NPR

Jon Hendricks, Genre-Pushing Jazz Vocalist, Dead At 96

The jazz singer and songwriter died Wednesday in Manhattan at the age of 96.
Jazz singers, Dave Lambert (left), Annie Ross and Jon Hendricks with Canon L. John Collins on the steps of St Paul's Cathedral in London in 1959. Jon Hendricks died on November 22 at the age of 96.

Jon Hendricks, the singer and songwriter who Time Magazine called the "James Joyce of jive," died today in New York at the age of 96. Hendricks was best known for his work in the pioneering vocal jazz trio Lambert, Hendricks and Ross. His death was confirmed by fellow singer and composer Kurt Elling and Hendricks' publicist, Don Lucoff.

First and foremost, he was a storyteller: funny, dexterous with language and erudite. Jon Hendricks could reference practically anything

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