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Queen of Bebop: The Musical Lives of Sarah Vaughan
Publishers Weekly Best Book of 2017
Washington Post Best Book of 2017
Amazon Editors' Top 100 Pick of the Year
Amazon Best Humor and Entertainment Pick of the Year
Booklist Top Ten Arts Book
Queen of Bebop brilliantly chronicles the life of jazz singer Sarah Vaughan, one of the most influential and innovative musicians of the twentieth century and a pioneer of women’s and civil rights
Sarah Vaughan, a pivotal figure in the formation of bebop, influenced a broad array of singers who followed in her wake, yet the breadth and depth of her impact—not just as an artist, but also as an African-American woman—remain overlooked.
Drawing from a wealth of sources as well as on exclusive interviews with Vaughan’s friends and former colleagues, Queen of Bebop unravels the many myths and misunderstandings that have surrounded Vaughan while offering insights into this notoriously private woman, her creative process, and, ultimately, her genius. Hayes deftly traces the influence that Vaughan’s singing had on the perception and appreciation of vocalists—not to mention women—in jazz. She reveals how, in the late 1940s and early 1950s, Vaughan helped desegregate American airwaves, opening doors for future African-American artists seeking mainstream success, while also setting the stage for the civil rights activism of the 1960s and 1970s. She follows Vaughan from her hometown of Newark, New Jersey, and her first performances at the Apollo, to the Waldorf Astoria and on to the world stage, breathing life into a thrilling time in American music nearly lost to us today.
Equal parts biography, criticism, and good old-fashioned American success story, Queen of Bebop is the definitive biography of a hugely influential artist. This absorbing and sensitive treatment of a singular personality updates and corrects the historical record on Vaughan and elevates her status as a jazz great.
Washington Post Best Book of 2017
Amazon Editors' Top 100 Pick of the Year
Amazon Best Humor and Entertainment Pick of the Year
Booklist Top Ten Arts Book
Queen of Bebop brilliantly chronicles the life of jazz singer Sarah Vaughan, one of the most influential and innovative musicians of the twentieth century and a pioneer of women’s and civil rights
Sarah Vaughan, a pivotal figure in the formation of bebop, influenced a broad array of singers who followed in her wake, yet the breadth and depth of her impact—not just as an artist, but also as an African-American woman—remain overlooked.
Drawing from a wealth of sources as well as on exclusive interviews with Vaughan’s friends and former colleagues, Queen of Bebop unravels the many myths and misunderstandings that have surrounded Vaughan while offering insights into this notoriously private woman, her creative process, and, ultimately, her genius. Hayes deftly traces the influence that Vaughan’s singing had on the perception and appreciation of vocalists—not to mention women—in jazz. She reveals how, in the late 1940s and early 1950s, Vaughan helped desegregate American airwaves, opening doors for future African-American artists seeking mainstream success, while also setting the stage for the civil rights activism of the 1960s and 1970s. She follows Vaughan from her hometown of Newark, New Jersey, and her first performances at the Apollo, to the Waldorf Astoria and on to the world stage, breathing life into a thrilling time in American music nearly lost to us today.
Equal parts biography, criticism, and good old-fashioned American success story, Queen of Bebop is the definitive biography of a hugely influential artist. This absorbing and sensitive treatment of a singular personality updates and corrects the historical record on Vaughan and elevates her status as a jazz great.
427 pages, Kindle Edition
First published July 4, 2017
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April 6, 2018
The Queen of Bebop: The Musical Lives of Sarah Vaughn by Elaine M. Hayes is a 2017 Ecco publication.
Bebop or bop is a style of jazz developed in the early to mid-1940s in the United States, which features songs characterized by a fast tempo, complex chord progressions with rapid chord changes and numerous changes of key, instrumental virtuosity, and improvisation based on a combination of harmonic structure, the use of scales and occasional references to the melody.
Since starting my ‘Monday Musical Moments’ feature at ‘The Book Review’, I’ve read my share of musical memoirs and biographies. After a while I became a little wary of them for a plethora of reasons, but I also learned a lot about the way biographies are constructed. I’ve learned the difference between authorized and unauthorized and all the various ways biographers approach their subjects. Invariably, they tend to go in definite directions, either by exploring the artist’s musical achievements or by delving into their personal life. Some biographers, and think this is one of them, will choose a theme, and center the book around it. If you want a small clue as to which way the biographer will go, pay very close attention to all the words in the title. Sometimes, I can glean from that, what the author will emphasize the most.
In this case, “The Musical Lives of Sarah Vaughn” is a huge giveaway. I was right in assuming the book would mainly focus on Vaughn’s musical abilities, with a smattering of personal information and history rounding things out.
