Johnny Hartman
| Johnny Hartman | |
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Jazz singer Johnny Hartman (right) at the Village Jazz Lounge in Walt Disney World
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | John Maurice Hartman |
| Born | July 3, 1923 |
| Origin | Houma, Louisiana, United States |
| Died | September 15, 1983 (aged 60) |
| Genres | Jazz |
| Occupation(s) | Singer |
| Instruments | Vocals, piano |
| Years active | 1946–1983 |
| Labels | RCA (Victor), Bethlehem, Impulse!, ABC, Perception, Blue Note, Savoy |
| Associated acts | John Coltrane, Dizzy Gillespie Big Band, Earl Hines |
John Maurice Hartman (July 3, 1923 – September 15, 1983) was an American jazz singer who specialized in ballads and earned critical acclaim, though he was never widely known. He recorded a well-known collaboration with the saxophonist John Coltrane in 1963 called John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman, was briefly a member of Dizzy Gillespie's group and recorded with Erroll Garner. Most of Hartman's career was spent recording solo albums.
Born in Louisiana but raised in Chicago, Hartman began singing and playing the piano by the age of eight. He attended DuSable High School studying music under Walter Dyett before receiving a scholarship to Chicago Musical College. He sang as an Army private during World War II, but his first professional work came in September 1946 when he won a singing contest awarding him a one-week engagement with Earl Hines. 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.
After recording several singles with different orchestras, Hartman finally released his first solo album, Songs from the Heart, with a quintet for Bethlehem Records in 1955. Releasing two more albums with small labels, neither very successful, Hartman got a career-altering offer in 1963 to record with John Coltrane. The saxophonist likely remembered Hartman from a bill they shared at the Apollo Theater in 1950 and later said, “I just felt something about him, I don’t know what it was. I like his sound, I thought there was something there I had to hear so I looked him up and did that album.” Featuring all ballads, John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman is widely considered a classic. This led to recording four more albums with Impulse! and parent label ABC, all produced by Bob Thiele.
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