One of the finest pure-jazz male vocalists in the LP era was David Allyn. He easily was among the hippest up-tempo singers and one of the most heartbreaking balladeers. It's hard not to snap your fingers when David launches into swingers on albums or tear up when he works a vulnerable torch song. David had amazing early experience, starting with trombonist Jack Teagarden in 1941, the same year Frank Sinatra was with trombonist Tommy Dorsey.
As great as David was, he should have been bigger and better known. Drugs, prison and the same old story created unfortunate gaps in his career. But he didn't let those things stop him. David's problem, I suppose, is that he was too sensitive and too much in love with beauty. Yet great arrangers such as Johnny Mandel, Bob Florence and Bill Holman understood this completely (you can read my multipart JazzWax interview with David here).
Here's a radio interview with David conducted some years ago by Les Block at KSAV in Minneapolis...
David Allyn died in November 2012.
JazzWax note: KASV's interviews for its Johnny Mercer special can be found here.
As great as David was, he should have been bigger and better known. Drugs, prison and the same old story created unfortunate gaps in his career. But he didn't let those things stop him. David's problem, I suppose, is that he was too sensitive and too much in love with beauty. Yet great arrangers such as Johnny Mandel, Bob Florence and Bill Holman understood this completely (you can read my multipart JazzWax interview with David here).
Here's a radio interview with David conducted some years ago by Les Block at KSAV in Minneapolis...
David Allyn died in November 2012.
JazzWax note: KASV's interviews for its Johnny Mercer special can be found here.
This story appears courtesy of JazzWax by Marc Myers.
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