The image of “The Jazz Singer” calls to mind impressions of Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday, Chet Baker, or Johnny Hartman – the stereotypical vision of a sole vocalist spotlit on the modest stage in the corner of a dim, smoky jazz club. Such an image ignores the rich lineage of vocal ensembles in the vocal jazz tradition. A practice and heritage that runs much deeper than just the Andrews Sisters, vocal jazz groups have contributed much to the development and popularity of jazz for more than a century, and have been a part of the sound nearly since jazz’s inception.

Just as big band swing was on the rise in the 1920s and ‘30s, vocal groups were making a splash even before major vocal soloists. The Boswell Sisters began in their youth as classically-trained musicians, with aspirations to tour the country first as a piano trio. However, being groomed in New Orleans, the sisters were introduced to figures like Leon Roppolo (clarinet) and Louis Prima (trumpet), and they fell in love with the syncopated sounds of jazz. Vocally influenced by The Empress of the Blues, Bessie Smith, the Boswell Sisters found rapid success with radio appearances in Los Angeles and New York in the late 1920s. None other than Ella Fitzgerald cites the Boswell Sisters as a major source of inspiration, and they were the model for the ever-popular Andrews Sisters a decade later.

Building on the success of Swing-era groups like the aforementioned sisters, as well as the hit-making Mills Brothers, the trio Lambert, Hendricks, and Ross introduced impressive new techniques and standards for vocal jazz. Not only could they execute tight harmonies with color and flair, but they were wizards of lyrical improvisation and vocalise. With this skill, Jon Hendricks set lyrics to countless bebop and jazz standards, and Annie Ross and Dave Lambert, too, created memorable lyrics for timeless improvised solos by the likes of Wardell Gray and Clifford Brown. After the group debuted in 1957 with Sing a Song of Basie, Count Basie was so impressed as to have the Basie band record with them on a subsequent album, Sing Along With Basie (1959), which later entered the Grammy Hall of Fame.

Today, those traditions are advanced by groups like Manhattan Transfer, Take 6, and The New York Voices. Where the Mills Brothers and Lambert, Hendricks, and Ross interpreted the music of Duke Ellington and Count Basie, contemporary vocal ensembles are tackling the music of Weather Report and Chick Corea, to say nothing of their own original music. For more of these highlights, be sure to tune in to Jazz 93.5 Sunday nights at 7:00 PM for The Voices of Jazz with Jeff Peckham. And don’t miss the Jazz 93.5 Birthday Bash on October 1^st, featuring Manhattan Transfer’s own Janis Siegel! Find info and tickets at jazz935.org/birthday.