The Resume

(September 16, 1921-November 22, 2017)
Born in Newark, Ohio
Member of the trio Lambert, Henricks and Ross (1956-62)
With Lambert, Hendricks, and Ross recorded the albums ‘Sing a Song of Basie’ (1957), ‘Sing Along with Basie’ (1958), ‘The Swingers!’ (1958), ‘Lambert, Hendricks & Ross! The Hottest New Group in Jazz’ (1960), ‘Lambert, Hendricks & Ross Sing Ellington’ (1961), and ‘High Flying with Lambert, Hendricks & Ross’ (1962)
Recorded the solo albums ‘A Good Git Together’ (1959), ‘Fast Living Blues’ (1962), ‘Tell Me the Truth’ (1975), ‘Cloudburst’ (1982), ‘Freddie Freeloader’ (1990), and ‘Boppin’ at the Blue Note’ (1995)
Guest vocalist on the Manhattan Transfer albums ‘Mecca for Moderns’ (1982) and ‘Vocalese’ (1985) and the Wynton Marsalis albums ‘Crescent City Christmas Card’ (1989) and ‘Blood on the Fields’ (1997)
Jazz critic for the San Francisco Chronicle (1973-75)
Distinguished Professor of Jazz Studies at the University of Toledo (2000-15)

Why he might be annoying:

He went AWOL from the Army during World War II.
He originally planned to become a lawyer, but his G.I. Bill benefits ran out before he entered law school.
His first name was originally ‘John,’ but he changed the spelling when he went into show business.
He never learned to read music.
His first experiences in songwriting involved covering up when he forgot the lyrics to songs he was singing: ‘I’d make up my own and nobody noticed.’

Why he might not be annoying:

He went AWOL after he and a group of other black servicemen were shot at by military police who suspected them of consorting with French women.
For the 1960 Monterey Jazz Festival, he created and starred in the musical ‘Evolution of the Blues Song.’
He was named an NEA Jazz Master (1993).
He was the first jazz artist invited to lecture at the Sorbonne in Paris (2002).
NPR claimed ‘Jon Hendricks could reference practically anything in his lyrics – from the controversy over Shakespeare's identity to the Spanish Civil War – and make them swing.’
Leonard Feather called him ‘the Poet Laureate of Jazz.’

Credit: C. Fishel

Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

• C. Fishel's Profiles [Series 79]
• Grammy for Best Jazz Vocal Performance (Ranked: 1986)
• Grammy for Best Pop Group (Ranked: 1962)
• I Died in 2017 (Ranked: 96)
• I Named My Kid After Myself
• Jazz Artists
• Music Critics
• My Music was Lost in the 2008 Universal Studios Fire
• People with John or Mary in their Names
• Profiles 47751-47764 (Ranked: 47757)
• Served in World War II
• We Died on the Same Day (Ranked: 20171122)

Year In Review:

In 2023, Out of 5 Votes: 0% Annoying
In 2022, Out of 2 Votes: 100% Annoying
In 2021, Out of 10 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
In 2020, Out of 1 Votes: 100% Annoying