Wordsmith ...

... Jon Hendricks | Lyrics for Miles and Monk | Cultural Conversation by Will Friedwald - WSJ.com. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)

Mr. Hendricks is best known for what was a comparatively brief period of his life: 1956-61, when he co-led Lambert, Hendricks & Ross. His collaboration with David Lambert stretches for more years on both sides, but in a very short time LHR completely transformed the use of the human voice in jazz. Using Mr. Hendricks's lyrics, the group sang words to iconic jazz instrumentals and solos, and swung harder and with more hip humor than any other vocal ensemble before or since.