Singers' Corner / Vocal Melody Transcriptions

Chris Connor is considered to be one of the foremost cool jazz vocalists of the 1950s and 1960s. Chris is often listed in a trio among June Christy and Anita O'Day, but she developed a style and popularity of her own throughout her multi-decade career. Chris got her big break when June Christy heard her on the radio in 1953 and recommended her for the coveted female vocalist position in Kenton's band -- Chris's dream job. She stayed with Kenton for 5 months, during which time she recorded one of her signature songs, All About Ronnie. Chris's 12-record association with Atlantic is considered by many to be the peak of her career. Read more...

Multidimensional artist Meredith d’Ambrosio is often heralded as a modern renaissance woman. Although she is best known as a jazz vocalist, Meredith is also a successful composer, pianist, lyricist, and painter. Critics describe her vocal style as soft-toned, pure, interpretive, and warm, in a tradition that follows Blossom Dearie and precedes Diana Krall. Raised in a musical family, Meredith studied painting and music from an early age. She was invited to open for John Coltrane in 1966 but turned him down. It was not until nearly a decade later that she made her recording debut with her husband, Eddie Higgins. Read more...

Dena DeRose is a tremendous pianist, vocalist, composer, and educator. Dena learned voice somewhat accidentally: as a student at Binghamton University, she practiced and played piano so rigorously that she was forced to abandon the instrument for two years, during which time she turned to singing instead. By the time she was able to play piano again, singing was an integral part of her musical identity, and when she moved to New York in 1991, her unique vocal style combined with her pianistic musicality made her a success. Read more...

Rachel Gould, born in Camden, New Jersey, has a deeply personal style and a rich, low voice that are instantly recognizable. A graduate of Boston University for cello and classical voice, Gould began singing professionally in the 1970s in the United States. However, it was not long before she left for Europe, living in Germany and Switzerland before settling in Holland in 1991. She has worked and performed with many jazz musicians of acclaim, including Woody Herman, Chet Baker, Benny Bailey and Lou Blackburn, to name a few. Her phrasing and vocal technique are known and admired worldwide by many vocalists and she is well-known as a vocal teacher, especially in Europe. Read more...

Vocalist Carmen McRae was a singer best-known for her delivery of lyrics and her sensitive interpretation of ballads. Her unique behind-the-beat phrasing and trumpet-like clarity earned her the moniker "The Singer's Singer." Her career spanned 50 years and included over 60 releases—over which her style remained remarkably consistent—and many critics consider her to be as talented as the iconic vocalists Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan, and Carmen's primary inspiration, Billie Holiday. Read more...

A masterful cool jazz singer known for her percussive, vibrato-free style, Anita O'Day is regarded as one of the most musically gifted singers in jazz. Renowned for her improvisational skill, dynamic range, and rhythmic ability, Anita's exuberance for swing and refusal to be another ladylike "girl singer" broke the norms for female big band vocalists of her day. Read more...

Oran “Hot Lips” Page is remembered as one of the most exciting soloists of the swing era. His trumpet and vocal styles were both strongly influenced by Louis Armstrong, but with plenty of his own personal flair. He is particularly associated with the Kansas City scene of the early to mid-1930s. Read more...