February 11–July 23, 2016

What is a jazz singer? The answer can be as varied as the practitioners of the art form. This exhibit offers perspectives on the art of vocal jazz from the 1920s to the present. Drawn largely from the Library of Congress Music Division’s collections, including the photographs of William P. Gottlieb and the papers of Max Roach, Chet Baker, and Shirley Horn, among others, it features singers and song stylists from both on-stage and off. Rare video clips, photographic portraits, candid snapshots, musical scores, personal notes, correspondence, drawings, and watercolors reveal the sometimes exuberant, sometimes painful, but always vibrant art and life of jazz singers.