\n<\/p>\n
Listen on YouTube<\/em><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n I admire how much care she puts into every word, making sure that the story of the song is heard and felt. Any improvisatory changes made to the melody are done with taste and feeling. I also love how she uses the full range of her voice to deliver the song. I almost thought the song ended once she hit that final high A-flat, but after descending two octaves lower, oscillating between G and A-flat, this Sarah performance became an instant favorite.<\/p>\n Listen on YouTube<\/em><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n I like hearing Sarah Vaughan tear it up on an extra-slow-tempo ballad, 50 beats per minute or lower. With small groups, her unremitting virtuosity made a certain kind of design sense: She filled in the canyon-like spaces between beats. But I also like hearing her singing at slug tempos with thick, commercial, easy-listening studio arrangements: In an atmosphere of languid appeasement, she bounces off the walls. For the front half of \u201cThe Thrill Is Gone,\u201d on \u201cVaughan and Violins\u201d (<\/em>1958), the arrangement by Quincy Jones clears open space for her to go full Sarah, strange Sarah, with her feats of breath control, mic technique, timbral shifts, trilling and sliding notes, hard emphatic gestures. But she keeps doing it after the tide of violins enters. I mean, the first \u201cgone\u201d is more than three seconds long, most of it the letter \u201cn\u201d; at 0:34, she delivers a pinched, acid \u201c\u2026 si-ii-ighs<\/em>\u201d; at 0:38, \u201ca-hand re-ee-huh-a-lize\u201d; at 0:51, \u201cthe nights<\/em>: the nights are so cold.\u201d At a certain point you\u2019re noticing every detail. Most affective ballads work their affect intermittently \u2014 there are a few select peaks, which makes them easier to remember. Vaughan\u2019s were nearly all peak, and in that she took a risk.<\/p>\n Listen on YouTube<\/em><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n Sarah Vaughan, my first musical love, always brought newness to everything she sang each time she stepped onto the stage. There is a great early recording on MGM in 1949 of this song where, if one listens closely, her undeniably infectious tone and masterful phrasing speak through. This particular clip of her live performance of \u201cOnce in a While\u201d is filmed almost 30 years later, and that essence is still there, but even more enriched. Her vocal range was unparalleled and became even deeper as she \u201cseasoned.\u201d She is a soulfully spontaneous and playful improviser. Her stage presence is transfixing, and her comedic timing is delightfully charming. She holds the entire room in the palm of her hand with each story she tells and intimate moment she shares. Her vocal technique is flawless, no matter which decade of her career, and one would be blessed to be able to witness her sitting down at the piano and accompanying herself just as well as any pianist had for her in the past. She is iconic, and quintessentially the definition of a True Jazz Vocalist. My first love, and I know you will love her too!<\/p>\n Listen on YouTube<\/em><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n Sarah Vaughan\u2019s \u201cWhatever Lola Wants,\u201d released in 1955, is a pop masterpiece. In less than three minutes, she perfectly embodies her role as a provocative temptress while demonstrating her vocal prowess, technical mastery, and savvy as a storyteller. On the surface, she sings straight. But she in fact infuses the Broadway tune with her trademark vocal inflections and nuances. A delicious slide here, a microtonal bend there. With each verse she adds layers of complexity that build momentum, pulling the listener through her performance. And while Vaughan keeps a strict beat, she deftly conveys uncertainty and spontaneity, constantly pushing the boundaries between control and the loss of control to produce a delightful tension between the two. Musically, she has re-created the dynamics of a successful seduction. By the time she sings the final \u201cI\u2019m irresistible, you fool\/Give in, give in, give in,\u201d her success \u2014 and the success of her single, which peaked at No. 6 on the Billboard and Variety charts \u2014 seems a foregone conclusion.<\/p>\n\u25c6 \u25c6 \u25c6<\/span><\/h3>\n
Samara Joy, vocalist<\/h2>\n
\u201cTime After Time\u201d<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n
\u25c6 \u25c6 \u25c6<\/span><\/h3>\n
Ben Ratliff, former Times jazz and pop critic<\/h2>\n
\u201cThe Thrill Is Gone\u201d<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n
\u25c6 \u25c6 \u25c6<\/span><\/h3>\n
Charenee Wade, vocalist<\/h2>\n
\u201cOnce in a While\u201d<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n
\u25c6 \u25c6 \u25c6<\/span><\/h3>\n
Elaine M. Hayes, biographer<\/h2>\n
\u201cWhatever Lola Wants\u201d<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n