I am not in any way an aficionado on Vaughn’s music or life, but I have bumped into her a few times since becoming a huge fan of jazz. This book explores all the different ways Sarah reinvented herself during her long career. She had to succumb to pressure on occasion when the greedy recording labels sacrificed her talent by watering down her signature style, because for them, money is the bottom line, and so getting a popular hit was more important. We also get to meet Vaughn’s band members, and all recognizable musicians she worked with over the years, and examine the approach she took to living the life of a musician, especially on the road.
While the bulk of the book is centered around Sarah the singer, her personal life is not left out of the equation, by any means, it’s just not examined in minute detail or given the same amount of real estate. The reader gets the general idea, nonetheless. Vaughn's personal life was beset by poor choices in men, an increasing problem with drugs and alcohol, and she spent her life hoping to make her disapproving parents proud. But, Vaughn did always, somehow, manage to rebound, and continued to work, even during her fight with cancer, offering to sing while lying down in bed, if she had to.
I think this is a perfect book for someone who is unfamiliar with Sarah’s music or even if you are, you may only know her jazz tunes or her pop tunes or show tunes. This book will give you a fuller picture of Vaughn’s many musical incarnations. Her voice was an instrument few vocalists have the good fortune to possess. Vaughn was a natural talent with a very wide vocal range and perfect pitch, which is essential to jazz, especially bebop.
I really enjoyed the history related here and found the music business to be as frustrating then as it is now. I relished hearing about the jazz greats Vaughn worked with, the music she recorded, and the way Vaughn catered to her fans, always, always, giving the audience their money’s worth.
Vaughn’s personality does vibrate throughout the book, and it is easy to see how she got the nickname ‘Sassy’. She had a long, storied career, dealt with race discrimination, sexism, the recording industry, and a host of personal issues. But, at the end of the day, Sarah has gone down in history, as one of the best vocalists of all time. She won four Grammy’s and received many great honors, including singing at the White House.
If you have never listened to Sarah sing, I urge you to do so. I’m fond of her Jazz recordings, because they really show off her broad range and ability to shift octaves, pitches, and notes, all while improvising with the band. Vaughn had a HUGE voice- just beautiful.
This book does what it sets out to do, I think. The goal was to show Vaughn’s versatility, the way she was able to stay relevant and successful even when jazz took a back seat to rock music, in popularity. She could sing ANYTHING, even if the songs she had to record were not always the best representation of her talent. In fact, Vaughn’s voice would have been suited to Opera if she had had the chance to study it- although most agree Sarah would have felt stifled by its rules.
When reading a biography, it is very important, at least to me, for it to be organized and well researched. As I’ve said before, if someone has the time, inclination, a little writing talent, and extreme organizational skills, they can write a biography. But, it is obvious to me when a book is a gushing, ‘fan club’, sycophant job, where the subject can do no wrong, or when someone has simply pasted together interview segments, magazine articles, or album liner notes, hastily published for the sake of money. This book, however, is professionally done, very well written, an extremely organized and detailed accounting of Sarah musical life and career. It may take a more politic approach, but, I think if you understand going in that this book is about the music more than about Sarah’s personal life, you will enjoy it a lot more and appreciate the author's intentions. As most people tend to do, once I read a book like this one, it sparks a curiosity about the person behind the art, and I hope someone does satisfy the public demand for a more personalized portrait of Sarah Vaughn. But, until that time, this book is a terrific way to get to know more about Sarah’s music and might even turn you on to jazz, which I hope fervently that it does. But, beware, once you’ve been bitten by the bug, you’ll be a fan for life!!
But, you don’t have to be a Jazz enthusiast to enjoy her music, as Vaughn said herself: I’m not a jazz singer. I’m a singer. After you’ve read this book, you will know and understand exactly what Sarah meant by that.
4 stars
Check out my Monday Musical Moments spotlight and more reviews and features at http://www.the-bookreview.com
Bebop or bop is a style of jazz developed in the early to mid-1940s in the United States, which features songs characterized by a fast tempo, complex chord progressions with rapid chord changes and numerous changes of key, instrumental virtuosity, and improvisation based on a combination of harmonic structure, the use of scales and occasional references to the melody.
Since starting my ‘Monday Musical Moments’ feature at ‘The Book Review’, I’ve read my share of musical memoirs and biographies. After a while I became a little wary of them for a plethora of reasons, but I also learned a lot about the way biographies are constructed. I’ve learned the difference between authorized and unauthorized and all the various ways biographers approach their subjects. Invariably, they tend to go in definite directions, either by exploring the artist’s musical achievements or by delving into their personal life. Some biographers, and think this is one of them, will choose a theme, and center the book around it. If you want a small clue as to which way the biographer will go, pay very close attention to all the words in the title. Sometimes, I can glean from that, what the author will emphasize the most.
