In 1952, Ross met Prestige Records owner Bob Weinstock, who asked her to write lyrics to a jazz solo in a similar way to King Pleasure, a practice that would later be known as vocalese. The next day, she presented him with "Twisted", a treatment of saxophonist Wardell Gray's 1949 composition of the same name, a classic example of the genre. The song, first released in 1952 (later collected on the album "King Pleasure Sings/Annie Ross Sings"), was an underground hit, and resulted in her winning "Down Beat" magazine's New Star award.