John Maurice Hartman (July 3, 1923 – September 15, 1983) was an American jazz singer who specialized in ballads. He sang and recorded with Earl Hines' and Dizzy Gillespie's big bands and with Erroll Garner. Hartman is best remembered for his collaboration in 1963 with saxophonist John Coltrane, John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman, a landmark album for both him and Coltrane. Biography Born in Louisiana and 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 the Chicago Musical College. He sang as a private in the Army's Special Services during World War II, but his first professional break came in September 1946 when he won a singing contest at the Apollo Theater, earning him a one-week engagement with Earl Hines, which lasted a year. Hartman's first recordings were with Marl Young during that time, though it was his collaboration with Hines that gave him notable exposure. After the Hines orchestra broke up, Dizzy Gillespie invited Hartman to join his big band for an eight-week tour of California in 1948. After leaving Gillespie, Hartman worked for a short time with pianist Erroll Garner before beginning a solo early in 1950. After recording several singles with different orchestras, Hartman finally made a breakthrough in 1955 with the release of his first solo album, Songs from the Heart, for Bethlehem Records featuring a quartet led by trumpeter Howard McGhee. The album showcased Hartman's romantic and tender style of ballad singing. While these ballads were his bread and butter, he was also capable of swinging. For his next album, All Of Me: The Debonair Mr. Hartman (1957), also for Bethlehem, he worked with Ernie Wilkins' orchestra and the Frank Hunter Strings. Most of the songs on the album are ballads, with a few up-tempo numbers including the title track and the song "The Birth of the Blues". Releasing two more albums with small, independent labels, Hartman got a career-altering offer in 1963 to record with John Coltrane. The album from that session, John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman, is widely considered Hartman's best work. It is also Coltrane's only album with a singer. Its popularity led to Hartman recording four more albums with Impulse! and its parent label ABC, all produced by Bob Thiele, Coltrane's producer at Impulse. Hartman was dubious when, at Coltrane's