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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Ella Fitzgerald is generally considered to be one of the greatest scat singers in jazz history.[1]
In vocal jazz, scat singing is vocal improvisation with wordless vocables, nonsense syllables or without words at all. Scat singing is a difficult technique that requires singers with the ability to sing improvised melodies and rhythms using the voice as an instrument rather than a speaking medium.
Contents [hide]
1 Characteristics
1.1 Structure and syllable choice
1.2 Humor
2 History
2.1 Origins
2.2 Later development
2.3 Vocal bass
2.4 Use in hip-hop
3 Music historical explanations
4 Critical assessment
5 Notes
6 See also
7 References
8 Works cited
9 External links
Characteristics[edit]
Structure and syllable choice[edit]
Though scat singing is improvised, the melodic lines are often variations on scale and arpeggio fragments, stock patterns and riffs, as is the case with instrumental improvisers. As well, scatting usually incorporates musical structure. All of Ella Fitzgerald's scat performances of "How High the Moon", for instance, use the same tempo, begin with a chorus of a straight reading of the lyric, move to a "specialty chorus" introducing the scat chorus, and then the scat itself.[2] Will Friedwald has compared Ella Fitzgerald to Chuck Jones directing his Roadrunner cartoon—each uses predetermined formulas in innovative ways.[2]
The deliberate choice of scat syllables also is a key element in vocal jazz improvisation. Syllable choice influences the pitch articulation, coloration, and resonance of the performance.[3] Syllable choice also differentiated jazz singers' personal styles: Betty Carter was inclined to use sounds like "louie-ooie-la-la-la" (soft-tongued sounds or liquids) while Sarah Vaughan would prefer "shoo-doo-shoo-bee-ooo-bee" (fricatives, plosives, and open vowels).[4] The choice of scat syllables can also be used to reflect the sounds of different instruments. The comparison of the scatting styles of Ella Fitzgerald and Sarah Vaughan reveals that Fitzgerald's improvisation mimics the sounds of swing-era big bands with which she performed, while Vaughan's mimics that of her accompanying bop-era small combos.[5][a]
Humor[edit]
Humor is another important element of scat singing. Cab Calloway exemplified the use of humorous scatting.[6] Other classic examples of humorous scatting include Slim Gaillard, Leo Watson, and Bam Brown's 1945 "Avocado Seed Soup Symphony," in which the singers scat variations on the word "avocado" for much of the recording.[7] In addition to such nonsensical uses of language, humor is communicated in scat singing through the use of musical quotation. Leo Watson, who performed before the canon of American popular music, frequently drew on nursery rhymes in his scatting. This is called using a compression.[8] Ella Fitzgerald, who performed later, was able to draw extensively on popular music in her singing. For example, in her classic 1960 recording of "How High the Moon" live in Berlin, she quotes over a dozen songs, including "The Peanut Vendor", "Heat Wave", "A-Tisket, A-Tasket", and "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes".[9]
History[edit]
"That Haunting Melody" excerpt
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Al Jolson's scatting during his 1911 recording of "That Haunting Melody" has been cited as one of the earliest examples of scat singing. — 322 KB
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Origins[edit]
"Heebie Jeebies" excerpt
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Louis Armstrong's 1926 recording of "Heebie Jeebies" was the most influential early example of scat singing. — 168 KB
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"Mississippi Mud" excerpt
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The Rhythm Boys scat on their 1927 recording of "Mississippi Mud / I Left My Sugar Standing in the Rain." Harry Barris somewhat mimics the sound of a cymbal. — 139 KB
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Though Louis Armstrong's 1926 recording of "Heebie Jeebies" is often cited as the first song to employ scatting, there are many earlier examples.[10] One early master of ragtime scat singing was Gene Greene who recorded scat choruses in his song "King of the Bungaloos" and several others between 1911 and 1917. Entertainer Al Jolson even scatted through a few bars in the middle of his 1911 recording of "That Haunting Melody". Gene Green's 1917 "From Here to Shanghai", which featured faux-Chinese scatting, and Gene Rodemich's 1924 "Scissor Grinder Joe" and "Some of These Days" also pre-date Armstrong.[10] Cliff "Ukulele Ike" Edwards scatted an interlude on his 1923 "Old Fashioned Love" in lieu of using an instrumental soloist.[10][11] Harry Barris, one of Paul Whiteman's "The Rhythm Boys," along with Bing Crosby, scatted on several songs, including "Mississippi Mud," which Barris wrote in 1927. One of the early female singers to use scat was Aileen Stanley, who included it at the end of a duet with Billy Murray in their hit 1924 recording of "It Had To Be You" (Victor 19373).
Jelly Roll Morton credited Joe Sims of Vicksburg, Mississippi as the creator of scat around the turn of the 20th century.[12] Here is a transcription of a conversation between Alan Lomax and Jelly Roll Morton where Morton explains the history of scat:[13]
Lomax: Well, what about some more scat songs, that you used to sing way back then?
Morton: Oh, I'll sing you some scat songs. That was way before Louis Armstrong's time. By the way, scat is something that a lot of people don't understand, and they begin to believe that the first scat numbers was ever done, was done by one of my hometown boys, Louie Armstrong. But I must take the credit away, since I know better. The first man that ever did a scat number in history of this country was a man from Vicksburg, Mississippi, by the name of Joe Sims, an old comedian. And from that, Tony Jackson and myself, and several more grabbed it in New Orleans. And found it was pretty good for an introduction of a song.
Lomax: What does scat mean?
Morton: Scat doesn't mean anything but just something to give a song a flavor. For an instance we'll say: [launches into an example scat song, accompanying himself on the piano]
Morton also once boasted, "Tony Jackson and myself were using scat for novelty back in 1906 and 1907 when Louis Armstrong was still in the orphan's home".[10] Don Redman and Fletcher Henderson also featured scat vocals in their recording of "My Papa Doesn't Two-Time No Time" five months prior to Armstrong's 1926 recording of "Heebie Jeebies".[10]
It was Armstrong's 1926 performance, however, that was the turning point for the medium.[14] According to Armstrong, when he was recording the song "Heebie Jeebies", soon to be a national bestseller, with his band The Hot Five, his music fell to the ground. Not knowing the lyrics to the song, he invented a gibberish melody to fill time, expecting the cut to be thrown out in the end, but that take of the song was the one released.[10] The story is widely believed to be apocryphal,[15] but the influence of the recording was nonetheless enormous.
Louis Armstrong served as a model for Cab Calloway, whose 1930s scat solos inspired Gershwin's use of the medium in his Porgy and Bess;[16] it was from the 1926 recording of "Heebie Jeebies" arose the techniques that would form the foundation of modern scat.[14]
Later development[edit]
On October 26, 1927, Duke Ellington's Orchestra recorded "Creole Love Call" featuring Adelaide Hall singing wordlessly.[17] "She sounds like a particularly sensitive growl trumpeter," according to Nat Hentoff. The creativity must be shared between Ellington and Hall as he knew the style of performance he wanted, but she was the one who was able to produce the sound. In 1932, Ellington repeated the experiment in one of his versions of "The Mooche", with Baby Cox singing scat after a muted similar trombone solo by Tricky Sam Nanton.
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Skibbedy-be-bop, a Christopher Reeves
Sonny Bono, skis, horses and hitting some trees"
-Eminem
Those who are into scat films, and
Those who have not seen the right scat films yet