Vocal Jazz

About the Vocal Jazz genre

Vocal jazz emerged in the USA during the late 1910s and 1920s through blues and standards singers like Ma Rainey and Bessie Smith. Louis Armstrong's popularization of scat singing in the mid-1920s demonstrated that the human voice itself could be a sophisticated jazz instrument, expanding what vocalists could explore within the genre.

The 1930s and 1940s brought the big band and swing era, which produced the singers most collectors associate with vocal jazz's peak period. Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra and Sarah Vaughan defined how lyrics should be phrased and delivered with expressiveness, setting standards that influenced singing across all genres through the 1950s. Bandleaders including Duke Ellington, Benny Goodman and Tommy Dorsey actively sought out vocalists to front their orchestras, making the vocalist role central to the era's commercial success.

The genre proved durable beyond its golden age. Nina Simone, Helen Merrill, Maxine Sullivan and Abbey Lincoln continued recording through the 1970s and 1980s, while newer performers like The Manhattan Transfer and Bobby McFerrin brought fresh approaches to the form. More recent singers including Dianne Reeves, Norah Jones and Jamie Cullum have kept vocal jazz relevant by acknowledging its historical foundations while pushing into contemporary contexts.