jazz vocalists | Musicosity

jazz vocalists

Mark Murphy

Mark Murphy (b. 1932) is an American jazz singer based in New York. He is most noted for his vocalese and vocal improvisations with both melody and lyrics. He is the recipient of the 1996, 1997, 2000, and 2001 Down Beat magazine readers jazz poll for Best Male Vocalist of the Year, and is also the recipient of six Grammy award nominations for Best Vocal Jazz Performance. He is also famous for his original lyrics to the jazz classics "Stolen Moments" and "Red Clay".

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King Pleasure

King Pleasure (March 24, 1922 - March 21, 1982) was a jazz vocalist and an early master of vocalese, where a singer sings words to a famous instrumental solo. Born Clarence Beeks in Oakdale, Tennessee, he moved to New York City in the mid-1940s and became a fan of bebop music. King Pleasure first achieved popularity by singing the Eddie Jefferson vocalese classic "Moody's Mood for Love," based on a James Moody saxophone solo to "I'm in the Mood for Love".

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Cassandra Wilson

Cassandra Wilson (born 4th December 1955) is a U.S. ist and two-time Grammy Award winner from Jackson, Mississippi. Two of her albums, Blue Skies (1988) and New Moon Daughter (1996), have topped the US jazz charts, and the latter also won her a Grammy for Best Jazz Vocal Performance in 1997. More recently, Wilson's latest album Loverly (2008) also won the Grammy for Best Jazz Vocal Album at the 51st Grammy Awards in 2009.

Read more about Cassandra Wilson on Last.fm.

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Eliane Elias

Eliane Elias (b. 1960) is a Brazilian jazz composer, pianist, and singer. Born on the 19th March 1960 in São Paulo, Brazil, Elias started learning to play the piano at the age of seven, and was transcribing solo portions of her parents’ jazz records by the age of twelve. After studying for six years (and teaching by the age of fifteen) at Brazil’s prestigious Free Centre of Music Apprenticeship, she continued her classical education with Amilton Godoy and Amaral Vieria.

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