John Carl Hendricks (September 16, 1921, to November 22, 2017), also known as Jon Hendricks, was an American jazz lyricist and singer. He helped create a style of music called vocalese, which adds words to instrumental jazz songs and uses singers instead of some instruments, such as those found in the music of Duke Ellington and Count Basie. Hendricks was highly skilled in scat singing, a type of vocal jazz where singers improvise melodies with nonsensical words. Jazz critic Leonard Feather called him the "Poet Laureate of Jazz," and the magazine Time referred to him as the "James Joyce of Jive." Singer Al Jarreau said Hendricks was "the best jazz singer in the world, perhaps ever."

Early years

Jon Hendricks was born on September 16, 1921, in Newark, Ohio, United States. He moved frequently with his 14 siblings because his father worked as a pastor for the AME church. After many moves, the family settled permanently in Toledo. The Hendricks home often had visiting jazz musicians, and Jon’s mother prepared meals for them.

Jon began singing when he was seven years old. He once said, “By the time I was 10, I was well-known in Toledo. At 12, I received offers to perform with Fats Waller. At 13, I was invited to be the shadow in a performance with Ted Lewis. His act included a young Black boy who followed him and imitated his actions.” The Tatum family lived nearby, and Jon received early music lessons from Art Tatum, a talented pianist. The two often performed together in their community.

As a teenager, Jon earned money by singing on the radio with a group called The Swing Buddies. His income helped support his family. He continued performing in Toledo and Detroit until he was required to join the US Army.

World War II

During World War II, Hendricks participated in the D-Day landings in June 1944. Later, he worked at the supply headquarters in France. When he and some Black soldiers were fired at by white U.S. military police for being with white French women, they fled with truckloads of army supplies. They stayed hidden until they were caught and tried in a military court in November 1945. By that time, the war had ended, and Hendricks spent 11 months in a military prison before returning home. He then attended the University of Toledo using the G.I. Bill, which helped veterans go to college, and studied pre-law. When he was close to starting law school, the G.I. Bill benefits ended. In Toledo, Hendricks met his first wife, Colleen "Connie" Moore. They married and had four children. In 1950, Hendricks performed a scat song at a concert by Charlie Parker. Parker encouraged him to move to New York and find him. Two years later, Hendricks moved his family there and continued his singing career.

Lambert, Hendricks and Ross

After several years, during which he wrote songs for Louis Jordan and recorded with King Pleasure, he joined forces with Dave Lambert. Lambert had the idea to record a collection of Count Basie's instrumental pieces by replacing the wind instruments with voices. Jon wrote the lyrics, and they presented the idea to Creed Taylor, who was newly hired as an A&R man for ABC-Paramount Ampar. After an unsuccessful first attempt to record the songs with a choir, they decided to record their own voices separately and combine them, with Annie Ross singing the high notes. Although overdubbing had been used before, this was an early and creative example. The result was a popular album called Sing a Song of Basie (1958). Its success led them to form the famous vocal trio Lambert, Hendricks & Ross (LH&R). With Hendricks writing lyrics and Lambert arranging the music, the trio mastered the style of vocalese and performed it globally, earning many awards. In September 1959, they appeared on the cover of DownBeat magazine with the headline "The Hottest New Group in Jazz," which became the title of their Grammy-nominated fourth album.

Hendricks often wrote lyrics not only to melodies but also to full instrumental solos. One example is his version of Ben Webster's tenor saxophone solo on Duke Ellington's original recording of "Cotton Tail," as featured on the album Lambert, Hendricks and Ross Sing Ellington (1960). His lyrics to Benny Golson's "I Remember Clifford" were later recorded by other artists, including Dinah Washington, Carmen McRae, Nancy Wilson, Ray Charles, The Manhattan Transfer, and Helen Merrill.

From 1957 to 1962, the trio recorded six albums, including High Flying (1961), which won a Grammy for Best Performance by a Vocal Group. Annie Ross left the group in 1962 due to health issues and was replaced by Yolande Bavan. The group was then billed as Lambert, Hendricks and Bavan for the three live albums they recorded from 1962 to 1964.

Many singers credit LH&R's work as an influence, including Joni Mitchell, Van Morrison, Al Jarreau, and Bobby McFerrin. The song "Yeh Yeh," with lyrics by Hendricks, became a number one hit in 1965 for British R&B-jazz singer Georgie Fame, who continues to perform LH&R's songs today. In 1966, Hendricks recorded "Fire in the City" with the Warlocks, who later changed their name to the Grateful Dead. Hendricks also wrote lyrics for several Thelonious Monk songs, including "In Walked Bud," which he performed on Monk's 1968 album Underground.

