America's Greatest Jazz and Pop Singers

Jazz singing can be defined by the instrumental approach to the voice, where the singer can match the instruments in their stylistic approach to the lyrics, improvised or otherwise, or through scat singing; that is, the use of nonsensical meaningless non-morphemic syllables to imitate the sound of instruments. Crooner is an American epithet given to a male singer of 1920s to 1960s pop standards, mostly from the Great American Songbook. He is normally backed by a full orchestra or big band."Crooner" was originally an ironic term denoting what was perceived as a pretentious, sentimental singing style, and some performers, such as Russ Colombo, did not consider themselves to be crooners. In an interview, Frank Sinatra said that he did not consider himself or Bing Crosby to be crooners. Big band singers, who had previously been considered instrumentalists and were rarely singled out, now became huge stars, like Frank Sinatra, Doris Day, Ella Fitzgerald, and Dinah Shore.' Many artists made their mark with pop standards, particularly interpreters like Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday, Frank Sinatra, Frankie Laine, Lena Horne, Tony Bennett, Vic Damone, Johnny Mathis, Barbra Streisand, Peggy Lee, Sammy Davis, Jr., Mel Tormé, Sarah Vaughan, Eydie Gorme, Billy Eckstine, Andy Williams, Nancy Wilson, Jack Jones, Rita Reys, Steve Lawrence and Cleo Laine. "Harvey Sheldon's latest book helps us all to remember the greats of today and yesterday. It is unfortunate but true that "history is only what gets saved." Fortunately, the legacy of all those mentioned in this endeavor will now live into the future. America's Greatest Jazz and Pop Singers by my friend Harvey Sheldon will make sure that these icons will never be forgotten. They can be remembered, cherished and praised. History survives through this journal. Harvey, we all thank you for saving it." Gerry Wilkinson Broadcast Historian and Chairman of the Board Broadcast Pion