Member Since: 3/1/2014
Posts: 13,632
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Respected Jazz Critic Approves of Gaga
Stanford Graduate & American Jazz Critic & Music Historian, Ted Gioia, asks this question & after evaluating Gaga's latest venture with Bennett, presents his answer.
Quote:
Believe it or not, Lady Gaga is now a jazz singer. I never expected that career move. If you had asked me, a year ago, to predict which pop superstar would release a jazz album, I might have guessed Adele or John Legend, or perhaps Beyoncé. Even Pharrell would have seemed a more likely choice. (Am I the only person who thinks that “Happy” has a jazzy, Les McCann-ish beat?)
I’ve viewed Gaga as more a performance artist than a musician. She is certainly a risk-taker and attention-getter, but often for matters of costume, props, and behavior. I never suspected a jazz singer might be lurking behind the meat suit, or inside the large plexiglass egg. Let’s be honest: There is zero jazz content in songs such as “Poker Face” or “Born This Way”—although no shortage of charisma and confidence.
But can Lady Gaga really sing jazz? Jazz requires more than just hitting notes in tune without digital assistance, but also skills in conversational phrasing, bending and tweaking tones, floating over the beat, and handling a host of other demands in real time that can flummox even highly trained vocalists. You don’t just pick up these abilities overnight. I’ve worked, for example, with classical singers who possess amazing voices, but couldn’t deliver a convincing jazz ballad to save their lives.
Is Gaga up to this challenge? Can she interpret the works of George Gershwin, Duke Ellington, and Cole Porter with plausibility? Above all, can she trade phrases with Tony Bennett—and not get left in the dust?
The answer is, somewhat to my surprise: Yes, she can.
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Read the full article. http://www.thedailybeast.com/article...sing-jazz.html
A professional & respected Jazz Critic praising the QUEEN!  
I guess now its official that she has become the Queen of Jazz after overtaking Pop.
When will this praise end?
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