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TheBebopRevolutionJ
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ANALYII
MUJr(
4:"LemonDrop''
CD 2,Ti'ack
(George
Wallington),
EllaFitzgerald,
recordedJuly5, | 973 (l:a6).Personnel:
Fitzgerald,
vocal;Tommy
Flanagan,
piano;
guitar;
Pass,
Keeter
Betts,
bass;
Freddie
Waits,
drums.
Joe
An amazing display of vocal technique, "Lemon Drop" is a fine example of Ella Fitzgerald's
amazing musicianship, energy and limitless creative inventiveness.Recorded live at Carnegie
Hall during the 1973 Newport Jazz Festival,Ella's backup band for this performanceincluded
two of the premier session players in jazz at the time, pianist Tommy Flanagan and guitar
virtuoso Joe Pass.
0:00 Piano introduction played by Tommy Flanagan.
0:08 Head is sung with scat syllablesby Fitzgeraldand occasionallydoubled by pianist Flanagan.
e
0:37 First chorus of scat solo by Fitzgerald.
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1:34 Third chorus of scat solo, track fades.
1:06 Second chorus of scat solo.
took existing instrumenlal jazz solos and composed witty and inventive
lyrics to them. Lambert, Hendricks & Rosstook vocaleseone step further
by adding three-part harmony. Each of the three singers was also a versatile scat singer in their own right, and improvised solos were included
into their live and recorded performances. Lambert, Hendricks E Ross
also inspired other vocal jazz ensembles including the Swingle Singers,
Manhattan Transfer.and the New York Voices.
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The Demiseof 52nd Street
I vocul"r" is the techof niqueof composing
lyricsto fit existing
recordedjazz improvised
solosor instrumental
(suchas big
arrangements
bandcharts).
By the end of the 1940s, the good times on The Street were coming to
an end. During the war, servicemen out to have a good time made up a
large part of the crowd. Once the war ended, the lenient atmosphere
changed. Police started to make more arrests of the hustlers and drug
dealers that were always present. The racially tolerant atmosphere was
starting to break down, with violent incidents between blacks and whites
becoming more common. What was probably more destructive was the
opening of severai large elaborate clubs on Broadway at the same time
that specifically featured jazz as the main attraction. Bop City opened in
1945, the Royal Roost in 1948, and as previouslymentioned,Birdland
in i949. The small, dingy basement clubs on 52nd Street could not compete with their new competitors, and many became strip joints. Today
there are massive skyscrapers standing where some of history's most
famous jazz clubs once stood.