Then the solos had to be commentaries on that first chorus. The first chorus had to be a definition of what this thing was. First, I had to define the text in the first part of the song. Or we waded in the joy spring we bathed in the joy spring. “It could mean a spring from which instead of water, we ladled up joy for your spirit. “To me, ‘Joy Spring’ meant two things,” Mr. Once you know about the spring you always can smileįor the joy spring What Does Joy Spring Mean? You gotta book yourself a comic in your act So you're wastin' all your humor on a frown 'n share the memory of where we've all beenīrothers called Grimm knew chances were slim' So there is the reason that the maker of man Life is over in a minute an' they never dug Here they come - there they are - there they go Unimaginative and ignorant of falling from a star Here they come - here they come - there they are That's their reason for forgetting and they Their minds disguise their death to spirit Not so bright that they recall the fatal fall Previous life givin' your mind a chance to flyįly aroun' the universe investigatin' other Minute-I can tell y'just exactly how the story goes When he was searchin' for the fountain of youth Is deep inside you whether you're diggin' it or not (Music by Clifford Brown, performed by Manhattan Transfer, Lyrics by Jon Hendricks) Step Three: Listen to the Manhattan Transfer version of “Sing Joy Spring” while reading the lyrics Step One: Listen to the original masterpiece by the Clifford Brown-Max Roach Quintet. I strongly urge you to use this approach to gain maximum insight and aesthetic pleasure from this experience: Jon Hendricks Vocalese Listening-Reading Method So if I can be remembered as a poet, I’ll be happy. Johnny Mercer was a poet: ‘Footsteps that you hear down the hall, the laugh that floats, on a summer night, that you can never quite recall.’ That’s poetry. The Bible is poetry, great literature is poetry. The language that one speaks attains its height in poetry a person reads a great poem and his soul is ennobled. That’s the highest level, because poetry is the highest use of the word. Once, at his family’s high-rise apartment in Battery Park City, overlooking the Hudson, he said unto me:Īs a jazz musician, I would like to be remembered as a poet. By his own estimation, he composed over 300 vocalese lyrics. He was co-founder of the path-breaking vocal group, Lambert, Hendricks and Ross, which set the modern standard for group vocalizing in jazz, pioneering the use of overdubbing of voices to simulate the big band sounds of Count Basie and Duke Ellington, among other giants.Īl Jarreau once called him “pound for pound the best jazz singer on the planet.” In my estimation, he was the poet laureate of jazz in the 20th century. He was handpicked by Thelonious Monk to compose lyrics to his sui generis compositions Monk reportedly said to Hendricks: “You’re the only muthafucka I want to write lyrics to my songs!” He was encouraged to come to New York by none other than Charlie “Bird” Parker.
Jon Hendricks sang on the radio with Art Tatum, the greatest of all jazz pianists, in their hometown, Toledo, Ohio. When Judith passed away in 2015, they had been married for 54 years. It was the last time Jewel and I saw the two together. Hendricks staring down at the lyrics I’m about to share with you, is from that event. And when Jewel served as the Executive Director of the Hudson Valley Writer’s Center, I presented again on his vocalese genius. When Jewel and I held a housewarming party in the summer of 2009 in New Rochelle, NY, Judith and Jon graced us with their presence (see photo above with me on the left and Christian McBride on the right). Hendricks accepted my invitation to attend a presentation on his work for Columbia University’s Jazz Study Group, which became the Center for Jazz Studies. But of all the masters I’ve been fortunate to meet, Jon and Judith Hendricks were two of the most gracious and accommodating.
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