps held more strongly by more people than opinions about other musicians.Who hasn't taken a shower with Frank Sinatra or Peggy Lee?Many of us who don't know better think of ourselves as singers.So an author of a book about jazz singers is bound to hit discordant notes with more than a few readers--why isn't a "pure" jazz mainstreamer like Etta Jones represented more fully (no, not Etta James)? Her recorded career extends from 1945 to October 2001, when she died on the day of the release of her Billie Holiday tribute. Why aren't Johnny Mandell and Shirley Horn, arguably the most memorable team since Sinatra and Riddle, afforded more space?Additionally, anyone who writes about singers is burdened with the task of sorting through not merely all of the candidates but, given the sometimes radical changes, over time, in vocal timbre and breath support, the numerous "personae" of any one of them (besides the controversy that a Billie Holiday can arouse, there's the other one about her Benny Goodman days vs. her Lady in Satin period).Then there's the question of the criteria that might disqualify an undeniably indelible voice such as Nancy LaMott's--for some of us there's enough jazz sensibility balancing the cabaret approach to justify if not require her inclusion.

Yanow ultimately invites readers to make their own calls, and hopefully his book will provoke them to do so.As often as I've challenged one of those CD anthologies--the Ultimate Art Tatum, etc.--it's led me to deeper and more concentrated explorations of an artist's work.And Yanow's book is practically guaranteed to confront the reader with the names of numerous heretofore unknown, unfamiliar performers while omitting a few along the way (I could easily list a dozen impressive female jazz vocalists whose CDs have arrived at my doorstep in the last several years--but apparently not at the author's).All the same, the author clearly has heard considerably more than most of us, and the book is guaranteed to motivate the reader to start listening more comprehensively and seriously.

Listeners looking for more of an "essay" on the subject may wish to check out Will Friedwald's "Jazz Singing," as noteworthy for the author's felicitous prose style as his occasionally acrimonious judgments (heaven help the singer who, above all, doesn't swing).Readers looking for a book similar to Yanow's but considerably less ultimate, or comprehensive, could get their feet wet (with no attendant damage) by picking up Max Morath's "NPR Listener's Guide to Pop Standards," in which the author includes emphasis on the messengers as well as the medium.One warning: if you're not a Sinatra fan, probably best to steer clear of all books on jazz singing, and the same holds true if, like some, you've become impatient with the ballad ever since Old Blue redefined it, leaving enough space between beats to allow the listener enough time to reflect upon the meaning of his entire existence.

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Product Description:
The Jazz Singers is an overview of the great vocalists who have sung jazz. By drawing on original interviews conducted exclusively for this book, along with Scott Yanow's extensive knowledge, The Jazz Singers offers fresh and insightful information in its 521 main entries. Other features include a historical overview, a section on jazz vocal groups, and a comprehensive survey of jazz in film.

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Jazz Singer's Handbook: The Artistry and Mastery of Singing Jazz (Book & CD) [Paperback] Review

From the very first page of this book, I knew this was what I was looking for.I teach jazz vocal styles at a university.It is sometimes a challenge trying to express to new students the importance of how to be expressive in singing jazz. This book breaks it down in revealing the many expressions, such as interpreting if the lyrcis are informative, poetic, etc.This book is for the serious jazz vocalist that really would like to learn how to sing, how to express the lyrics, how to become one with the song and how to draw an audience into a world of unforgettable and intimate singing.

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Product Description:
The Jazz Singer's Handbook provides an inspiring and practical window of insight into the world of professional jazz singing. Drawing upon an impressive career as an arranger, teacher, singer, pianist, and clinician, Michele Weir (faculty, UCLA) has distilled her experiences and observations into two handbook sections: the artistry and the mastery of singing jazz. Also included is a jazz chord library, a professional resource guide, a review of music fundamentals, and an index of terms and symbols. The CD includes sing-along tracks for standard songs, many of which are in two keys for different voice ranges, plus recorded examples of the performance and arranging concepts presented in the text.

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