Jazz Singers
Tulsa | Registration opens 1/8/2025 12:00 AM CST
Explore the art of jazz singing through iconic artists like Frank Sinatra, Mel Torme, Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan and The Kenton Singers: Anita O'Day, June Christy and Chris Connor. Guided by jazz historian and musician John Hamill, this class delves into the essence of jazz singing, including ballad interpretation, the crossover of jazz and pop, and the unique ability of jazz singers to "swing." The course features a "listening room" experience with curated recordings and insightful commentary to deepen appreciation of jazz vocal styles.
John Hamill
A long-time OLLI instructor, John Hamill is a musician, jazz historian and former adjunct professor at the University of Tulsa. He has taught various aspects of the history of jazz for a decade with OLLI at OkState. He is the author of five books; his most recent is titled Voices of Oklahoma (with John Erling). He earned both his bachelor’s and master’s degrees at Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism. His career has included newspaper and television reporting, editing TulsaPeople magazine, hosting a long-running jazz show on radio, and community and investor relations. This is the tenth year for John Hamill to lecture and demonstrate various components of jazz. He uses as a resource some thirty books on the history of jazz, and a library of more than 5,000 LPs and CDs.