Melvin Howard Torme' (Mel Torme')
September 13th, 1925...June 6th, 1999
Mel Torme' was a jazz singer
with a light, velvety, high-tenor voice. He is considered by many to be one of the greatest male singers in the
history of jazz.
He also wrote a number of classic jazz songs and wrote almost all the arrangements for the songs he sang.
He was born in Chicago of immigrant Russian-Jewish parents. A child prodigy, he began singing publicly at the age of
four, acting by age nine, and playing drums by time he was a teenager. His first published song, "Lament to Love,"
was recorded by Harry James when he was only 15.
He went on to publish some 250 songs, mostly in collaboration with Bob Wells. The best known one is probably
"The Christmas Song", recorded by Nat King Cole in 1945, and a holiday classic ever since.
During the war years, Mel Tormé performed in and led the Mel-Tones, a vocal group specializing in jazzy arrangements,
usually backed by the swing band of Artie Shaw.
In 1947, he went solo, recording a number of romantic hits, including the number one "Careless Love." His silky-smooth
vocal style earned him the sobriquet "Velvet Fog,".
With the resurgence of jazz in the 1970, Mel Tormé entered another artistically fertile period. During the last twenty years of his career he recorded frequently in a variety of settings, the best known of which were concerts with pianist George Shearing.
With the resurgence of jazz in the 1970, Mel Tormé entered another artistically fertile period. During the last twenty years of his career he recorded frequently in a variety of settings, the best known of which were concerts with pianist George Shearing.
In addition to producing a stream of albums, he performed around two hundred live dates annually, and appeared
regularly on television.
In August 1996, a debilitating stroke abruptly ended his 65-year singing career.
In a eulogy after his death, John Andrews wrote:
Mel Tormé's style shared much with that of his idol, Ella Fitzgerald. Both were firmly rooted in the foundation of the swing era, but both seemed able to incorporate bebop innovations to keep their performances sounding fresh and contemporary. Like Sinatra, they sang with perfect diction and brought out the emotional content of the lyrics through subtle alterations of phrasing and harmony. Ballads were characterized by paraphrasing of the original melody which always seemed tasteful, appropriate and respectful to the vision of the songwriter. Unlike Sinatra, both Ella Fitzgerald and Mel Tormé were likely to cut loose during a swinging up-tempo number with several scat choruses, using their voices without words to improvise a solo like a brass or reed instrument.
Mel Tormé's style shared much with that of his idol, Ella Fitzgerald. Both were firmly rooted in the foundation of the swing era, but both seemed able to incorporate bebop innovations to keep their performances sounding fresh and contemporary. Like Sinatra, they sang with perfect diction and brought out the emotional content of the lyrics through subtle alterations of phrasing and harmony. Ballads were characterized by paraphrasing of the original melody which always seemed tasteful, appropriate and respectful to the vision of the songwriter. Unlike Sinatra, both Ella Fitzgerald and Mel Tormé were likely to cut loose during a swinging up-tempo number with several scat choruses, using their voices without words to improvise a solo like a brass or reed instrument.