Johnny Hartman was the great romantic singer in our jazz universe.

More than just a baritone crooner, Hartman could swing hard, and he imparted a wonderful jazz feel to his songs.  He sang with precise articulation but also invested the lyrics with deep inner meaning and emotional insight.

The suave and debonair Mr. Harman (1923-1983) came up on the Chicago scene.  Despite peaks and valleys of popular recognition, and his early death from cancer at age 60, Hartman left behind a wide ranging, timeless body of work that is surveyed in this five hour program.

We look at his early days with Earl Hines and Dizzy Gillespie.  Next, he was also marketed as a pop balladeer.  In the later 1950's he did some wonderful jazz recordings for Bethlehem and then came back in the mid 1960s with more swinging jazz offerings.  He spent time in Japan and elsewhere abroad, and had some fallow periods, but in the last few years before his 1983 passing enjoyed renewed appeal.

And relax, I haven’t omitted Hartman’s most significant repute - his LP with John Coltrane in 1963.

originally broadcast December 11, 2005