In this case, “The Musical Lives of Sarah Vaughn” is a huge giveaway. I was right in assuming the book would mainly focus on Vaughn’s musical abilities, with a smattering of personal information and history rounding things out.
I am not in any way an aficionado on Vaughn’s music or life, but I have bumped into her a few times since becoming a huge fan of jazz. This book explores all the different ways Sarah reinvented herself during her long career. She had to succumb to pressure on occasion when the greedy recording labels sacrificed her talent by watering down her signature style, because for them, money is the bottom line, and so getting a popular hit was more important. We also get to meet Vaughn’s band members, and all recognizable musicians she worked with over the years, and examine the approach she took to living the life of a musician, especially on the road.
While the bulk of the book is centered around Sarah the singer, her personal life is not left out of the equation, by any means, it’s just not examined in minute detail or given the same amount of real estate. The reader gets the general idea, nonetheless. Vaughn's personal life was beset by poor choices in men, an increasing problem with drugs and alcohol, and she spent her life hoping to make her disapproving parents proud. But, Vaughn did always, somehow, manage to rebound, and continued to work, even during her fight with cancer, offering to sing while lying down in bed, if she had to.
I think this is a perfect book for someone who is unfamiliar with Sarah’s music or even if you are, you may only know her jazz tunes or her pop tunes or show tunes. This book will give you a fuller picture of Vaughn’s many musical incarnations. Her voice was an instrument few vocalists have the good fortune to possess. Vaughn was a natural talent with a very wide vocal range and perfect pitch, which is essential to jazz, especially bebop.
I really enjoyed the history related here and found the music business to be as frustrating then as it is now. I relished hearing about the jazz greats Vaughn worked with, the music she recorded, and the way Vaughn catered to her fans, always, always, giving the audience their money’s worth.
Vaughn’s personality does vibrate throughout the book, and it is easy to see how she got the nickname ‘Sassy’. She had a long, storied career, dealt with race discrimination, sexism, the recording industry, and a host of personal issues. But, at the end of the day, Sarah has gone down in history, as one of the best vocalists of all time. She won four Grammy’s and received many great honors, including singing at the White House.
If you have never listened to Sarah sing, I urge you to do so. I’m fond of her Jazz recordings, because they really show off her broad range and ability to shift octaves, pitches, and notes, all while improvising with the band. Vaughn had a HUGE voice- just beautiful.
This book does what it sets out to do, I think. The goal was to show Vaughn’s versatility, the way she was able to stay relevant and successful even when jazz took a back seat to rock music, in popularity. She could sing ANYTHING, even if the songs she had to record were not always the best representation of her talent. In fact, Vaughn’s voice would have been suited to Opera if she had had the chance to study it- although most agree Sarah would have felt stifled by its rules.
When reading a biography, it is very important, at least to me, for it to be organized and well researched. As I’ve said before, if someone has the time, inclination, a little writing talent, and extreme organizational skills, they can write a biography. But, it is obvious to me when a book is a gushing, ‘fan club’, sycophant job, where the subject can do no wrong, or when someone has simply pasted together interview segments, magazine articles, or album liner notes, hastily published for the sake of money. This book, however, is professionally done, very well written, an extremely organized and detailed accounting of Sarah musical life and career. It may take a more politic approach, but, I think if you understand going in that this book is about the music more than about Sarah’s personal life, you will enjoy it a lot more and appreciate the author's intentions. As most people tend to do, once I read a book like this one, it sparks a curiosity about the person behind the art, and I hope someone does satisfy the public demand for a more personalized portrait of Sarah Vaughn. But, until that time, this book is a terrific way to get to know more about Sarah’s music and might even turn you on to jazz, which I hope fervently that it does. But, beware, once you’ve been bitten by the bug, you’ll be a fan for life!!
But, you don’t have to be a Jazz enthusiast to enjoy her music, as Vaughn said herself: I’m not a jazz singer. I’m a singer. After you’ve read this book, you will know and understand exactly what Sarah meant by that.
4 stars
Check out my Monday Musical Moments spotlight and more reviews and features at http://www.the-bookreview.com
October 7, 2017
I didn't really know much about Sarah Vaughan. I hadn't really listened to her music and if shown her picture I would not have known who she was. So when I saw my library had ordered this book I decided to read this and get to know this lady.
Unfortunately I don't think I learned all that much about her. You would think in 400+ page book I would get some understanding of who Miss Vaughan was, but NO. The Queen of Bebop only seemed to skim the surface of Sarah Vaughan's life and work. The quotes from her friends and colleagues were often times vague. Did her second husband beat her or not? I have no idea. When did she meet husband #3 and why did that marriage end? I DON'T KNOW!
