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
At the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair, many attendees heard for the first time a new style of music much different from the prevalent European classical music and its constant rhythms. Instead, off-beat accents and sounds prevailed in a “ragged time”, showing off syncopation in the genre of music called ragtime. Related to the call-and-response pattern from African-American work songs that were brought from African cultures, traces of ragtime could be found as early as 1875, and quickly spread throughout the Americas and soon Europe through
He brought a different approach to vocal jazz. His constant writing and recording helped having a big influence on the jazz scene. While making his mark on may parts of the industry he was best known for his singing. He experimented some with scatting and chromatic vamping, which showed in “Lulu’s back in town.” He pushed the crooning style further until in 1950’s when it died out as rock and roll became more popular. This caused him to grow into a more Jazz style of singing although he believed that there were no pure jazz signers it all depended on their influences.
The second generations of Jazz musicians were some like Joe “King” Oliver, Kid Ory, and Jelly Roll Morton. These people formed a small band and started to reshape the way the original Jazz music was played. They have made it into a different style with more complications and twists and turns. And so it became known as “Hot Jazz”. King Oliver found a young artist by the name of Louis Armstrong. He soon grew to become the greatest Jazz musician anyone has known. He is still a big star in the world today. By the 20th Century, African-American musical styles became the dominant force.
He performed in front of large audiences at places like the cotton club and with King Oliver’s Creole band. African Americans performing at the cotton club had a huge impact on the Harlem Renaissance because it allowed the African American people to display their culture and inspire others for one of the first times. Duke Ellington was the African American performer to really persuade the owners of the club to allow other African Americans to perform alongside the normal performers. Louis Armstrong did a collaboration with this man, which shows his importance to his society during this time period. Alongside his new style of jazz music, the lyrics he used and the messages his songs conveyed were very influential and inspiring during the Harlem Renaissance. Armstrong made it a point to keep his political view to himself, and wrote songs of happiness and integration rather than sorrow.He is a New Orleans trumpet player who loves to entertain. (Schwartz, “What Louis Armstrong Really
If one was to go out into the street, walked up to a random stranger and asked them if they knew who Louis Armstrong was, chances are that they would be able to answer you correctly. Louis Armstrong (Aug 4th, 1901 - Jul 6th, 1971) was an American trumpeter, composer, singer and occasional actor who became one of the most influential figures in jazz. His career spanned many decades, from the 1920s to his death in 1971, and many different eras in jazz. He first came to prominence in the 1920s as a trumpeter and cornet player with no technique as well as being very skilled in scat singing, Armstrong was a foundational influence in jazz, influencing many later jazz artists as well as shifting the focus of the music from collective improvisation to solo performance.With his very well-known and recognizable gravelly voice, a technique that was later named “crooning”, Armstrong was an incredibly influential singer, demonstrating great dexterity as an improviser by bending the lyrics and melody of a song for expressive purposes on demand. Renowned for his charming and incredibly charismatic stage presence and voice almost as much as for his trumpet and/or cornet playing, Armstrong 's influence extends far beyond jazz music, and by the end of his career in the early 1970s at his death, he was widely regarded as a deep and profound influence on popular music in general. Armstrong was one of the first very popular
First, the prominent component of 1920s music were the musicians themselves. Numerous people broke into the "Jazz Age" scene with their unique and abstract styles of the genre. A big reason it grew to such an immense popularity was because the music gave everyone pleasure and happiness after WWI. In the novel The Great Gatsby it speaks of Nick hearing "saxophones wailing the hopeless comment of the 'Beale Street Blues'"(Fitzgerald 158). One big-name musician of this time was Louis Armstrong, a singer/trumpet player, an artist of the famous Harlem Renaissance, and the main popularizer of what is known as "scat singing", which is pretty much another word for singing wordless nonsense ("Louis Armstrong"). He was the first African-American to write
Louis Armstrong's diversity and adaptability is widely recognized as one of the most influential aspect in jazz music. Louis Armstrong's musical influence is still the fundamental base for modern jazz today. "Louis Armstrong is jazz. He represents what the music is all about.” — Wynton Marsalis perfectly sums up his contributions. His diversity sets him apart from other jazz artists because he managed to stay relevant throughout different musical eras like, the ENOJ era, The Swing Era, Blues etc., until the end of his career. The accomplishments he has achieved throughout his life and the hardships he has gone through has shaped his persona, contributing to how he will become as an artist. His instrumental style, singing, career throughout musical eras, accomplishments, and etc., contribute to how adaptable and diverse he is.
