CHAPTER 15 | JAZZ IN THE SWING ERA 381
SONG INTERPRETATION AND THE ART
OF JAZZ SINGINGOne can hardly imagine a stronger infl uence on singing styles than the develop-
ment of electrical recording in 1925. Before the advent of electrical amplifi ca-
tion, the most important requirement for a singer was that he or she sing loud
enough to be heard over an instrumental accompaniment. Popular vocalists
in the pre-microphone era either displayed the semi-operatic style of “trained”
singers or projected their voices in an uncultivated “shouting” manner. Al Jolson,
whose career skyrocketed before 1920, combined the two to create his personal
and widely imitated style. A present-day listener to Jolson’s records may fi nd his
diction, emoting, and use of stage Negro dialect to be exaggerated and artifi -
cial sounding. But from the back of the second balcony, Jolson’s fans found his
voice clearly audible, his words easy to understand, and his emotional message
unmistakable.
Singers who came of age in the early 1920s still tended to emphasize projec-
tion along with other vocal qualities. Though remembered today primarily as a
trumpet player (see chapter 12), Louis Armstrong sang in public and on records
well before 1930, and his singing style deeply infl uenced many vocalists who
came after him. Armstrong’s gravelly voice is anything but “cultivated” in the
classical sense, yet he uses it to powerful expressive effect. Singing with great
rhythmic fl exibility, departing from the written melody to improvise his own,
adding extra words or syllables or even scat-singing entire phrases, Armstrong
used his voice as an extension of his trumpet playing. The result was genuine
jazz singing.
Electrical amplifi cation permitted a new singing style: crooning. Crooners
such as Rudy Vallee sang softly into the microphone w ith an effect of intimacy, as
if a lover were whispering into his sweetheart’s ear. When Bing Crosby brought
some of Armstrong’s jazz sensibility to his own crooning, he became one of the
most popular radio and recording artists of the 1930s and after. In the Swing Era,
the line between popular singers and jazz singers grew harder to draw, although
some singers made greater use of the rhythmic and melodic freedom opened up
by Armstrong than others.
One of the greatest interpreters of the classic American popular song was
Billie Holiday. Although she lacked the wide vocal range or dazzling technique
of some other singers, Holiday possessed a gift for melodic improvisation and an
impeccable rhythmic sense that won her the respect of the jazz instrumentalists
who enliven her recordings. Particularly notable is her nuanced back phrasing,
in which she lags behind the accompaniment for expressive effect.
Holiday’s expressive song interpretation is evident in her 1945 record of Cole
Porter’s “What Is This Thing Called Love?” (LG 15.5). Introduced in a 1929 revue,
Porter’s song went on to establish itself as a jazz standard, a favorite of both sing-
ers and instrumentalists. Although Porter wrote a verse for the song, Holiday
observes the common practice of omitting it in performance. Instead, after a
short introduction she sings the thirty-two-bar aaba chorus, which the band
then repeats instrumentally, followed by a sixteen-bar half chorus (ba).
Like many classic American popular songs, “What Is This Thing Called
Love?” contains oblique references to blues music: each of the four sections of
the aaba chorus begins on a blue note, but the remainder of the section is notcroonersLouis ArmstrongBillie HolidayLG 15.5172028_15_361-385_r3_ko.indd 381 23/01/13 8:36 PM