Mel Tormé

Mel Tormé (September 13, 1925 – June 5, 1999) was a jazz singer with a light, velvety, high-tenor voice. He is considered by many to be one of the greatest male singers in the history of jazz. Tormé also wrote a number

Mel Tormé (September 13, 1925 – June 5, 1999) was a jazz singer with a light, velvety, high-tenor voice. He is considered by many to be one of the greatest male singers in the history of jazz. Tormé also wrote a number of classic jazz songs and wrote almost all the arrangements for the songs he sang.

Tormé was born Melvin Howard Torme (no accent) in Chicago of immigrant Russian-Jewish parents. A child prodigy, he began singing publicly at the age of four, acting by age nine, and playing drums by time he was a teenager. His first published song, "Lament to Love," was recorded by Harry James when Tormé was only 15.