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Portrait of Jon Hendricks

Jon Hendricks

(1921–2017) Singer United States

3 quotes in 19 categories

Jon Hendricks was a singer from the United States, best known for The need for theory.

Quick Facts About Jon Hendricks

Born
September 16, 1921
Died
November 22, 2017
Nationality
United States
Profession
Singer
Notable works
The need for theory

About Jon Hendricks

John Carl Hendricks, known professionally as Jon Hendricks, was an American jazz lyricist and singer. He is one of the originators of vocalese, which adds lyrics to existing instrumental songs and replaces many instruments with vocalists, such as the big-band arrangements of Duke Ellington and Count Basie. He is considered one of the best practitioners of scat singing, which involves vocal jazz soloing. Jazz critic and historian Leonard Feather called him the "Poet Laureate of Jazz", while Time dubbed him the "James Joyce of Jive". Al Jarreau called him "pound-for-pound the best jazz singer on the planet—maybe that's ever been".

Biography source: Wikipedia

Awards & Honors

NEA Jazz Masters

Quotes by Jon Hendricks