Song:Cloudburst
Album:Everybody's Boppin'
Though jazz is mostly an instrumental art form, there have been singers who have adapted to jazz. But no one turned the music on it's ear like Lambert, Hendricks & Ross. They were only around for a couple of years but the music sounds as fresh today as it did in the late 50s and has been very influential on many singers. Annie Ross (born Annabelle Short July 25, 1930 in London, England) was asked by Prestige Records owner Bob Weinstock to write lyrics to a jazz solo in 1952. This is called vocalese. She wrote lyrics to the Wardell Gray song Twisted and he put her on a King Pleasure record. She recorded a few albums for Prestige. Dave Lambert was born June 19, 1917 in Boston. He started out in the 40s as a big band arranger. Jon Hendricks was born Sept. 16, 1921 in Newark, OH. They met in 1957. Lambert and Hendricks were working on vocal arrangements with various singers and met Ross by chance at a New York jam session. The trio recorded Sing A Song Of Basie for Paramount Records in 1957 using multi tracking of vocals. When they signed with Columbia in 1959, they decided to use a more traditional jazz approach to vocalese. The 1960 album The Hottest New Group In Jazz was a big hit with jazz fans and included Cloudburst. Harry "Sweets" Edison, Ron Carter and Walter Bolden were among the musicians on the album. The group won some awards but then Ross left in 1962. Yolande Bevan and then Anne Marie Moss were briefly recruited to replace Ross. But then Dave Lambert died in a 1966 auto accident and that ended any hopes of a reunion. This budget comp is a perfect intro to their music. Jon Hendricks and Annie Ross still perform regularly. A documentary about Annie Ross has been recently produced. But there's no question that the influence of Lambert, Hendricks & Ross is still being felt today. Here's a video for Cloudburst by Lambert, Hendricks & Ross.
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