Two more masterpieces appear under her contract with King Records: The Band Swings, Lorez Sings and Singing Songs That Everyone Knows (also titled Standards with a Slight Touch of Jazz). In the first of these, her voice stands out over an orchestral backdrop, marking her first collaboration with an orchestra. Her ability to swing, scat, and paraphrase lyrical lines makes her comparable to vocalists like Carmen McRae and Sarah Vaughan.
Lorez’s storytelling
When asked to describe what made her singing so special, she stated that she saw herself as a storyteller. She emphasized the importance of working meticulously on diction so that the lyrics could be clearly understood by the listener.
In the 1960s, Lorez moved to Los Angeles, where she continued to grow as a leading jazz vocalist, performing in venues like The Parisian Room and Marla’s Memory Lane. During this period, she began collaborating with Impulse! Records, a label known for its recordings of John Coltrane. With them, she released memorable albums such as Alexandria the Great (1964) and More of the Great Lorez Alexandria.
An interesting insight comes from an interview she gave to DownBeat:
“The Gospelizing or use of so-called ‘soul’ singing – that sort of thing – has become very large in the business. [But] I’m not a shouter, and I’m not a Gospel singer. I wasn’t a Gospel singer when I was singing in the church. I can’t yell; I can’t do this other thing. But I was effective… Anybody can sing spiritually without being labeled a Gospel singer.”
Star Eyes
Her final work, Star Eyes, was released in 1996 by Muse Records. The album features My One and Only Love once again, a song she had already delivered with brilliance and finesse on Alexandria the Great. The musicians accompanying her include Houston Person on tenor sax, Bruce Forman on guitar, Stan Hope on piano, Peter Weiss on bass, and Michael Carvin on drums. Here, Lorez takes on the role of painting the musical canvas, adding all the embellishments, flourishes, and melodic nuances she desires.
Despite this artistic triumph, Lorez suffered a stroke in the mid-1990s, which forced her to retire from the music scene.
A few years later, in 2001, Alexandria passed away in Gardena, a city in Los Angeles County.
Critics have described her as:
“One of the most gifted and underrated jazz singers of the twentieth century”.
Now, let’s listen to her sublime rendition of Lush Life (Billy Strayhorn) from the album Standards with a Slight Touch of Jazz:
Bibliography and Sources Consulted:
- Linda Dahl, Stormy Weather: The Music and Lives of a Century of Jazzwomen, Proscenium Publishers, 1984.
- Jon Thurber, Lorez Alexandria; Jazz Singer Noted for Style, May 24, 2001, in Los Angeles Times, www.latimes.com
- David Brent Johnson, Alexandria the Great, Night Lights Radio Program, Indiana Public Media, 2005.
- www.allaboutjazz.com
- www.wbssmedia.com
- www.allmusic.com
- www.discogs.com
- www.youtube.com
- www.last.fm
