YABJS: A new trend in jazz of 00's
I discovered this new term from Entertainment Tonight. I love the show. It's got so many British dark jokes about celebs and entertainment industry. In one show it talked about how music industry is now full of YABJS (pronounced as 'yabs') or Young and Beautiful Jazz Singers. That show mentioned the likes of Michael Buble', Jamie Cullum, etc. I think that this is so interesting, coz I also thought that nowadays the popular jazz singers are so young, and cute! Apart from Michael and Jamie, how about Stacey Kent, Jane Monheit, Jacky Allen, etc? So I googled YABJS, and the results are 2 very interesting articles.
All swings bright and beautiful Perfect teeth, perfect albums, perfect appearances on Parkinson ... jazz singers are taking over the planet
John L Walters
Friday November 5, 2004
The Guardian
Suddenly the world is full of YABJS - Young And Beautiful Jazz Singers, an excess of them, with their perfect teeth and hair and ubiquitous posters and carefully timed Parkinson appearances and beautifully recorded albums - Gwyneth Herbert and Peter Cincotti and Clare Teal and Kathleen Willison. Not to mention Andra and Cassandra and Claire and Diana (Krall, at the Albert Hall tonight) and Dianne and Eliane and Jacqui and Juliet and Liane (Carroll - terrific at the Barbican gala concert for Ronnie's) and Molly and Niki and edgy, sexy Patricia and Rebekka and Silje and Stacey and Tina. And Michael Buble - not so much a jazz star as a bad, sad Frank Sinatra tribute act. YABJS as in Yet Another Bloody Jazz Singer. [full article]
New Crop of ‘jazz’ Singers
A Bland Lot
Howard Reich l Chicago Tribune, April 2004
They’re young, glamorous, beautiful, talented, evocatively dressed, sumptuously photographed
— and, oh, so boring to hear.
Packaged to appeal more to the eye than to the ear, the new jazz singers — or at least the vocalists being marketed as such — have sold millions of records and, therefore, have redefined the art form for listeners around the planet...
...Stack up the pretty boys, and girls, against fierce and fearless individualists such as Elling, Barber, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Lizz Wright and Philip Manuel, among others, and it’s clear that the 21st Century has ushered in a bland new world of watered-down jazz singing, a pseudo-chic Muzak for a new millennium. “I think we’re very oriented toward image, toward a certain kind of `look’ these days,” says Michael Friedman, whose Chicago-based Premonition Records released several of Barber’s breakthrough albums, including “Cafe Blue” and “Modern Cool.” “There’s not much attention paid to a Kurt Elling or a Patricia Barber or people who are doing interesting things in the vocal area — people who are trying new ideas.”
...“It’s driven, instead, by image. Peter Cincotti is a handsome dude. Jane Monheit is a beautiful young singer. Beautiful singers singing beautiful songs in very non-confrontational ways — that’s what seems to work today.”
...For jazz devotees and musicians, however, the rub comes when artists such as Jones, Krall, Cincotti and the rest are marketed by jazz and pop labels as the real thing, the new stars of swing-based music. [Full Article]
Very true indeed. But at least these YABJS have opened doors to many listeners who stayed away from jazz and thought jazz is too much to digest. After they're bored of the YABJS, then they can explore deeper into the classy ones later. BTW, I agree that Patricia Barber is awesome, watched her perform live at Green Mills a couple of times. And I also don't like Michael Buble', somehow I think his music is bland, and his jokes in the concert not so funny.
All swings bright and beautiful Perfect teeth, perfect albums, perfect appearances on Parkinson ... jazz singers are taking over the planet
John L Walters
Friday November 5, 2004
The Guardian
Suddenly the world is full of YABJS - Young And Beautiful Jazz Singers, an excess of them, with their perfect teeth and hair and ubiquitous posters and carefully timed Parkinson appearances and beautifully recorded albums - Gwyneth Herbert and Peter Cincotti and Clare Teal and Kathleen Willison. Not to mention Andra and Cassandra and Claire and Diana (Krall, at the Albert Hall tonight) and Dianne and Eliane and Jacqui and Juliet and Liane (Carroll - terrific at the Barbican gala concert for Ronnie's) and Molly and Niki and edgy, sexy Patricia and Rebekka and Silje and Stacey and Tina. And Michael Buble - not so much a jazz star as a bad, sad Frank Sinatra tribute act. YABJS as in Yet Another Bloody Jazz Singer. [full article]
New Crop of ‘jazz’ Singers
A Bland Lot
Howard Reich l Chicago Tribune, April 2004
They’re young, glamorous, beautiful, talented, evocatively dressed, sumptuously photographed
— and, oh, so boring to hear.
Packaged to appeal more to the eye than to the ear, the new jazz singers — or at least the vocalists being marketed as such — have sold millions of records and, therefore, have redefined the art form for listeners around the planet...
...Stack up the pretty boys, and girls, against fierce and fearless individualists such as Elling, Barber, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Lizz Wright and Philip Manuel, among others, and it’s clear that the 21st Century has ushered in a bland new world of watered-down jazz singing, a pseudo-chic Muzak for a new millennium. “I think we’re very oriented toward image, toward a certain kind of `look’ these days,” says Michael Friedman, whose Chicago-based Premonition Records released several of Barber’s breakthrough albums, including “Cafe Blue” and “Modern Cool.” “There’s not much attention paid to a Kurt Elling or a Patricia Barber or people who are doing interesting things in the vocal area — people who are trying new ideas.”
...“It’s driven, instead, by image. Peter Cincotti is a handsome dude. Jane Monheit is a beautiful young singer. Beautiful singers singing beautiful songs in very non-confrontational ways — that’s what seems to work today.”
...For jazz devotees and musicians, however, the rub comes when artists such as Jones, Krall, Cincotti and the rest are marketed by jazz and pop labels as the real thing, the new stars of swing-based music. [Full Article]
Very true indeed. But at least these YABJS have opened doors to many listeners who stayed away from jazz and thought jazz is too much to digest. After they're bored of the YABJS, then they can explore deeper into the classy ones later. BTW, I agree that Patricia Barber is awesome, watched her perform live at Green Mills a couple of times. And I also don't like Michael Buble', somehow I think his music is bland, and his jokes in the concert not so funny.
posted by khunnai @ 12:22 AM
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