Canto In: Henry Pleasants
Canto In: Henry Pleasants
Canto In: Henry Pleasants
54 mej/may '73
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cussed h e r e , d a t e s from a b o u t 1 9 2 0 , Lvhen
recordings a n d then the r a d i o p r o d u c e d a
great man!. fine artists, the best of ivhom \\as
Ethel Il'aters. S h e ivas the first black artist to
b e highl!, successful on ivhat Lvas knoivn to
black p e r f o r m e r s a s "Lvhite time." S h e then
ivent o n to b e c o m e a n actress, a n d t h e f a m e
s h e a c h i e v e d in that field h a s r a t h e r oi.er-
shadoLved h e r c a r e e r as a singer. Ho\vei.er,
s h e Lvas o n e of the finest a n d most influential
of p e r f o r m e r s . [In fact, s h e still p e r f o r m s
todag. at t h e age of sei.enty-tivo.) Rlildred
Bailey \ \ a s m u c h influenced by Ethel Il'a-
ters, as Lvere L e e \Yiley a n d C o n n i e B o s ~ v e l l .
Lvhom I consider the t\vo other best Lvhite
singers of t h e 1930s. T h e r e \ \ a s c o n s i d e r a b l e
give a n d take betiveen the black a n d Lvhite
p e r f o r m e r s in those da1.s. \\'hen Ella Fitz-
g e r a l d s a n g h e r audition for Chick IVebb in
1936, the only songs s h e k n e w Lvere C o n n i e
B o s ~ v e l l songs. a n d of c o u r s e B o s ~ v e l lh a d
b e e n picking u p h e r art f r o m Ethel L'r'aters.
( A n d at o n e time, Ethel I v a t e r s g a v e coach-
ing lessons to S o p h i e T u c k e r . )
Frank Sinarra (The Bettmann A r c h i b e , Inc ) Ethel \\'aters \ \ a s a born actress-more so
p e r h a p s than an!. other f e m a l e irocalist. J u s t
listen to h e r f a m o u s recording of "Storm!,
I believe that Sinatra comes \\'eather" a n d !.ou ~ v i l lh e a r hoiv marirel-
closer than any classical ousl!~s h e projects the mood of a ivoman ivho
h a s lost h e r m a n . S h e used to sing i t on a set
singer I have ever heard to that s i m u l a t e d r a i n , a n d s h e i v a s t h e p o o r ,
fulfilling Tosi's req uir e ments. a b a n d o n e d , forlorn black girl cvho s e e m e d to
h a v e no h o p e left in t h e ~ v o r l dThis. particu-
lar recording is a ver!. good o n e for o b s e r v -
ivhite p e r f o r m e r s h a s a long histor!.. of ing h o w s h e sings on consonants. Alan!. of t h e
course. beginning ivith the minstrel s h o w in popular singers d o that, a n d classical singers
Lvhich ivhite m e n blacked their faces to imi- a s a r u l e do not. A possible explanation is
tate black m e n imitating ivhite m e n a n d not that classical singers deriire their technical
quite making i t . T h e d e g r e e b!. ivhich the!. st).le basicall!. from t h e Italian, a n d irer!. feLv
didn't q u i t e m a k e i t \ \ a s felt at t h e time to b e Italian ivords e n d in consonants. If !.ou listen
c h a r m i n g a n d amusing. T h e fact that black to Ethel 12'aters o r S i n a t r a o r h l a h a l i a Jack-
m e n themselves could find a place in the son. >.ou ~ v i l lnotice that p o p u l a r singers a r e
A m e r i c a n th e at e r on 1>, through the m ins t r e 1 not a f r a i d to u s e t h e n ' s . m ' s . a n d 1's. T h e
shoiv c o m p o u n d e d this n o n s e n s e : Since the!. recording of "Storm!. \\'eather" also in-
w e r e not black enough. the!. blacked their c l u d e s a ivonderful e x a m p l e of c a d e n z a .
o\vn faces to put on shoivs in ivhich they imi- Again, ive h a v e a seirenteenth-centurv d e -
tated lvhite m e n imitating black m e n imitat- \rice emplo!,ed a s i t Lvas originall!. m e a n t to
ing lvhite m e n . T h a t \\as not reall!. all that b e . to m a k e a p r o p e r improvised e n d i n g .
long ago. Samm!. Dairis tells a stor!, of his (This practice. along Lvith man!. o t h e r s in
first a p p e a r a n c e on the stage: H i s u n c l e , singing. Lvas c o r r u p t e d throughout t h e n i n e -
standing b!. him in the Lvings. s a i d , "Kow teenth c e n t u r y , a n d ivhat w e h e a r n o w a s ca-
t h e r e ' s o n e thing !'GU shouldn't forget. Don't d e n z a s in o p e r a t i c a r i a s a r e stereot!,ped.