For a performance at the 1960 Monterey Jazz Festival, Hendricks created and starred in a musical called Evolution of the Blues Song (later shortened to Evolution of the Blues). The show featured singers such as Jimmy Witherspoon, Hannah Dean, and "Big" Miller, as well as saxophonists Ben Webster and Pony Poindexter. The ensemble performed Hendricks's songs, Percy Mayfield's classic "Please Send Me Someone to Love," the gospel song "That's Enough," and the blues song "C.C. Rider." In 1961, Columbia Records released an LP of the production. Later, Hendricks presented the show at the On Broadway Theater in San Francisco, where it ran for five years, and at the Westwood Playhouse in Los Angeles, where it was produced by attorneys Burton Marks and Mark Green.

Solo

In 1961, Hendricks recorded two albums: Salud! João Gilberto (Reprise) and Fast Livin' Blues (Columbia). After divorcing Colleen and marrying Judith Dickstein, Hendricks moved to Mill Valley, California, where he reunited with his children, who had been living with relatives since the divorce. There, he recorded Recorded in Person at the Trident (Smash). Later that year, he was invited by Duke Ellington to perform at the Concert of Sacred Music at San Francisco's Grace Cathedral.

In 1968, Hendricks moved his family to London, England, partly to give his four children better educational opportunities and partly to keep them away from the widespread drug culture in California. From London, he toured Europe and Africa, performed on British radio and television with artists such as Lulu, Dusty Springfield, Ronnie Scott, and comedian Marty Feldman. His sold-out performances at Ronnie Scott's club attracted fans like the Rolling Stones and the Beatles. In London, he also recorded two albums: Jon Hendricks Live (Fontana) and Times of Love (Philips), which was released in the United States as September Songs (Stanyan, 1975).

After five years in London, Hendricks returned to Mill Valley, where he worked as a jazz critic for the San Francisco Chronicle and taught classes at California State University at Sonoma and the University of California at Berkeley. In 1973, he recorded two songs with Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers—Bobby Timmons's "Moanin'" and Benny Golson's "Along Came Betty"—which appeared on Blakey's Buhaina album.

His album Tell Me the Truth (Arista, 1975) was produced by Ben Sidran. In 1982, he released Love (Muse), which featured his daughter Michele. He later collaborated with The Manhattan Transfer on their 1985 album Vocalese, which won seven Grammy Awards. After living in London, Hendricks returned to the United States in 1981. He served on the Kennedy Center Honors committee under Presidents Carter, Reagan, and Clinton. His final studio album, the Grammy-nominated Freddie Freeloader (1990), included musicians such as George Benson, Al Jarreau, Bobby McFerrin, Wynton Marsalis, and The Manhattan Transfer.

In 2000, Hendricks returned to his hometown to teach at the University of Toledo, where he was named Distinguished Professor of Jazz Studies and received an honorary Doctorate of the Performing Arts. He became the first American jazz artist to lecture at the Sorbonne in Paris. His 15-voice group, the Jon Hendricks Vocalstra, performed at the Sorbonne in 2002. Hendricks also wrote lyrics for classical pieces, including "On the Trail" from Ferde Grofe's Grand Canyon Suite. The Vocalstra performed a vocalese version of Rimsky-Korsakov's "Scheherazade" with the Toledo Symphony.

In the summer of 2003, Hendricks toured with the "Four Brothers," a group including himself, Kurt Elling, Mark Murphy, and Kevin Mahogany. He worked on setting words to Rachmaninoff's second piano concerto and wrote lyrics for Gershwin's Piano Prelude No. 1 for the a cappella ensemble Pieces of 8's 2004 album Across the Blue Meridian. He also appeared in cameo roles in the films People I Know (2002) and White Men Can't Jump (1992).

In 2012, Hendricks appeared in the documentary No One But Me, discussing his former bandmate and friend, Annie Ross. In 2015, he lost his second wife, Judith, to a brain tumor.

In 2016, Hendricks appeared on three tracks from the JC Hopkins Biggish Band's album Meet Me at Minton's. He performed vocalese on "Suddenly (In Walked Bud)", participated in the title track "Meet Me at Minton's", and sang a duet of the Monk tune "How I Wish (Ask Me Now)" with singer Jazzmeia Horn, who won the 2016 Thelonious Monk Competition. At the time of the recording, Hendricks was 93 years old, and Horn was 23.

In 2017, Hendricks completed his full lyricization of the album Miles Ahead, which included Miles Davis's solos and Gil Evans's orchestrations. The project, which he had first imagined 50 years earlier, was premiered in New York by the UK-based choir the London Vocal Project, with Hendricks in attendance. A studio recording followed.

Awards and honors

In 1993, Hendricks received an NEA Jazz Master award. He was also awarded several Grammy Awards. In 2004, he was honored with the Legion of Honour in France.

