Louis' children : American jazz singers / by Leslie Gourse.
| Author/creator | Gourse, Leslie |
| Other author | Armstrong, Louis, 1901-1971. |
| Format | Book |
| Edition | First edition. |
| Publication Info | New York : William Morrow and Company, 1984. |
| Description | 366 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm |
| Subjects |
| Contents | Part I: Prelude. Cousin Joe of New Orleans -- Louis Armstrong: "Everyone's Pops" -- The eloquent Ethel Waters -- Bing ... and, of course, Fred Astaire ... and Bobby McFerrin -- Cab -- Part II: Big-band era. The big-band singers: Introduction -- The Kansas City Singers: Little Johnny Rushing, Big Joe Turner and Pha Terrell -- "There was no middle ground with Billie Holiday" -- Tales of big-band-era singers -- Part III: Singers on their own. Singers' camaraderie: Thelma Carpenter, Etta Jones and Helen Merrill -- Beyond the vibrato: the cutting edge of Billy Eckstine, Heartthrob -- The instrumentalists sings: A jazz sub-culture -- Feeding the maw with tunes: from Leo Watson to Eddie Jefferson to Lorraine Feather -- A coat of many colors for Jon Hendricks: lyricist laureate of jazz -- "You are my goddam sunshine": Mel Torme -- Nat "King" Cole -- "Ice was a three-note thing": Joe Williams -- Dinah Washington's love stories -- Lady O'Day: the case of the missing uvula -- Mabel Mercer, Boîte star -- A great critic says a few words about the legendary Frank Sinatra -- The glorious voice of Sarah Vaughan -- The time of Ella Fitzgerald -- Noodling with Norman Simmons about Carmen McRae -- The feeling of Carmen McRae -- "We should have gone more places": Annie Ross -- Tony Bennett: "A rhythmic rapport" -- Rosemary Clooney: interpretations from the labyrinth -- One of Billie's children: Sylvia Syms -- The lure of Birdland and environs, leading to a night in El Paso -- Jazz-Boîte singing -- Part IV: The B-natural generation. Betty Carter: guru of "Out" -- Andy Bey's subtlety ; Joe Lee Wilsons' reverberations -- Janet Lawson's scat songs -- The beat of Tania Maria: "A piano is not like a man." |
| Abstract | Louis Armstrong pioneered the jazz vocal. Based on dozens of interviews, this book provides a comprehensive overview of the diverse performers who inherited Satchmo's legacy and made it their own. They are Ethel Waters, Bing Crosby, Bobby McFerrin, Cab Calloway, Big Joe Turner, Billie Holiday, Nat "King" Cole, Joe Williams, Dinah Washington, Frank Sinatra, Sarah Vaughan, Ella Fitzgerald, Carmen McRae, Tony Bennett, and many others. |
| Bibliography note | Includes bibliographical references (pages 360-362) and index. |
| LCCN | 83013178 |
| ISBN | 0688022413 |