The reason I'm giving this book 3 stars instead of 2 stars is because this book did introduce me to the music of Sarah Vaughan and for that the book is getting an extra star.
Unfortunately I don't think I learned all that much about her. You would think in 400+ page book I would get some understanding of who Miss Vaughan was, but NO. The Queen of Bebop only seemed to skim the surface of Sarah Vaughan's life and work. The quotes from her friends and colleagues were often times vague. Did her second husband beat her or not? I have no idea. When did she meet husband #3 and why did that marriage end? I DON'T KNOW!
The reason I'm giving this book 3 stars instead of 2 stars is because this book did introduce me to the music of Sarah Vaughan and for that the book is getting an extra star.
February 11, 2020
3.5 this audiobook is veeerrrryyyyyy long. I suppose if you’re a real Sarah Vaughn fan then you’ll enjoy it more but I felt like the story was just too dragged out and extremely long. If you want to know what Sarah did every second of her life then this is the book for you. I will say I have her on my playlist now I just wish this book was less fluff.
November 6, 2017
Sarah Vaughn is one of my favorite jazz artists ever. Ever. Her operatic, 4-octave voice is a force of nature. Before reading this new biography, i knew very basic information about her. She’s always been sort of private and elusive about her personal life and therefore not a lot was known. At least I didn’t know a lot. I saw her perform at a jazz festival in Detroit in the late 70’s or early 80’s and it was just insane. Just the consummate performer and entertainer.
This biography was as good as it could be. What I mean by that is Vaughn is not a larger-then-life personality like a Billie Holiday, Miles Davis or even a Lena Horne who have all had either a very public or turbulent life or both. So, some may feel hearing about her love life and marriages with these unknown and unfamiliar paramours will be rather boring. There’s no real drama pouring forth from these pages for casual fans who are looking for some big public or dramatic bit to happen.
On the other hand, I really enjoyed hearing the minutiae details of recording life from her 45+ years in the studio and performing. The author did a thorough job providing information about recording sessions, concerts, etc... She also let you in on record company politics, the sexism and racism in the industry and how Ms. Vaughn handled it all. She also provided stories about various friendships, relationships and tense events with the leading titans in the jazz world like Dizzy, Ella, Eckstine, Yardbird and more...
Overall, I would recommend this for diehard Sarah Vaughn fans for sure, but also for those interested in getting more information about one of the greatest jazz voices and entertainers who ever lived.
This biography was as good as it could be. What I mean by that is Vaughn is not a larger-then-life personality like a Billie Holiday, Miles Davis or even a Lena Horne who have all had either a very public or turbulent life or both. So, some may feel hearing about her love life and marriages with these unknown and unfamiliar paramours will be rather boring. There’s no real drama pouring forth from these pages for casual fans who are looking for some big public or dramatic bit to happen.
On the other hand, I really enjoyed hearing the minutiae details of recording life from her 45+ years in the studio and performing. The author did a thorough job providing information about recording sessions, concerts, etc... She also let you in on record company politics, the sexism and racism in the industry and how Ms. Vaughn handled it all. She also provided stories about various friendships, relationships and tense events with the leading titans in the jazz world like Dizzy, Ella, Eckstine, Yardbird and more...
Overall, I would recommend this for diehard Sarah Vaughn fans for sure, but also for those interested in getting more information about one of the greatest jazz voices and entertainers who ever lived.
April 24, 2019
I found this by a stroke of luck, and let me say I was indeed lucky. This a great music biography but it is much more than just a music bio. The parts that deal with civil rights could well be part of a history book. This writer really produced a remarkable piece of work here. I've read over 100 music bios, not to show off but I can now say this is in the top 5. The writer did some remarkable research, and the result is detailed. It's never dry and it remains a wonderful human interest story. If you like jazz or any music for that matter, you need this. If you're interested in civil rights this book is for you too.
October 6, 2024
I never saw Sarah Vaughan in person. I remember my sadness when I heard she had died. Her voice and what she could and did do with it made listening to her a suspense drama. It wasn’t a question of whether she would hit a high note but what aerobatic flourish she would give it.
This is an engaging biography that doesn’t sugarcoat her difficulties but also gives her life context as a black woman making a living true to her art in an often harsh and unforgiving world. She wasn’t a complainer much in public but she carried with her the slights and bruises from navigating racism and misogyny.
She married her managers and then they stole from her and mismanaged her. Record producers coerced her to record schlock or sappy tunes beneath her great talent. Her other-worldly voice only got the true recognition it deserved when she performed with symphony orchestras in the 1970s and 1980s. Yet her jazz albums of the 1950s and 1960s are my favorites. Was she difficult? Given what she had to deal with to produce such masterpieces, I couldn’t care less if she was.