Discography

• A Good Git-Together (World Pacific, 1959)
• Evolution of the Blues Song (Columbia, 1960)
• Live Recording at Birdland with Count Basie (Roulette, 1961)
• Fast Livin' Blues (Columbia, 1962)
• ¡Salud! João Gilberto, Creator of the Bossa Nova (Reprise, 1963)
• Recorded in Person at the Trident (Smash, 1965)
• Jon Hendricks Live (Fontana, 1970)
• Times of Love (Philips, 1972)
• Tell Me the Truth (Arista, 1975)
• Cloudburst (Enja, 1982)
• Love (Muse, 1982)
• Freddie Freeloader (Denon, 1990)
• Boppin' at the Blue Note (Telarc, 1995)

With Lambert, Hendricks and Ross
• Sing a Song of Basie (ABC-Paramount, 1958)
• Sing Along with Basie (Roulette, 1958)
• The Swingers! (World Pacific, 1959)
• The Hottest New Group in Jazz (Columbia, 1959)
• Sing Ellington (Columbia, 1960)
• High Flying (Columbia, 1961)
• The Real Ambassadors (Columbia Masterworks, 1962)
• Basie Live in Person (Natural Organic, 1979)
• Everybody's Boppin (Columbia, 1989)

With Lambert, Hendricks and Bavan
• At Newport '63 (RCA Victor, 1963)
• Recorded Live at Basin Street East (RCA Victor, 1963)
• Havin' a Ball at the Village Gate (RCA Victor, 1964)
• Swingin' Till the Girls Come Home (Bluebird, 1987)

• 3 Cohens, Family (Anzic, 2011)
• Karrin Allyson, Footprints (Concord Jazz, 2006)
• Art Blakey, Buhaina (Prestige, 1973)
• Terence Blanchard, People I Know (Decca, 2003)
• Dave Brubeck, Young Lions & Old Tigers (Telarc, 1995)
• Benny Carter, Benny Carter Songbook (Musicmasters, 1997)
• Benny Carter, Benny Carter Songbook Volume II (MusicMasters, 1997)
• Neil Diamond, In My Lifetime (Columbia, 1996)
• Kurt Elling, Live in Chicago (Blue Note, 1999)
• Georgie Fame, Cool Cat Blues (Go Jazz, 1991)
• Al Grey, Al Grey Fab (Capri, 1990)
• Joyce, Language and Love (Verve, 1991)
• King Pleasure, King Pleasure Sings (Prestige, 1954)
• The Manhattan Transfer, Mecca for Moderns (Atlantic, 1981)
• The Manhattan Transfer, Vocalese (Atlantic, 1985)
• Ellis Marsalis Jr., Ellis Marsalis Trio (Blue Note, 1991)
• Wynton Marsalis, Crescent City Christmas Card (Columbia, 1989)
• Wynton Marsalis, Blood on the Fields (Columbia, 1997)
• Bobby McFerrin, Spontaneous Inventions (Blue Note, 1986)
• Thelonious Monk, Underground (Columbia, 1968)
• Jimmy Rowles and Stan Getz, The Peacocks (Columbia, 1975)
• George Russell, New York, N.Y. (Decca, 1959)
• Janis Siegel, Experiment in White (Atlantic, 1982)
• Take 6, The Standard (Heads Up, 2008)
• Larry Vuckovich, Cast Your Fate (Palo Alto, 1984)
• Connie Evingson, All the Cats Join In (Minnehaha Music, 2014)
• Royal Bopsters – The Royal Bopsters Project (Motema, 2015)

Filmography

• In 1983, Jon Hendricks worked on the documentary "Music in Monk Time," which honors Thelonious Monk. He helped write the film, performed in it, and narrated it. The production company was Songfilms International, Inc.
• In 1958, Jon Hendricks performed on "The Steve Allen Plymouth Show" in episode #4.11 with Lambert, Hendricks & Ross.
• In 1967, Jon Hendricks participated in "NET Playhouse: Duke Ellington – A Concert of Sacred Music."
• In 1972, Jon Hendricks was involved in "Jazz Is Our Religion."
• In 1992, Jon Hendricks was part of the group "The Venice Beach Boys" in the movie "White Men Can't Jump."
• In 1994, Jon Hendricks appeared as April's father in the film "Foreign Student."
• In 2008, a documentary titled "Jon Hendricks, Tell Me The Truth" was made about the artist. The film was directed by Audrey Lasbleiz and produced by Mosaïque Films in Paris.
• In 2009, a documentary called "Blues March: Soldier Jon Hendricks" was created to share the story of Jon Hendricks' experiences during World War II. The film was directed by Malte Rauchof and produced by Strandfilm Productions.