Jon Hendricks

Lore & Background

Hendricks moved many times with his 14 siblings, following their father's assignments as an AME pastor, before settling in Toledo. He began singing at age seven and by ten was a local celebrity. He received early musical training from piano prodigy Art Tatum, who lived on the same street. As a teenager, he sang on the radio with a harmony group, The Swing Buddies, earning enough to support his family.

During World War II, he took part in the D-Day landings and later was court-martialled after going on the run with army supplies. After the war, he attended the University of Toledo on the G.I. Bill as a pre-law major but left before graduate law program when benefits ran out. In 1950, he scatted at a Charlie Parker gig in Toledo; Parker encouraged him to come to New York, which he did two years later.

He teamed with Dave Lambert and Annie Ross to form the vocal trio Lambert, Hendricks & Ross, which perfected vocalese. Their album Sing a Song of Basie (1958) was a best-seller. Hendricks wrote lyrics to entire instrumental solos, such as Ben Webster's solo on Duke Ellington's 'Cotton Tail'.

The trio recorded six albums from 1957 through 1962, winning a Grammy for Sing a Song of Basie. After Annie Ross left, Yolande Bavan replaced her, and the group was billed as Lambert, Hendricks and Bavan. Hendricks also wrote lyrics for several Thelonious Monk songs, including 'In Walked Bud', performed on Monk's 1968 album Underground.

Roots in Toledo

Born in Newark, Ohio in 1921, Jon Hendricks grew up in a household defined by music and constant movement. As the son of an AME pastor, he and his fourteen siblings relocated frequently before finally settling in Toledo. The family home became a gathering spot for jazz musicians, with his mother cooking meals for the players who dropped by. Hendricks started singing at seven and was already a local celebrity by ten.

At twelve, he received an offer to tour with Fats Waller; at thirteen, Ted Lewis wanted him as his on-stage "shadow." His early training came from piano prodigy Art Tatum, who lived on the same street, and the two performed together around town. As a teenager, he earned enough money singing with a harmony group called The Swing Buddies on radio to support his entire family. He continued performing in Toledo and Detroit until the draft pulled him into military service.

The Vocalese Revolution

Hendricks is widely recognized as one of the originators of vocalese, a technique that layers lyrics over existing instrumental compositions, effectively replacing wind sections with human voices. The breakthrough came when he partnered with Dave Lambert, who envisioned recording Count Basie's instrumental numbers with voices standing in for the orchestra's horns. Hendricks wrote the lyrics, and they pitched the concept to Creed Taylor at ABC-Paramount Ampar.

After a failed first attempt using a choir, they multi-tracked their own voices, with Annie Ross handling the high register—an early and innovative use of overdubbing. The result, Sing a Song of Basie (1958), became a best-seller and launched the legendary trio Lambert, Hendricks & Ross. Hendricks typically composed lyrics not merely to melodies but to entire instrumental solos, as demonstrated in his rendering of Ben Webster's tenor saxophone line on Ellington's "Cotton Tail." The trio recorded six albums between 1957 and 1962, earning a Grammy for High Flying (1961) and a DownBeat cover in 1959.

War, Court-Martial, and the Charlie Parker Connection

Hendricks's military service during World War II was far from routine. He took part in the D-Day landings in June 1944 and was later assigned to the quartermaster's headquarters in France. In a harrowing episode, he and several Black fellow soldiers were fired upon by white U.S. military police for socializing with white French women.

They fled with truckloads of army supplies and remained at large until recaptured, facing court-martial in November 1945. The war was already over by then, and Hendricks served only eleven months in the stockade before returning home. He enrolled at the University of Toledo on the G.I. Bill as a pre-law major and met his first wife, Colleen "Connie" Moore, with whom he eventually had four children. Just as he was about to enter graduate law school, his benefits expired.

The turning point came one night in 1950, when he got up and scatted at a Charlie Parker gig in Toledo. Parker encouraged him to come to New York and look him up. Two years later, Hendricks moved his family there and resumed his singing career.

A Legacy Written in Sound

The accolades that followed Hendricks spoke to a singular artistic identity. Leonard Feather named him the "Poet Laureate of Jazz," while Time magazine called him the "James Joyce of Jive." Al Jarreau went further, declaring him "pound-for-pound the best jazz singer on the planet—maybe that's ever been." His influence radiated far beyond the jazz world. Countless singers cite Lambert, Hendricks & Ross as a formative influence, including Joni Mitchell, Van Morrison, Al Jarreau, and Bobby McFerrin. His lyric "Yeh Yeh" became a number-one hit in 1965 for Georgie Fame, who continues to perform LH&R compositions to this day.

In 1966, Hendricks recorded "Fire in the City" with the Warlocks, the group that would soon become the Grateful Dead. He also wrote lyrics for Thelonious Monk pieces, including "In Walked Bud," performed on Monk's 1968 album Underground. His 1960 Monterey Jazz Festival production, Evolution of the Blues, featured Jimmy Witherspoon, Hannah Dean, Ben Webster, and Pony Poindexter, and went on to run for five years at San Francisco's On Broadway Theater.

Reader's Guide

Jon Hendricks's significance lies in his pioneering role in vocalese, transforming instrumental jazz into vocal art by writing lyrics for entire solos and arrangements. As a member of Lambert, Hendricks & Ross, he helped popularize this technique, earning critical acclaim and influencing countless later singers, including Joni Mitchell, Van Morrison, Al Jarreau, and Bobby McFerrin. His work on albums like Sing a Song of Basie and Lambert, Hendricks and Ross Sing Ellington demonstrated the potential of the human voice to replicate and reinterpret big-band jazz.

Beyond the trio, he created the musical Evolution of the Blues, performed at the Monterey Jazz Festival and later in San Francisco and Los Angeles. He also taught jazz studies at the University of Toledo, where he was appointed Distinguished Professor of Jazz Studies and received an honorary Doctorate of the Performing Arts. His legacy endures through his recordings, his influence on vocal jazz, and his role as a bridge between instrumental and vocal traditions.