'Queen Of Bebop' Is A Welcome Look At Sarah Vaughan's Legendary Career
Elaine M. Hayes' new book traces the ups and downs of the singer known as the Queen of Bebop, from her great Town Hall debut in 1947 to the cheesy but profitable novelty songs that marred her legacy.
It's somehow fitting that a biography of Sarah Vaughan would emerge during the centennial of Ella Fitzgerald. That's been Vaughan's story from the get go. The brilliance of her instrument was, is and ever shall be compared to Fitzgerald's — the First Lady of Song, the darling of rhythm, the swinging-est singer on record.
Vaughan was born in Newark, N.J. in 1924, seven years after Fitzgerald. But in jazz, seven years — and particularly those seven — were a lifetime. That's how fast the music was changing. Or, more accurately, that's how fortunate music lovers were. The Queen of Swing and the Queen of Bebop sat concurrently on their thrones in the same lifetime. Each dipped her royal feet in the
