Jon Hendricks
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".
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