[3] Born in 1921 in Newark, Ohio, Hendricks and his 14 siblings moved many times, following their father's assignments as an AME pastor, before settling permanently in Toledo.

Jon Hendricks received his early musical training from piano prodigy Art Tatum, and the two of them began appearing together around town.

[2] As a soldier during World War II, Hendricks took part in the D-Day landings of June, 1944, and was later attached to the quartermaster's headquarters in France.

Jon wrote the lyrics, and they sold the idea to Creed Taylor, who had recently started working as an A&R man for ABC-Paramount Ampar.

After a disastrous initial attempt to record the songs with a choir, they decided to multi-track their own voices, with Annie Ross providing the high notes.

With Hendricks as lyricist and Lambert as arranger, the trio perfected the art of vocalese and took it around the world, earning them numerous awards and accolades.

In September 1959, they appeared on the cover of Down Beat under the headline "The Hottest New Group in Jazz", which they adopted as the title of their Grammy-nominated fourth album.

His lyrics to Benny Golson's "I Remember Clifford" have been recorded by several other vocalists, including Dinah Washington, Carmen McRae, Nancy Wilson, Ray Charles, The Manhattan Transfer and Helen Merrill.

[5] From 1957 through 1962, the trio recorded six albums, including High Flying (1961), which won a Grammy for Best Performance by a Vocal Group, before Annie Ross departed due to health problems.

Countless singers cite the work of LH&R as an influence, including Joni Mitchell,[6] Van Morrison, Al Jarreau and Bobby McFerrin.

[8] For a performance at the 1960 Monterey Jazz Festival, he created and starred in a musical he called Evolution of the Blues Song (later shortened to Evolution of the Blues), which featured such acclaimed singers as Jimmy Witherspoon, Hannah Dean, and "Big" Miller, as well as saxophonists Ben Webster and Pony Poindexter.

Later that year he was invited by Duke Ellington to take part in the latter's Concert of Sacred Music at San Francisco's Grace Cathedral.

[2] Using London as his base, he toured Europe and Africa, performed frequently on British radio and television with such stars of the day as Lulu and Dusty Springfield, as well as Ronnie Scott and the comedian Marty Feldman.

His final studio album, the Grammy-nominated Freddie Freeloader, was released in 1990, and featured an all-star line-up that included George Benson, Al Jarreau, Bobby McFerrin, Tommy Flanagan, Jimmy Cobb, Larry Goldings, Wynton Marsalis, Stanley Turrentine, Al Grey, The Manhattan Transfer and the Count Basie Orchestra.

In 2000 Hendricks returned to his home town to teach at the University of Toledo, where he was appointed Distinguished Professor of Jazz Studies and received an honorary Doctorate of the Performing Arts.

Hendricks also wrote lyrics to some classical pieces including "On the Trail" from Ferde Grofe's Grand Canyon Suite.

It was premiered in New York by UK-based choir the London Vocal Project, with Hendricks in attendance, with a studio recording to follow.