Many great performers have come out of the jazz industry, but the most widely known is Louis “Satchmo” Armstrong. Louis began playing at a young age when he was growing up in New Orleans. His greatest inspiration was Joe “King” Oliver. He began following him and eventually Oliver became Armstrong’s mentor. Armstrong practiced his instrument and eventually he became the jazz great everyone knows today. Armstrong’s unique singing and masterful improvisation transitioned jazz from the traditional style to a newer, more rhythmic style. He popularized scat singing and was the first musician to have his solo on a recording (Rodgers 85). The solos Armstrong performed along with his popular scat singing helped make jazz musicians more popular along with making the fans take notice of Armstrong and jazz itself (Rennert 8).
Many people knew Louis Armstrong as the “first real genius of jazz”(Shipton 26). He was born in New Orleans, Louisiana on August 4, 1901. Louis was the illegitimate son of William Armstrong and Mary Est “Mayann” Albert. He was abandoned by his father, a boiler stoker, shortly after his birth and was raised by his paternal grandmother. Then, at the age of five, he was returned to the care of his mother, who at the time worked as a laundress. Together with his mom, they moved to a better area of New Orleans. This is where Armstrong first fell in love with music; he would listen to people playing any chance that he would get(Tirro). He would attend parades, funerals, churches and go to cheap cabarets to be able to hear some of the greats play
Out of the streets of New Orleans, a new form of music arose. This new type of music was not known as African or European, but simply American. It was jazz. In 1900 jazz first developed, but it wasn’t until the
“Little Louis” sung in a vocal quartet in his early teens. His rise to the top, though not overnight, occurred quickly, he played with mostly all the major bands in New Orleans over the next few years (Friedwald 350). In 1922, his mentor, King Oliver, invited him to work his Creole Jazz Band in Chicago. After recording with Oliver for over a year, Armstrong moved into what would become the most important early-jazz big band, Fletcher Henderson’s Orchestra (Shipton 201). As if it were not enough that Armstrong would rewire instrumental music for the rest of the century, his singing did the same for vocal music. He sang much as he played, but with a playfulness and a rasp, that would forever be part of American culture (Winfield 167). The first important trend in New York Jazz was Hot Jazz that was an incendiary style introduced by Louis Armstrong (Winfield 170). He was known for both his joyous ways with the trumpet and his peculiarly touching and funny vocal style. There was a cheerful impatience in his playing, an optimistic confidence that led him to risk going over the top (Shipton 157). Louis Armstrong is arguably the most important musician that the United States has ever produced (Shipton 160). Eldridge is the obvious link between Louis Armstrong and Dizzy Gillespie. Armstrong could make an audience cheer, but Roy Eldridge, made those top and bottom notes feel like a natural part of what the horn should do (Friedwald 21). Blessed with
Watching Louis Armstrong’s live performance in Berlin during the year 1965 was a pleasure, especially because I am a great fan of his music. Throughout the concert in Berlin, Armstrong and his chamber orchestra played 13 different pieces. With the exception of Jewel Woods’ entrance on vocals for two songs, the makeup of the chamber orchestra did not change throughout the concert. As a result, the cello, clarinet, drums, piano, trombone, and trumpet remained vital parts of each song throughout the concert.
Calloway moved to Chicago, Illinois and attended Crane College to study law. Although expected to follow in his father’s footsteps in law, Cabell’s love of music consumed him. Following his passion, he started getting involved jazz music. Calloway was able to work the famous singer Louis Armstrong. He taught him the art of scat singing. Scat singing is using impractical sounds to devise melodies. This was the beginning of Cab’s singing career. [4]
At the mention jazz music, that person will first think of is likely to be a great figure with a clown image, nicknamed Satchmo. The man was Louis Armstrong. He is a husky singer, often with a trumpet in his hand. He played dramatic works of simple structure in Orleans jazz style and with the accompaniment of Dick jazz music. Each of the books on jazz music will mention his name. Louis Armstrong was to jazz music what Bach is to classical music, Presley is to rock music (Berrett 230). This essay will have an introduction of the king of jazz music -- Louis Armstrong and his great influence on jazz history.
On October 4th, I watched Louis Armstrong Live in Concert in Berlin in 1965. In this concert, I noticed Armstrong played a variety of songs with a variety of different tempos. The first song he played was more adagio and right after that his song picked up in tempo and changed to a more allegro with a vivace, lively feel to it. Each one of Armstrong’s songs had a different feel to it.