Eddie Jefferson

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Eddie Jefferson
Jefferson at Half Moon Bay, California, October 10, 1978
Background information
Born	(1918-08-03)August 3, 1918 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Died	May 9, 1979(1979-05-09) (aged 60) Detroit, Michigan, U.S.
Genres	Jazz
Occupations	Singer songwriter
Instrument	Vocals

Eddie Jefferson (August 3, 1918 – May 9, 1979)^[1] was an American jazz vocalist and lyricist. He is credited as an innovator of vocalese, a musical style in which lyrics are set to an instrumental composition or solo. Jefferson himself claims that his main influence was Leo Watson. Perhaps Jefferson's best-known song is "Moody's Mood for Love" which was recorded in 1952, though two years later a recording by King Pleasure catapulted the contrafact into wide popularity (King Pleasure even cites Jefferson as a personal influence). Jefferson's recordings of Charlie Parker's "Parker's Mood" and Horace Silver's "Filthy McNasty" were also hits.^[2]