touch your face." Samm!. Lvas in black f a c e truncated abominations often copied out of
a n d h a d Lvhite gloves o n . T h i s lvas c a r r i e d c a d e n z a books.) O n this recording. m a d e in
over into iraudeville a n d p r o d u c e d the most 1932, Ethel 12'aters is b a c k e d b j , a n o r c h e s t r a
f a m o u s of the black imitators, s u c h as A1 701- that includes Benny G o o d m a n . Jimm!. a n d
son a n d S o p h i e T u c k e r . (Lvhat is not g e n e r - T o m m y Dorse!., a n d J o e Venuti. Inter-
ally knolvn is that t h e r e ~ v a sa parallel black estingl!,. Lvhite musicians Lvere playing b e -
vaudeirille circuit r u n b>,the T O B A , the T h e - h i n d black singers in t h e 1 9 2 0 s , a n d vice v e r -
at e r 0 ivn e r s ' Booking As so ci at i o n , kn o Lvn s a , q u i t e s o m e time b e f o r e the!- m a d e public
a m o n g black artists on the circuit as "Tough a p p e a r a n c e s in m i x e d b a n d s . Long b e f o r e
on Black Artists.") pianist T e d d y \Vilson set a p r e c e d e n t b y join-
T h e history of popular singing a s ive knoiv ing Bennh- G o o d m a n ' s b a n d , t h e Lvhite musi-
i t , a n d in the context in lvhich i t is being dis- cians of t h e Chicago croivd Lvere playing in
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studios b e h i n d black singers a n d l e a r n i n g a b r e a t h a n d m a k e a neiv passage of his o w n
great d e a l from i t . a r o u n d a B-flat o r a B. a n d then h a v e a n i c e ,
In the art of the popular singer, t h e r e is a n - easy \.oice a t the top, Lvithout tr!,ing to push i t
other e l e m e n t that is often misunderstood by or blast i t out.
classically o r i e n t e d singers, Iroice t e a c h e r s , If you can locate a cop!., listen to the
a n d o p e r a buffs-the m i c r o p h o n e . hclost of recording of a song c a l l e d "Rocky Alountain
these p e o p l e think of the m i c r o p h o n e a s a M o o n , " m a d e by Crosby a n d Louis A r m -
\.ocal crutch a n d of the popular singer a s a strong. Il'e a r e accustomed to thinking of
vo c a 1 cr i p p 1 e-so m e bo d !, \vh o \vo ul d h e Armstrong primaril!. a s a t r u m p e t p l a y e r ,
helpless ivithout a mike. hcl!. ansiver to that is a n d of Louis the singer as a kind of graL.el-
that the m i c r o p h o n e d o e s not sing. d o e s not voiced joke. Actually. Armstrong Lvas a m a r -
b r e a t h e , does not m a k e a s o u n d until s o m e - velous singer Lvho h a d a great influence on
bod!- puts a s o u n d into i t . T h e use of the mi- all t h e singers ii;ho c a m e after h i m , includ-
c r o p h o n e dates from the 192Os,Lvhen p o p u - ing Crosby a n d S i n a t r a . O n that recording,
lar singers began to perform on the radio. (In Crosby sings t h e first sixteen m e a s u r e s ,
those earl!. da!.s of r a d i o , Billboard r e p o r t e d Armstrong c o m e s in on the bridge, a n d then
that there \vas a p r o b l e m at KBC's KeLvark Crosby finishes i t . You ivill h e a r , first of
studio: t h e studio Lvas ha\Ving p r o b l e m s of all, ho\v Crosby used the m i c r o p h o n e ( A r m -
discipline b e c a u s e they h a d a n instrument
t h e r e that ~ v a sso sensiti1.e i t ivould-in t h e
Ivords of the report-pick u p the s o u n d of a
poLvder puff being dra\vn across a fair lad!.'s
nose.]
Originall!., the m i c r o p h o n e did m e a n that
a \veak-Lioiced singer could get b!, Lvith its
u s e : the f a m o u s baritone L2'hispering Jack
Smith Lvas a n e x a m p l e . a n d t h e r e Lvere oth-
ers. T h e first singer to reall!. u n d e r s t a n d
Lvhat t h e m i c r o p h o n e m e a n t a n d to m a s t e r it
ivas Bing Crosb!,. I f b'ou play Bing Crosb!-
records chronologicall!., !'ou can h e a r h i m
Lvrestling \vith the problem of coming to
terms Li;ith this de\rice. I t m e a n t that a singer
could no longer get a n y payoff from high
notes. Ever!.one could s o u n d l o u d a n d e\rer!'-
o n e could s o u n d big, T h e singer Lvas r e -
q u i r e d to p h r a s e a n d to look f o r effects from
his phrasing r a t h e r than from his big \.oice.
