jazz singer

noun

1. a singer whose vocal technique is similar to that of a musical instrument, and whose singing has a strong jazz feeling, chiefly imparted through phrasing, melodic improvisation, and rhythmic subtlety.

Word History and Origins

Origin of jazz singer¹

First recorded in 1925–30

Example Sentences

“Reel,” by Kennedy RyanDuring production of a biopic about a jazz singer whose incredible life story had nearly been lost to time, director Canon and lead actress Neevah try — and fail — to fight their growing feelings for one another.

From Washington Post

Jazz is the music of no boundaries but few jazz singers dare travel to the margins where Fay Victor’s most marvelous and intense vocalizations comfortably reside.

From Washington Post

Andra Day’s debut performance as a wounded jazz singer in The United States vs Billie Holiday wowed mainstream critics and audiences this year, but she’s been a star in our eyes for a long time.

From Essence.com

Victoria Kelley, a former jazz singer who had lived at Bronxwood for three years, suspected that Varahn’s battle for the clothing allowance had turned administrators against her.

From ProPublica

Vexed and facing a shutdown, they reach out to a friend who arranges for a famous jazz singer to attend a fancy dinner at the restaurant and thereby drum up business.

From Vox

I never suspected a jazz singer might be lurking behind the meat suit, or inside the large plexiglass egg.

From The Daily Beast

As a jazz singer, she operates at a much higher level than any of us had a right to expect.

From The Daily Beast

When I was a jazz singer, he came and spent a lot of time hanging out in the clubs.

From The Daily Beast

She was really a great jazz singer, the only one of her contemporary singers, as far as I was concerned.

From The Daily Beast

She was a jazz singer, then a voice coach, then a cabaret singer, then an author, and she had to keep moving.

From The Daily Beast