Akkerman's research binder on Hartman (and CDs)

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Quotes from Exclusive Interviews Featured in the Book

"I knew Johnny when he first started out and Larry ‘Good Deal’ Steele introduced him at a club in Chicago....He was tremendous and the women in the crowd went crazy."~Vocalist Bill Henderson recalling seeing Harman in 1947.

"He was plagued, I would say, by the Billy Eckstine onset. Billy Eckstine hit town, man, and everybody had to take a back seat....Hartman was in his shadow, and that was a hell of a big shadow."~Vocalist Jon Hendricks surmising Hartman's early career challenges.

"I came from Chicago in the late ‘40s to further my career. I stepped off the Greyhound bus at Port-Authority in New York City and they crushed me like a bug."~A Johnny Hartman quote as remembered by a fan.

"[Johnny] came up in a terrible time. There were a lot of guys around but they weren’t getting over the way they had been with big bands....He worked hard; he earned the respect that he got."~Pianist Billy Taylor recalling the difficult times singers had at the close of the big-band era.

"Okay, you know I was with Tony Bennett for forty years and I’ve made my living as an accompanist and I’ll tell you something; that Hartman—I’ve never forgotten it—that’s the best voice I’ve ever heard on a male singer."~Pianist Ralph Sharon reflecting on his 1955 recording session with Hartman.

"All of Me didn’t [take off]. Sinatra would say of that kind of thing, ‘It didn’t have any oregano.’ It just didn’t taste right."~Radio host Sid Mark referring to Hartman's 1956 album with Bethlehem Records.

"This is by far the most gorgeous session of jazz I have ever heard in my life."~Music archivist/author Barry Kernfeld after hearing the previously missing master tapes from the John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman recording session.

"He was a singer whose work was significant because he was a great singer. Period."~ Vocalist Kurt Elling.

"I have a feeling my work won’t be appreciated until after I’m gone."~Johnny Hartman as quoted by his wife, Tedi.