Joan Merrill
Saying It With Jazz
Merrill Video Productions, 58 minutes, VHSWhether you aspire to be a Jazz singer, want to find out about Jazz singing, or just appreciate good examples of the genre, this video will have something for you. Merrill has interviewed five vocalists and gathered their insights into some first-rate footage. Discussions are mixed with songs, avoiding any lecture-hall feel. Most of the singers get a full number without interruption, and then another song is interspersed with observations about Jazz singing. On a couple of segments the sound quality is less than ideal. A nice touch is the use of subtitles to identify accompanying musicians and venues.
Overwhelmingly the most important thing, say all the singers, is the lyrics and how they are used to communicate emotion. How this accords with scat singing, which many of these vocalists do and which has become a veritable rage since the video was made, is not touched on.
Carole Sloane, who came up in the 1950s, remembers hearing good white vocalists on the radio stations of the day, singers like Vic Damone and Rosemary Clooney, but when she discovered Sarah Vaughan, Billy Eckstine, and other black singers, it was like a new world opened for her, and she knew she had to sing that way. Since then, she says, she's been eliminating extraneous things that don't need to be in the song, like pulling away the leaves of an artichoke to get to the heart of the music.
Etta Jones describes herself as a flat-footed singer because she tries to communicate with the listener through the words alone, with no waving of arms or other dramatic touches. Lorez Alexandria points out that you have to make listeners feel or else it doesn't matter how complicated or hip you make the song sound.
Madeline Eastman talks about the tradeoff between art and business, getting your music out there yourself through self-produced CDs when major record labels aren't waiting to snap you up. Joe Williams testifies to Madeline's talent, and several music industry figures discuss the business issues she raises. The late Carl Jefferson, founder of Concord Records, and producer Orrin Keepnews talk about the importance of recording for a vocalist, while KJAZ disc jockey Bob Parlocha deals with the airplay a recording gets once it's been issued.
The video opens and closes with performances by the late Carmen McRae, "the grand dame of Jazz vocalists," as narrator Al Young calls her. Her work is stunning, and Merrill's respectful treatment makes it shine. But for me the real magic comes from Rebecca Parris, who walks right off the video into the living room and tears me up with her absolutely gorgeous rendition of Billy Strayhorn's "Lush Life." Rebecca has a personality and stage presence stronger than any I've seen since Dizzy.
An excellent inside look at Jazz singing, showing what vocalists are trying to do and how they do it.
by Robert Tate