Eddie Jefferson (August 3, 1918 – May 9, 1979) was an American
jazz
Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...
vocalist and lyricist. He is credited as an innovator of vocalese, a musical style in which lyrics are set to an instrumental composition or solo. Jefferson himself claims that his main influence was Leo Watson. Perhaps Jefferson's best-known song is " Moody's Mood for Love" which was recorded in 1952, though two years later a recording by King Pleasure catapulted the contrafact into wide popularity (King Pleasure even cites Jefferson as a personal influence). Jefferson's recordings of
Charlie Parker
Charles Parker Jr. (August 29, 1920 – March 12, 1955), nicknamed "Bird" or "Yardbird", was an American jazz saxophonist, band leader and composer. Parker was a highly influential soloist and leading figure in the development of bebop, a form ...
's "
Parker's Mood "Parker's Mood" is a piece of music originally performed by Charlie Parker as an improvised blues in 1948. Vocalese lyrics were later written and recorded by King Pleasure and Eddie Jefferson.
Original recording
Alto saxophonist Charlie Parker reco ...
" and Horace Silver's "Filthy McNasty" were also hits.
Biography
Jefferson was born in
Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...
,
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...
, United States. One of his most notable recordings, "
So What
So What may refer to:
Law
*Demurrer, colloquially called a "So what?" pleading
Music Albums
* ''So What'' (Anti-Nowhere League album) or the 1981 title song (see below), 2000
* '' So What?: Early Demos and Live Abuse'', by Anti-Nowhere League, ...
", combined the lyrics of artist Christopher Acemandese Hall with the music of
Miles Davis
Miles Dewey Davis III (May 26, 1926September 28, 1991) was an American trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the history of jazz and 20th-century music. Davis adopted a variety of music ...
to highlight his skills, and enabled him to turn a phrase, into his style he calls jazz vocalese.
Jefferson's last recorded performance was at the Joe Segal's Jazz Showcase in Chicago and was released on video by Rhapsody Films. He shared the stand with Richie Cole (alto sax), John Campbell (piano), Kelly Sill (bass) and Joel Spencer (drums). The performance was part of a tour that Jefferson and Cole led together. Their opening night in Detroit, Michigan, was at
Baker's Keyboard Lounge
Baker's Keyboard Lounge is a jazz club located at 20510 Livernois Avenue in Detroit, Michigan. It was founded in May 1933 and is the oldest continuously operated jazz club in Detroit.
History
Early History
In 1933 Chris and Fannie Baker opened B ...
, a jazz club built in the 1930s that has played host to famous musicians including those who spanned the genre with artists as diverse as Dexter Gordon and
Sonny Stitt
Edward Hammond Boatner Jr. (February 2, 1924 – July 22, 1982), known professionally as Sonny Stitt, was an American jazz saxophonist of the bebop/hard bop idiom. Known for his warm tone, he was one of the best-documented saxophonists of his ...
.
A previously unreleased live recording from July 1976 was released in August 2009 as ''Eddie Jefferson At Ali's Alley'', with the quintet of drummer Rashied Ali featured.
Eddie Jefferson was shot and killed outside Baker's Keyboard Lounge on May 8, 1979, aged 60. He had left the club with fellow bandleader Cole around 1:35 a.m. and was shot while walking out of the building. A late-model Lincoln Continental was spotted speeding away from the scene. The driver was later picked up by Detroit police and identified as a disgruntled dancer with whom Jefferson once worked and had fired from a gig. The suspect was charged with murder, but was later acquitted in a Detroit criminal trial.
The Manhattan Transfer
The Manhattan Transfer is a Grammy award–winning vocal group founded in 1969 that has explored a cappella, vocalese, swing, standards, Brazilian jazz, rhythm and blues, and pop music.
There have been two editions of the Manhattan Transfer, ...
Extensions
Extension, extend or extended may refer to:
Mathematics
Logic or set theory
* Axiom of extensionality
* Extensible cardinal
* Extension (model theory)
* Extension (predicate logic), the set of tuples of values that satisfy the predicate
* Ex ...
'' in 1979.
Discography
* ''Letter from Home'' (Riverside, 1962)
* '' Body and Soul'' (Prestige, 1968)
* ''Come Along with Me'' (Prestige, 1969)
* ''The Bebop Singers'' with Annie Ross, Joe Carroll (Prestige, 1970)
* ''
Things Are Getting Better
''Things Are Getting Better'' is the 11th album by jazz saxophonist Cannonball Adderley, and his second release on the Riverside label, featuring performances with Milt Jackson, Wynton Kelly, Percy Heath and Art Blakey.Still on the Planet
''Still on the Planet'' (also released as ''Godfather of Vocalese'') is an album by vocalist Eddie Jefferson recorded in 1976 and released on the Muse label.Richie Cole
* '' New York Afternoon'' (Muse, 1977)
* '' Alto Madness'' (Muse, 1977)
* '' Keeper of the Flame'' (Muse, 1979)
* ''Live at the Douglas Beach House 1978'' (Just Jazz, 1995)
* '' Hollywood Madness'' (Muse, 1979)
With Dexter Gordon
* ''Great Encounters'' ( Columbia , 1978)
With James Moody
* '' Moody's Workshop'' (Prestige, 1954)
* ''
Hi Fi Party
''Hi Fi Party'' is an album by saxophonist James Moody recorded in 1955 and released on the Prestige label.Flute 'n the Blues'' (
Argo
In Greek mythology the ''Argo'' (; in Greek: ) was a ship built with the help of the gods that Jason and the Argonauts sailed from Iolcos to Colchis to retrieve the Golden Fleece. The ship has gone on to be used as a motif in a variety of sour ...
Cookin' the Blues
''Cookin' the Blues'' is a live album by saxophonist James Moody recorded in San Francisco in 1961 and released on the Argo label in 1964.Don't Look Away Now!
''Don't Look Away Now!'' is an album by saxophonist James Moody recorded in 1969 which was released on the Prestige label.
Perception
Perception () is the organization, identification, and interpretation of sensory information in order to represent and understand the presented information or environment. All perception involves signals that go through the nervous system ...
, 1971)
With Frank Wright
* ''Kevin, My Dear Son (Recorded: October 1978)'' (
Chiaroscuro
Chiaroscuro ( , ; ), in art, is the use of strong contrasts between light and dark, usually bold contrasts affecting a whole composition. It is also a technical term used by artists and art historians for the use of contrasts of light to achi ...