Posted by Aria (172.146.114.222) on January 15, 2003 at 23:51:56:
In Reply to: Master thesis posted by Lisa Ryan-McLaughlin on June 04, 2002 at 19:05:19:
Hi,
I'm Jon's daughter and I also don't know of any significant liturature or analyzations of LH&R, but if you like, you can email me at hendricksmusic1@yahoo.com and I'll try to get the answers to as many of your questions as I can (I'm very close to my father and speak to him several times a week). As for how he writes those lyrics, I can't speak for his early years, but I can tell you that the countless times I've witnessed the process, it has always gone the same way. He listens to the solo repeatedly for several days and then sits down with his yellow legal pad (always), his headphones, and completes the solo in about 20 minutes with few to no alterations. Read it and weep, we'll never be able to do that!
: Since I was 12 years old, and heard my first LHR album I have had a love of harmony and jazz, and that is simply why I became a jazz singer. Now that I am in my fifties and after a long career (still going) and undertaking my masters who else but the 'greatest vocal group ever' would I choose to write on. I was amazed to find an incredible lack of literature devoted to Jon Hendricks and the group. Can anyone advise on any defining books, aside from Will Friedwald: Jazz singing. Thanks,
: To Jon, you are simply my hero and my musical inspiration, you made me realize scat was a communicating tool and vocalese was the perfect way to pay tribute to the great solos and express your own musical thoughts, but how do you get those unbelievable lyrics? Does the writing process happen easily or did you work long hours with solos such as Cloudburst and Charleston Alley?