music question

[luciab]

I got a music question for y'all. You know that blues/jazz sax style that plays in the '40's film noir detective movies, when the sultry chick in the hat with the feather comes in to work some scam on the poor goodhearted PI? Or the torch song sung by the chanteuse in the smoky lounge where the PI goes looking for somebody?

What style is that called? And who plays it? I've heard a few vocalists that are close on the torch song stuff but would like more names.

Comments

[zihuatanejo.livejournal.com]

Billie Holiday and Etta James both, to a degree, were known for singing 'torch' music. That particular style of saxophone playing, though, never seemed to make it far out of the clubs and movies (none of the saxophonists with whom I'm familiar played that style). It's probably closer to the "classic blues" genre of the day than any concurrent jazz style (the inheritors of Bessie Smith's legacy rather than Glen Miller).
If you want to make a trip to the local used record store, though, I'd love to go and we can dig through the racks together.

[luciab.livejournal.com]

So who would we look for, ref the sax music?

[zihuatanejo.livejournal.com]

Find saxophonists from the 40s and early 50s whose album jackets don't mention the word "Bop" Go from there.