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JON HENDRICKS – BIOGRAPHY
JON HENDRICKS singer, lyricist and drummer, was born in Newark, Ohio.
His long and celebrated life
in music spans eight decades from the age of six, the seventh son of Reverend and Sister Willie Carrington
Hendricks, of the African-American Episcopal Church, where he sang alongside
his mother.
Art Tatum and his family were
friends of the Hendricks family. Art got Jon, 13 at the time, the job of
vocalist at the “Waiter’s and Bellman’s Club” Tatum went on to become one of
the greatest jazz pianists and Jon
one of the greatest jazz vocalists and lyricists in jazz history. By the time Jon was 14 he had met,
Noble Sissy, Eubie Blake, Jimmie Lunceford, Fats Waller, Duke Ellington, Count
Basie, Nat Cole, and the young Charlie Parker.
Jon’s long career in vocalese
and as a lyricist began on the Victory Ship bringing him home from World War 11
when he heard the recording “Salt Peanuts” by Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie
Parker. From that day forward he wrote lyrics to enumerable bebop tunes,
classical music etc. and performed the ‘songs’ world wide. Founder and creator of Lambert,
Hendricks & Ross, which was the number one jazz vocal group in the world
for five consecutive years, Jon became known as ‘the father of vocalese’. In later years Jon was the creator of
the Manhattan Transfer’s most successful album, ‘Vocalese’ which went gold in
Japan and won seven Grammy’s, one of which was for Jon Hendricks as best
singer. Leonard feather referred
to Jon as “The Poet Laureate of Jazz”.
Time Magazine called him ‘The James Joyce of Jive’, and Melody Maker
named him “number one jazz singer in the world”. Thelonious Monk stated “the only one I want to lyricize my
music.
Jon is the recipient of a
plethora of awards, to name a few, he one the Emmy, Iris and Peabody awards for
his CBS Television Documentary, “Somewhere to lay my Weary Head”, Lifetime
Grammy Award, Kennedy Jazz Masters Award, NEA Jazz Master Award, Distinguished
Professor Award, and The Governor’s Special Recognition Award, Toledo
University, Ohio, The Kennedy Jazz Masters Award, D-Day Jazz Festival June 2004
was awarded the (Legion of Honor), l’Ordre National de la Legion d’Honneur in
Normandy. The Recording Academy, Presidents Merit Award, in 2005. Harvard
University, Visiting Artist 2005-6 and most recently The ASCAP Jazz Wall of
Fame June 2009.
Jon performs with his own
group LH&R Redux with his daughter Aria Hendricks and Kevin Burke. He also performs with orchestras and
big bands world wide, performing LH&R charts, Count Basie, Duke Ellington
Charts and Classical charts, etc. He is a Senior Statesman of Jazz respected
and beloved world wide.
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