Oh Dinah!

Last month, a strange thing happened--I finally became sick of instrumental Jazz. Don't get me wrong, the brilliance and eloquence of a Miles Davis or Kenny Burrell or a Cannonball Adderley still shines as bright as the Sunday mornin' sun, but I couldn't help but feel bogged down by the total lack of VOICE in the music. See, I started consciously listening to and critiquing Jazz my junior year in high school. From the start, instrumental was my sole ax. From Miles to Coltrane to Monk, it was the heavy hitters of INSTRUMENTS that I focused on, and while I still read and respected Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday, and Sarah Vaughn, I just didn't invest in Jazz Vocal recordings. I was inspired to do so, however, and from the most unlikely source.

I was watching my favorite television program, Countdown with Keith Olbermann, when this commercial came on.

The infectious voice of that commercial? Dinah Washington, a woman among women. Married eight times, Washington was every bit as forceful in person as her music would suggest, and it did not take long for me to become transfixed with her charismatic personality as a Jazz performer.

And what a voice! While the Double Tree commercial uses the selection "Relax Max" from her "Swinging with Miss 'D,'" an album of catchy swing tunes arranged by Quincy Jones, Washington was at home with the blues, an area where her Gospel roots were allowed to shine. Washington is smooth, but her music never straddles past the jazz/blues genres. Her authenticity and phrasing forever keeps her material listen-able (though she would turn to the dark side with her '63 release What a Diff'rence a Day Makes!), and for examples of both her impeccable Jazz phrasing and smoldering blues, I highly recommend two released: Dinah, an album that finds her supported by a large Jazz ensemble and singing both standards and obscure blues, and After Hours with Miss D, a true Jazz/Blues masterpiece that finds Washington stretching out with such experts as Clark Terry and Junior Mance.