S o m e of the singers ivho a r e p r e s e n t m a s t e r s
of i t s p e a k of the mike as a n i n s t r u m e n t o n Ethel LLarers ( P h o t o s , T h e B e t t m a n n A r c h i b e , I n c )
ivhich the!. plab.. I a m r a t h e r inclined to
think that i t actually picks u p e l e m e n t s in the
voice that the n a k e d e a r misses, a n d that t h e
most perceptive of these singers-Crosb!,
a n d S i n a t r a a m o n g them-have l e a r n e d to
h e a r Lvhat t h e m i k e picks u p a n d to control i t
in their o\vn \vocal a p p a r a t u s .
\l'hat Crosby discovered \vas that if h e
cvere not going to m a k e a big "top," then h e
could go into a h e a d \-oice, m a k e his passage
l o w e r in the s c a l e , a n d then link i t u p with
the rich m i d d l e a n d loLver L.oice that h e h a d .
Crosb!. is a bass-baritone, a n d in his voice
t h e passage w o u l d normally occur in t h e
a r e a of CZ-D-E?. [ T h e passage is that part of
the r a n g e Lvhere the voice goes o u t of its nat-
ural register into tones a third to a fifth
abo1.e. To do i t , !.ou ha1.e to d e p r e s s the la- M i l d r e d Baile) E l l a Fitzgerald
rlmx a n d pet a n e w adjustment to take the
1.oice higher than i t Lvould normall!, go in a n Mildred Bailey was much influenced by Ethel
u n t r a i n e d s t a t e . ] O n s o m e of Crosblv's early
recordings j'ou h e a r him belting out high E's
Waters, as were Lee Wiley and Connie Boswell,
a n d F's, a l a Jolson, a n d they s o u n d pretty the two other best white singers of the 1930s.
b a d . "\'hat h e d i d later Lvas to e a s e off the
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strong kneLv hoLv to use i t , too] : secondl!.. you s h e h a d ver!. little voice. S h e h a d only about
will h e a r Crosb!. using the Afro-American an octave. [Probably, even i f s h e h a d h a d
style \fer!. Lvell, a n d then Armstrong using i t more, s h e would not hai.e h a d a much differ-
better. The!. lag behind the beat, they antici- ent disposition to sing a tune.) Like Bessie
pate the beat, a n d they stretch i t out. Popular Smith before h e r , s h e Lvould take a n y given
singers, as a rule. do not count time. They melody a n d entirely r e s h a p e i t to h e r o w n
think in four- a n d eight-measure arches a n d requirements a n d to h e r own feeling about
a r e guided by the chord changes. The!, put the text a n d the character of the song itself.
the Ivords on the notes Lvhere they feel they Most of Billie Holiday's late recordings a r e
should go to b e appropriate to the text. This inferior to h e r earlier ones, but there is o n e
is probabl!. what Caccini Lvas talking about of "Come Rain o r Come Shine" that shows
as "graceful negligence." I t produces a much the extent of h e r art a n d h e r personality as
more oratorical, speaking kind of communi- well a s an!' other. (She is backed on i t by
cation than is possible Lvhen a singer is Benny Carter, playing the saxophone \fer>'
thinking in terms of "one-and. tLvo-and." much in the style of Lester Young.) In listen-
Currently, there is much interest among ing to this recording, !rou can h e a r h o w s h e
young people in Billie Holiday, because of changes the tune each time through a s s h e
the recent film based on h e r life story. Billie builds h e r own concept of the song. S h e
Holiday links u p the great art of a Frank Si- seems to make almost a music composition
natra Lvith the pioneer Lvork of a Bing out of the o n e word "shine." T h e recording is
Crosby. Sinatra h a s said that his two greatest also notable for a marvelous cadenza.
influences were Tommy Dorsey's trombone O n e of the things that classical singers find
and Billie Holiday's phrasing. Billie Holiday lacking in the popular singer is vocal virtuos-
is an extremely interesting singer because i t y . Popular artists never seem to sing r o u -
lades, staccato passages, and other devices
employed by the classical singer, but they do
work out their onm kind of brilliant, virtu-
osic performance in the style of singing
known as scat singing-s>.llabizing, o r sing-
ing on either nonsense o r real syllables.