This is an engaging biography that doesn’t sugarcoat her difficulties but also gives her life context as a black woman making a living true to her art in an often harsh and unforgiving world. She wasn’t a complainer much in public but she carried with her the slights and bruises from navigating racism and misogyny.
She married her managers and then they stole from her and mismanaged her. Record producers coerced her to record schlock or sappy tunes beneath her great talent. Her other-worldly voice only got the true recognition it deserved when she performed with symphony orchestras in the 1970s and 1980s. Yet her jazz albums of the 1950s and 1960s are my favorites. Was she difficult? Given what she had to deal with to produce such masterpieces, I couldn’t care less if she was.
August 31, 2017
Sarah Vaughan had such an arsenal of technique and feeling at her disposal that she changed the way singers were viewed and became as much an instrument as any other in a band, improvising riffs, harmonies, and counter-melodies on-the-fly like her fellow jazz musicians and soloists like Dizzy Gillespie, Miles Davis, Charlie Parker, Thelonious Monk and many others who changed the way jazz was played. Despite the cultural pressures of her times, she did all this as a black woman at a time when being a black woman musician was viewed as three strikes against being even human, never mind being a cultured musical genius. To be successful on her own terms to the extent that she was welcomed by presidents of nations and celebrated in classical institutions that had, only a few years earlier looked at her and her art as the scum of the earth is a remarkable accomplishment. In this well-researched and revealing biography, music historian Elaine M. Hayes tells us how this happened and how, despite personal flaws that brought down many people who were much better placed than her by fate, this was achieved. It's a remarkable story and one that needs to be heard more than ever. - BH.
May 6, 2018
Even without opening this amazing book one learns something merely from reading the title: that Sarah Vaughan was a pioneer of Bebop. Who knew. Sarah didn't like to be pigeonholed and considered herself equal parts jazz, blues, pop, classical hence, "The Musical Lives Of..." another incredible fact without having read the first page. Elaine M. Hayes tells a story a young girl from Newark N.J. who sang in the church choir and whose voice no one paid particular attention to. Accept that Sarah had a fire in her belly. As a young teenager she would often sneak out of her house at night to listen and hang-out in the various jazz clubs late into the wee hours. The clubs were her education. This is not a tale of someone being at the right place and the right time, not on your life. This is a story of dedication, hard work, and most importantly passion. Nothing comes out of a vacuum. This is also the feeling I got about this author's work though it felt like a true labor of love. Along the way the reader gets to journey through landmark recording sessions and meet-up with jazz legends and get an inside view. Know and discover that some other legendary musicians such as Chick Corea, Jan Hammer and Bob James were brought to the fore through Sarah. If you have musician chops of your own you will discover that the author is no slouch when it comes to the understanding of the mechanics of music, just a little more icing along with the insightful analysis and meticulous research. This biography steered me to many of (at least what my ears now tell me) Sarah Vaughan's essential recordings. And for this alone I will be forever grateful.
September 6, 2017
i think the writing felt dense and far too analytical of the music itself. i wanted to know more about sarah, and despite it being a story about her life, i felt that she was somehow lost in the music. i wish the prose had been more humanizing of the woman and less so the artist. i think we all know that individual through song and media, but i, for one, read biographies to learn about the person beyond the persona. this did little to deliver on that. as a huge sarah fan, i was disappointed.
September 21, 2020
A brilliant chronicle of the musical great Sarah Vaughan, her voice, her music, her marriages, her management, her recordings, her joys and sorrows, and thus the various stages of her lives. It helps that the biographer has a background in music, knows music, and is intimately familiar with whether and when a song and singer get along. The biographer did a great job situating Sassy in her era and both juxtaposing and placing her in conversation with other jazz great of the period and those before and after. Best of all, she did not shy away from an race and gender analysis of the things Vaughans faced in her life as a woman, a black woman, the first and only black woman, a dark skinned black woman in an industry of blondes and light complexioned black women.
July 15, 2021
This book is written by a woman with a doctorate in music history. I enjoyed her style of writing, as well as, her detail. I'm currently reading biographies of BIPOC entertainers in 20th century America. This one made me want to dig deeper into the Sarah Vaughan library of music and rediscover her brilliance. A truly great read for any music lover.
May 10, 2019
I just had no idea about all the facets of Sarah’s 66 year life. I sure would like to hear her early jazz vocals with Diz and Bird. She was an amazing woman.
July 30, 2019
Excellent chronicle of Sarah Vaughan's professional career.
