Jon Hendricks

This article is about the jazz musician. For other people with similar names, see John Hendricks (disambiguation).

Jon Hendricks
Hendricks in 2008
Hendricks in 2008
Background information
Birth nameJohn Carl Hendricks
Born(1921-09-16)September 16, 1921
Newark, Ohio, U.S.
DiedNovember 22, 2017(2017-11-22) (aged 96)
New York City, U.S.
GenresJazz
Occupation(s)Singer, lyricist
Years active1957–2017
Formerly ofLambert, Hendricks & Ross
Spouses
  • Colleen Moore
    ​
    (divorced)​
    [1]
  • Judith Hendricks
    ​
    (death 2015)​
Children4[1][2]

John Carl Hendricks (September 16, 1921 – November 22, 2017), 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".[3]

  1. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference Obit was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference thisisbop was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Artist Confidential interview with Al Jarreau. XM Radio, 2007.