Louis Arms tr o ng introduced the s t ~ ' e1, but
Ella Fitzgerald is the master of i t . A fine ex-
a m p l e is h e r recording of "How High the
Moon," m a d e in 1948. That is an important
date because it Lvas a time Lvhen bebop h a d
gone through its experimental stage a n d was
becoming fashionable. Ella apparently
wanted to show that i t was not onl!. Charlie
Parker o r Dizzy Gillespie Lvho could play
that type of thing, but that i t could b e
"played" Lvith a voice. IZ'hat s h e actually did
in this song Lvas to quote extensivel!? from
Charlie Parker's "Ornithology," which bvas a
set of improvisations on the chords of "How
High the Moon." S h e starts the song straight
but then begins to deviate a n d to build in a
remarkable fashion. I t is a brilliant bit of vo-
calism. Athough s h e is a contralto, s h e goes
u p to two F's. As some other singers do, s h e
Armstrong was a goes into falsetto when s h e goes through
marvelous singer the passage, a n d s h e h a s a controlled falsetto
up to B-flat o r high C. H e r actual range is ap-
who had a great proximately three octaves. (Sarah Vaughan's
influence on all is about the s a m e , p e r h a p s a little m o r e . ]
the singers who Another device of seLfenteenth-centur!.
came after him, singers Lvas Lvhat they called messa di voce,
the putting of the voice, in which the singer
including Crosby attacked the tone quietly, swelled i t , a n d
and Sinatra. then brought i t back again, usually with
some ornamentation involved. Popular sing-
ers do not do that, but they h a v e a technique
that produces much the s a m e effect. I t is
called the phrase carr3,over. I t is often used
at the end of the first sixteen m e a s u r e s of a
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song where the melody is sustained and the
voice is carried over into the bridge, the
phrase being released somewhere toward
the middle of the next four measures. Sarah
Vaughan, who has fantastic breath control,
does this beautifully, and a good example is
her recording of Vernon Duke’s “April in
Paris.” S h e applies this technique beginning
on the word “reprieve” and carries the
phrase over into the word “I.” On this re-
cording she sings one chorus through, and
then, before her voice returns, each mem-
ber of the backing group takes a chorus. The
last one to do so is trumpet player Clifford
Brown, who follows his solo with a stunning
example of improvisatory obbligato playing.
The recordings mentioned here are just a
few that illustrate the adoption of Baroque
vocal practices by popular and jazz singers. I
would encourage teachers to listen generally
to recordings by Waters, Bailey, Holiday, Si-
natra, Crosby, Fitzgerald, Vaughan, and Peg-
gy Lee to discern such interpretive vocal
techniques as the use of appoggiatura,
tempo rubato, slur, portamento, glide, ca-
denza, singing on consonants, phrase carry-
over, and virtuosic improvisation.
Some time ago, I was talking to a composer
about the art of the American popular sing-
er, and h e said, “The art of the popular
singer? Isn’t that a contradiction in terms?”
In listening to each of the singers who have
been discussed briefly here, you can hear
evidence of what I have always felt is one of
the most useful axioms of the music busi-
ness, or of any other art for that matter:
Great art is that which disguises art. zl
RESOURCES
Many of the recordings mentioned by Mr. Billie Holiday would take any
Pleasants in this article are now difficult to given melody and entirely reshape
locate, although some occasionally reappear it to her own requirements and to
on reissues, bargain labels, and European
imports. Readers a r e advised to consult cur- her own feeling about the text and
rent master catalog listings at their local the character of the song itself.
record stores. Teachers who wish to draw on
the author’s observations in their classrooms
can still find many examples of the tech- -. “The Golden Years, Vol. 2” (Colum-
niques h e discusses on other recordings by bia, C3L-40).
the same singers. A few selected recordings -, “Lady Day” (Columbia, CL-637).
by these artists a r e listed here. Sinatra, Frank. “Great Years” (Capitol,
STCO-1762).
Bailey, Mildred. “All of Me” (Monmouth- -. “Greatest Hits” [Reprise, S-1025).
Evergreen 6814). -, “In the Beginning, 1943-1951” (Co-
Crosby, Bing, with Louis Armstrong. “Bing lumbia, KG-31358).
and Satchmo” (MGM, GAS-137). Vaughan, Sarah. “Echoes of a n Era” (Rou-
Fitzgerald, Ella. “Ella” (Reprise, S-6354). lette 103).
-. “Ella Sings Gershwin” (Decca __, “Fabulous Sarah Vaughan” (Pick-
74451). wick, s-3035).
-. “Tribute to Cole Porter” (Verve Waters, Ethel. “Ethel Waters’ Greatest
64066). Years” (Columbia, KG-31571).
Holiday, Billie. “The Golden Years, Vol. 1” -, “Miss Ethel Waters” [Monmouth-
(Columbia, C3L-21). Evergreen 6812).
mej/may ’73 59
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