December 30, 2017
Thoughtful and artful biography of Sarah Vaughan. I have to admit right from the start that Sarah Vaughan is not my favorite "girl singer." (That would be Ella Fitzgerald, of course.) And when Elaine is describing Vaughan's characteristic style: slides, melismas, vibrato, I recognized why. I prefer to see the song clearly through the singer, which is what Ella does; although she embellishes, it's usually in service of the song. Whereas Vaughan in her performances is showcasing her voice, which she learned to use her voice as an instrument, during her early days, when after touring with a few bands, she was hanging out in nightclubs with the early jazz greats who revolutionized jazz. Her gift came from being able to improvise, to collaborate and to re-interpret the music, all the gifts of the jazz greats. Elaine's writing has both qualities. She can imitate the sound of music, like most great music reviewers. For instance, this passage:
Yet she also provides a clear window through which to view her subject. The early chapters where Sarah Vaughan is struggling to make a name for herself engaged me more than the later chapters where she is struggling with record producers to be able to perform the material that interests her (over and over again) and where she is touring relentlessly all around the world (but from a biographer's point of view, it would be impossible to avoid the repetition). The writing is rich with quotes from reviewers and colleagues who Elaine interviewed, all smoothly folded into the writing so it flows.
Yet she also provides a clear window through which to view her subject. The early chapters where Sarah Vaughan is struggling to make a name for herself engaged me more than the later chapters where she is struggling with record producers to be able to perform the material that interests her (over and over again) and where she is touring relentlessly all around the world (but from a biographer's point of view, it would be impossible to avoid the repetition). The writing is rich with quotes from reviewers and colleagues who Elaine interviewed, all smoothly folded into the writing so it flows.
September 14, 2017
Considering Vaughan rejected being labeled, the title is unfortunate but there is a lot to recommend reading this book. Hayes has done a lot of research in an effort to place Vaughan's work in social, musical and historical context. It doesn't sound like Vaughan left much original source material other than interviews so her thoughts and motivations must be inferred in a lot of areas. In some places the events seem hollow without her perspective but Hayes does spend time describing the racial and gender challenges she faced. For instance the decision to sing secular music caused a rift with her parents, but we don't hear much about how that relationship changed as she found success. Perhaps that just wasn't available material. Overall Vaughan comes out as a person driven from an early age to follow where her instincts and her voice would lead her and fearless in this pursuit. I was unfamiliar with much of her work so this will give me loads of new music to discover.
October 27, 2017
I want to state up front that I listened to the audio. It took me a while to get over the affected voices the narrator had, even for Sarah Vaughan. Once I was able to listen beyond the narrator annoying me; I really enjoyed this biography of Sarah Vaughan. I haven't read any other bios about Sassy, but I particularly enjoyed the details around who she played with, what sessions were like, and in general the musical side of her life. Other people have criticized this aspect saying they wanted to know more about her personal struggles with addiction, husbands etc. I was quite thrilled to learn about how she approached singing, studio work, and all the players she ended up mentoring and influencing. Sarah Vaughan's catalog of work expands over 4 decades, so it was also interesting learning about how she kept up with the changing face of Jazz through the years while still maintaining her personal integrity as the music business became all about profit and pop/rock.
November 5, 2017
I'm a huge fan of Sarah Vaughan! I am also very protective of her and her legacy! I think Elaine M. Hayes unearth truths about Sassy as if she was interviewing her. I could hear Sarah's voice throughout the book...especially when folk tried labeling her. She wasn't having it! Elaine reminded us of her brilliance as a musician and fragility when she loved hard, even when the love wasn't reciprocated! Elaine truly captured the beautiful humanity of Sass! I felt like I knew her! I hope people are blessed by her story just as much as it has blessed me!
January 29, 2021
A really good book that exhaustively covers an extraordinary artist and her career. When the author covered specific songs, I listened on Spotify and won a whole new appreciation for how the written word / a critique can deepen the enjoyment of the music. Hayes does a great job telling us of Vaughan’s voice, life, demons, the times she lived in, the racism and sexism she navigated to have a vaunted career and win a stellar reputation. An excellent example of a well done biography.
September 7, 2017
Sarah Vaughan & The Jimmy Rowles Quintet - Morning Star https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vZLix...
Sarah Vaughan & Dizzy Gillespie 1987 - Round Midnight https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QoiY8...
Sarah Vaughan & Dizzy Gillespie 1987 - Round Midnight https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QoiY8...
August 27, 2023
If you are interested in a biography of Sarah Vaughan: read it. You don't need the specific critiques of reviews to guide your decision. I happen to believe that Queen of Bebop is about as good of a biography of Sassy as we are likely to ever get.
