Johnny Hartman, 1923-1983, Singer

Articles » "Kevin Mahogany takes Johnny Hartman to a wider audience"

"Kevin Mahogany takes Johnny Hartman to a wider audience"
By Bob Karlovits

Kevin Mahogany is a man on a mission.

"Singers like Johnny Hartman," he says.
"People call him a singer's singer. But I'm hoping to take him to a wider audience."

Mahogany, a baritone with a stunning voice and a great grasp of song, will be doing his Johnny Hartman tribute Downtown this evening. It is part of his effort to take Hartman's music to more people. That effort will lead to an album early in 2007.

Mahogany says he thinks Hartman (1923-83) was one of the best balladeers ever.

Biographies: Johnny Hartman (includes timeline) ~Gregg Akkerman

Johnny Hartman Biography and Timeline


John Maurice Hartman (b. 7/3/23, d. 9/15/83) was a critically acclaimed baritone jazz singer who specialized in ballads. Born in Louisiana but raised in Chicago, he began singing and playing the piano by age eight. In 1940, Hartman graduated from DuSable High School where he studied music under Walter Dyett before receiving a scholarship to Chicago Musical College. He sang as an Army private during WWII but his first professional work came in September 1946 when he won a singing contest awarding him a one-week engagement with Earl Hines at Chicago's El Grotto nightclub. Seeing potential in the singer, Hines hired him for the next year. Although Hartman’s first recordings were with Marl Young in February 1947, it was the collaboration with Hines that provided notable exposure. After the Hines orchestra broke up, Dizzy Gillespie invited Hartman to join his big band in 1948 during an eight-week tour in California. Dropped from the band about one year later, Hartman worked for a short time with pianist Erroll Garner before going solo by early 1950.

Album: Johnny Hartman – Priceless Jazz Collection

Johnny Hartman – Priceless Jazz Collection (GRP, 1997)

Album review ~allmusic.com
Priceless Jazz Collection is a budget-priced compilation that intends to give neophytes an affordable introduction to Johnny Hartman’s Impulse! recordings. Although purists and collectors will find this sampler incomplete and inconsequential, it nevertheless gives new listeners a good idea of Hartman’s music during the ’60s by featuring such fine cuts as “Lush Life,” “These Foolish Things,” “They Say It’s Wonderful,” “I Just Dropped By to Say Hello,” and “In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning.”