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Louis Armstrong: Stcat Singing In Music And Jazz Music

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Louis Armstrong shaping scat singing to make it achieve posterity Louis Armstrong (1901-1971) is surely one of the most famous and incredible jazz singer and trumpet player. He influenced widely, and still does, jazz music. But there is something that only jazz specialists or some aficionados know: he actually reinvented a brand new genre of vocal jazz, the scat singing. And I said “reinvented” on purpose. Indeed, though Louis Armstrong's recording Heebie Jeebies in the mid 1926 is often cited as the first song to use scatting, there are some earlier examples of artists' pieces of work that could be considered as premises of scat singing. There were even some who believed that scat singing had its origins in the music of Western Africa. …show more content…

Nevertheless, thanks to his genius in melody ans harmony, and his improvisation skills, Louis Armstrong breathed new life into scat singing. He made it so popular and universal that it passes through the years and the fashions until now without us figuring out. Scat singing is a vocal jazz style that consists of improvising a song made of senseless syllables or wordless vocables. Also, it follows a tune (improvised or not), usually over an instrumental background. All these elements turn scat singing into a very difficult technique. In order to master it, it is necessary to have excellent musical skills and knowledge or to be gifted by a musical ear. Armstrong had both. Yet, even if improvisation plays a great part in scat singing, there should be a musical structure (the same tempo, a chorus, predetermined formulas a bit innovated, etc...), …show more content…

But even if he still is the uncontested master of scat singing thanks to his talent in innovation, many very talented singers followed his paths. Annie Ross, a singer, summarized what was happening among vocalists at that time in one simple sentence: “The [scat] music was so exciting, everyone wanted to do it” (Singing Jazz: the Singers and their Styles, Crowther & Pinfold, p.130). And that is what occurred, but some artists did it with more talent than others. The main ones, in my opinion, are Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan and Eddie Jefferson. Ella Fitzgerald was known for her imitation of jazz instruments (of the horn especially) and for her three octaves, she had a very sturdy technique (perfect diction, phrasing, etc.) and a pure voice. She could improvise any kind of solo in a very natural and unforced manner. In opposition to that, Sarah Vaughan was a free lancer in singing, she underwent training as a musician at the beginning. But her “wondrous voice”, as the music critic Scott Yanow calls it, and her knowledge in harmony made her one of the greatest scat singers. She also has a very singular way to perform her songs, she could be sensual and funny at the same time. Concerning Eddie Jefferson, he sort of “jumped on the bandwagon”. Initially he was a pro in vocalese and a first-rate lyricist, but when scat singing was very

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