Vaughan was a relatively guarded woman who seldom spoke of her personal life, and Hayes does admirable work piecing together her life story from available sources. Hayes is a musician and brings a high level of technical awareness and analysis to her descriptions of Vaughan's output. I, as a musician, appreciated this effort.
While a great deal is known about Vaughan's career (naturally), from Hayes' writing it seems that much less is known of her personal affairs apart from her oftentimes tumultuous relationships with men. I admire that the book respects Vaughan enough as an artist to focus primarily on her art. Greater insight into personal matters would have been appreciated, but my sense is that this deficit is due to a paucity of sources rather than any lack of effort on Hayes' part.
I also respect the fact that Hayes does not shy away from discussing Vaughan's life and work in historical, social, and cultural context, which naturally includes the implications of race and gender. After finishing the book, I read James Gavin's review in The New York Times, in which he asserts that Hayes may have been a bit overzealous in assigning political motivation to individual actors, including Vaughan. I'm inclined to agree with him.
One of the best takeaways from the book is the understanding of how Vaughan and other jazz artists had to balance their most artistically valuable work with more commercial output, especially earlier in their careers. Importantly, she does so without judgement and lambasts the jazz critics of the day for their condemnation. Jazz artists are/were real people, with all the complexity that that entails! Vaughan and others were under great pressure by record executives to record subpar material, and they had to financially support themselves somehow. (Billy Eckstine's polemic against jazz critics who would seemingly rather he die of an overdose than live long enough to record pop music was incisive.)
Hayes doesn't create an explicit list of recommended listening, but if you are a jazz fan, she has done the work of separating the wheat from the chaff. As of finishing Queen of Bebop, I have several more Sarah Vaughan records to listen to, and I also know which ones to skip entirely.
I highly recommend Hayes' biography to any jazz musician. The tradition is in the music itself, of course, but it is also in the stories of our heroes, and The Divine One is far from the least of these.
Vaughan was a relatively guarded woman who seldom spoke of her personal life, and Hayes does admirable work piecing together her life story from available sources. Hayes is a musician and brings a high level of technical awareness and analysis to her descriptions of Vaughan's output. I, as a musician, appreciated this effort.
While a great deal is known about Vaughan's career (naturally), from Hayes' writing it seems that much less is known of her personal affairs apart from her oftentimes tumultuous relationships with men. I admire that the book respects Vaughan enough as an artist to focus primarily on her art. Greater insight into personal matters would have been appreciated, but my sense is that this deficit is due to a paucity of sources rather than any lack of effort on Hayes' part.
I also respect the fact that Hayes does not shy away from discussing Vaughan's life and work in historical, social, and cultural context, which naturally includes the implications of race and gender. After finishing the book, I read James Gavin's review in The New York Times, in which he asserts that Hayes may have been a bit overzealous in assigning political motivation to individual actors, including Vaughan. I'm inclined to agree with him.
One of the best takeaways from the book is the understanding of how Vaughan and other jazz artists had to balance their most artistically valuable work with more commercial output, especially earlier in their careers. Importantly, she does so without judgement and lambasts the jazz critics of the day for their condemnation. Jazz artists are/were real people, with all the complexity that that entails! Vaughan and others were under great pressure by record executives to record subpar material, and they had to financially support themselves somehow. (Billy Eckstine's polemic against jazz critics who would seemingly rather he die of an overdose than live long enough to record pop music was incisive.)
Hayes doesn't create an explicit list of recommended listening, but if you are a jazz fan, she has done the work of separating the wheat from the chaff. As of finishing Queen of Bebop, I have several more Sarah Vaughan records to listen to, and I also know which ones to skip entirely.
I highly recommend Hayes' biography to any jazz musician. The tradition is in the music itself, of course, but it is also in the stories of our heroes, and The Divine One is far from the least of these.
August 24, 2019
Written by someone, not of the jazz world, who fell in love with Sarah Vaughan's voice. Her outsider status is made evident in her occasional need to explain terminology or references that anyone even vaguely familiar with jazz would not need explanations of, and this may well be a good thing. It means she focuses on the music and not the gossip. We do get the stories of Sarah's very bad judgment in regards to men. We don't get a lot of sordid stuff about drugs and booze, and I was just as happy not to. I got to read about Sarah's voice, and her music, and her career in music. There are some wonderful and knowledgeable descriptions of what she did with a song. A book very much worth reading. And I'd recommend listening along with it. I wish she'd spent a little time on one of my favorite Sarah recordings, "Shulie a Bop," and maybe a little more on her musical interaction with CLifford Brown. But these are quibbles.
