Queen of Bebop: The Musical Lives of Sarah Vaughan

Performer Sarah Vaughan (1924–90), born in Newark, NJ, set the course for modern jazz singing. At 18, she won amateur night at the Apollo singing "Body and Soul," which launched her career. She spent the rest of her life in music, touring early on with musicians such as Earl "Fatha" Hines, Billy Eckstine, Dizzy Gillespie, and Charlie Parker, who were on the verge of changing jazz and creating bebop. Throughout her career, she maintained her creativity and fearlessness about venturing into new musical conversations, pushing herself and others to be constantly innovative. This title treads some of the same ground as Leslie Gourse's Sassy: The Life of Sarah Vaughan, but music historian and Vaughan expert Hayes focuses more on the music and looks at the role racism and imposing notions of femininity played. The author combines research and interviews, deftly outlining that by becoming a "crossover" artist, Vaughan helped create spaces for others and shifted perceptions of "how white America heard, understood, and interacted with the black female voice."