Articles by Vincent Stephens
Representing the Jazz Self in Song
by Vincent Stephens
In the nearly ten years since the revised edition of Will Friedwald's Jazz Singing (1996) and Bruce Crowther & Mike Pinfold's Singing Jazz (1997) “jazz singing has generated several familiar conversations among jazz critics. Generally these criticisms, discussed in the “Original Recipe Vs. Extra Crispy chapter of The Future of Jazz (2002) and Stuart Nicholson's Is Jazz Dead? (2005), urge contemporary singers to treat jazz as a living and dynamic genre. Searching for new material or obscure songs beyond obvious ...
Continue ReadingDiane Schuur: Live in London
by Vincent Stephens
Does Diane Schuur still matter? Though the vocalist has been performing actively on the national jazz scene since her 1984 GRP debut, Deedles, came out, and she has won two Grammies, critical interest in her work has waned since the early 1990s. Many critics have lauded her powerful voice and stylistic versatility but lamented her tendency toward histrionics and emotional blandness.
Live in London, recorded at Ronnie Scott's, might reassert her potential in the vocal pantheon. The disc is a ...
Continue ReadingRepertoire Rebellion: What
by Vincent Stephens
Even when pop/rock would-be torch singers, like Carly Simon, Linda Ronstadt, Barry Manilow, Rod Stewart etc. fail to illuminate the musical and lyrical nuances of the Great American Songbook their often inadequate approaches do not distort the fundamental excellence of the material they're singing. If such attempts will never erase anyone's memories of benchmark performers like Fitzgerald and Sinatra, it is always evident why interpretative singers are attracted to such melodically rich, harmonically complex, and narratively intricate material. There has ...
Continue ReadingRemembering Bobby Short: The Intimate Enthusiast
by Vincent Stephens
The most common buzzwords writers have used to describe the death of America's premier male cabaret singer, Bobby Short who died of leukemia today, were words like “sophistication and “elegance. However, I would like to qualify the use of these words. Short, with his crisp enunciation, exquisite sartorial taste, sharp wit and polished interpretations of classic popular song certainly epitomized the upper-class glamour listeners associate with New York cabaret. But I fear that these terms sound too intimidating and almost ...
Continue ReadingThey're Still Here: How to Honor Maturing Singers
by Vincent Stephens
Ernestine Anderson, Etta James, and Johnny Mathis have been recording for five decades and still release albums. More importantly they still sing well and sound good. Can you imagine the horror if in a few years these singers, feeling compelled by ego, record company suggestion or just bad judgment, released a “duet" album where they revisited their signature hits with younger popular singers? Or worse, what if these duets were separately recorded and digitally synchronized? How about a few rap ...
Continue ReadingUnderwhelming Understatement: A Plea for Persona in Jazz Vocals
by Vincent Stephens
Are “subtlety” and “understatement” toxic characteristics? Such critics’ buzzwords are overshadowing the centrality of persona among jazz singers. Critics often use these terms to compliment and contrast thus it is critical gospel to contrast vocal say Diana Krall’s restraint with Diane Schuur’s vocal pyrotechnics. In jazz singing this is particularly pertinent in an era where reserve, restraint and cool become prime virtues of jazz or jazz-associated singers such as Diana Krall, Norah Jones, etc. That such terms often arise during ...
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