August 2, 2017
Elaine M. Hayes' "Queen of Bebop: The Musical Lives of Sarah Vaughan" is an impressive piece of work, seemingly the result of a dozen lifetimes of work and an endearing infatuation with her subject. If Ms. Hayes does seem to occasionally get lost in the thickets of race and gender issues, well, how could she not? (The image of Bill Haley singing "Shake Rattle and Roll" and returning to his privileged white existence will stay with me forever, p.174). Perfection is not for us in this lifetime, of course. References to Ms. Vaughan's drug and alcohol use are coy, non-specific and puzzling. That Ms. Vaughan had perfect pitch is not mentioned until p. 313, and on p. 266, likely the club referenced is the "Starwood," not the "Stanwood." Minor objections to a important, informative biography.
April 19, 2019
This engaging and thorough biography of Sarah Vaughan focuses on her role as a jazz innovator and the various shifts and reinventions of her career. Haynes gives us a deep look into Vaughan's work and how she bridged jazz an pop. She traces Vaughan's pursuit of, and struggle for, creative control and freedom, and her persistence in singing as she wanted. Haynes also candidly and insightfully discusses the ways in which racism and sexism affected Vaughan personally and professionally, as well as how her artistry and vocal power allowed her to push back against such oppression. I really enjoyed this book, but I enjoyed discovering Sarah Vaughan's music even more.
February 14, 2024
Queen of Bebop is a biography about Sarah Vaughan, a pioneer of bebop and jazz on par with Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald. However, a book I should've found enjoyable was extremely annoying due to the authors wordiness bogging down the quality of the book and significantly slowing down my reading time (12 days instead of my usual 4). While I came out with a unique understanding of Vaughan, jazz and bebop, I am also annoyed with how much useless information was left in this book.
Elaine Hayes could use a more efficient editor to clear wordiness to improve the reading experience. Because of this, a biography of an incredible woman is getting a 2.5/5 rounded down from me.
Elaine Hayes could use a more efficient editor to clear wordiness to improve the reading experience. Because of this, a biography of an incredible woman is getting a 2.5/5 rounded down from me.
October 22, 2017
An amazingly comprehensive look at Sarah Vaughan's career and musical history, it falls a bit short when it attempts to look her personal life and viewpoints. Perhaps Sarah Vaughan had no real opinions on anything outside her music, but she was in a time of so many great musicians, I would of liked a bit more of her interactions with them. One of the greatest vocalists of all time, a pioneer of be-bop jazz, along with Dizzy, Miles, and Charlie Parker, I thought she deserved a bit more of a look at her life other than a discography and a rundown of her marriages. But still, a good read.
August 28, 2018
Fine, sensitive, general biography of the jazz icon - with emphasis on Sarah Vaughan’s masterful musicality, her professional and personal challenges and triumphs. The author (local to Seattle, a former editor of Seattle’s Earshot Jazz magazine) has done a good job integrating firsthand interviews with family and former colleagues with archival sources. Besides the text, there are several hundred endnotes and an inclusive index. The one feature missing is a selected discography with notes on how to access available film and video material featuring Vaughn.
January 11, 2020
There was a lot of repetition in this book which made it a little difficult to get through for me. At times it read like a list of her discography/accomplishments. I wish there was more delving into the music and more interviewers with people who knew her. I loved the Carmen McRae sections and I liked reading Sarah quotes too. I got quite sad reading about her struggles w/ substances and her record labels being very dismissive and exploitative, but it was also cool to read about how tough she was. I'm a huge Sarah Vaughan fan and this also introduced me to some new music.
May 28, 2018
When I was younger and trying to learn more about jazz, my boss recommended gave me some names of people to listen to. I picked up the Four Queens of Jazz which included Billie Holliday, Ella Fitzgerald, Lena Horne, and the lady who became my favorite, Sarah Vaughan. I understand pretty much nothing about music and how it all works, but this book helped me understand it just a bit more along with getting some insight into her life.
October 9, 2025
It’s not just about Sarah Vaughan and her life in music. It’s insight into touring in the bebop era and dealing with the violence of racism. The greed of grifters acting as lovers. A woman who had an instrumental part in making jazz a legitimate art in the US. The book is heavy on critic reviews as sources but still a great read about a singer who is sometimes overshadowed by Ella, Nina and Billie.
April 30, 2019
Informative and loving
These words are good. They put Sarah Vaughan's career and life into perspective, though certain parts get a little too bogged down in the details of individual projects, especially in the later years. It's a little exhausting to read about "this happened at recording session X and this happened at concert Y" for so many words.
These words are good. They put Sarah Vaughan's career and life into perspective, though certain parts get a little too bogged down in the details of individual projects, especially in the later years. It's a little exhausting to read about "this happened at recording session X and this happened at concert Y" for so many words.
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