Artist Profile: Jazz Singer Johnny Hartman
By Jacob Teichroew, About.com Guide
Johnny Hartman
Born: July 23rd, 1923 in Chicago, Illinois as John Maurice Hartman
Died: September 15th, 1983
The Struggling Balladeer:
Despite his talents, jazz singer Johnny Hartman struggled to maintain a thriving career. Hartman caught a couple of big breaks during his life that seemed to show promise, but the racial and cultural milieu during his active years were such that he never earned the recognition he deserved while he was still alive.
Hartman’s first big opportunity came after he won a singing competition at age 17 in a Chicago supper club. The prize was a brief engagement with Earl Hines’ big band. Hines, whose band cultivated the talents of bebop stars such as Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie, invited Hartman to join the group for a longer period.
Bebop: Not the Right Fit:
Hartman, whose strengths were his dulcet vocal timbre, emotional nuances, and meticulous phrasing, did not entirely fit into the bebop scene. He left Hines’ band to sing in Gillespie’s big band, but abandoned it in 1949 for a solo career.
Hartman distinguished himself from the majority of jazz singers in the 1950s by rejecting conventions such as scat singing and modifying standard songs. He prided himself on staying close to original melodies, allowing the lyrics to guide his musical interpretation. Some argue that for this reason, Hartman’s potential was squelched by promoters who weren’t interested in supporting a black musician who sounded thoughtful, intelligent, and romantic.
John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman:
Hartman barely got through the 1950s as a solo artist, but got another big break in 1963. That year he recorded John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman (Impulse!), an album of ballads including Billy Strayhorn’s “Lush Life.” On the record, Hartman employs his rich baritone voice to convey the melancholia of various love songs. Hardly straying from the melodies, Hartman’s approach evidently inspired John Coltrane to do the same. The two complement each other perfectly, and the album is one of the best jazz vocal albums ever made.
While Hartman’s reputation got a boost after his work with Coltrane, he could not sustain it. Throughout the 1960s and 70s, when rock music pushed romantic jazz out of the mainstream, Hartman refused to compromise, recording jazz with bands led by Oliver Nelson and Gerald Wilson. His 1980 album Once in Every Life (Bee Hive), was nominated for a Grammy in 1981, but that was the last hint of promise in his career. He died in 1983 of lung cancer.
In part thanks to Clint Eastwood’s 1996 movie, The Bridges of Madison County, which uses recordings of Hartman in the romantic scenes, Johnny Hartman started to achieve posthumously the acclaim that he deserved while still active.
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