Scat singing

As Scat (English to scat " scurry hunt "), even scat singing, refers to a special type of song in the American gospel and jazz singing, an improvised singing rhythmically and melodically strung together syllables without meaning of the word and without coherent sense referred to; with the syllables and word fragments are mimicked onomatopoeic instrumental phrases, for example, elements of the instrumental style of the surrounding musicians. The exact shape and sound form the syllable sequences is improvised by the musicians largely spontaneously and does not use the voice in addition to the transmission of meaning content, but solely as an instrument.

Development

The origin of this form of singing is not known. Although Louis Armstrong claimed to have invented scat singing in 1926 during the recording of the title " Heebie Jeebies " with the Hot Five; it was during the recording accidentally dropped with the text on the bottom ( and then the sheet music - see record # emergence of the recording industry from 1900 - Music for records were taken even without a cut while recording a voice " in one piece" directly onto a wax blank, a repetition would have been too expensive), which he improvised the following scraps:

However, already in 1924 took Don Redman 's band Fletcher Henderson the first, still somewhat awkward scat singing in jazz history ("My Papa Does not Two -Time No Time " ) on. Also show recordings of bands to Adrian Rollini as The Little Ramblers Hard Hearted Hannah from August 13, 1924 or The Goofus Five in the play Go Emaline on 24 September 1924 that even before Armstrong recording from 1926 Scat was part of jazz music. Previously Cliff Edwards in 1922 several pictures (such Nobody or Homesick ) made ​​, on which he improvised scat -like; in 1911 had presented a first recording with Scat with King of the Bungaloos the vaudeville artist Gene Greene.

Scat singing facilitates vocal improvisation in jazz vocals, because there the main melody is extended or varied, for the text is not available by other sounds. The concomitant use of consonants results - in contrast to a classical coloratura - a similarity with rhythm instruments in order so-called "Drive" ( a temporal syncopation, the rhythmic Spannungund the so-called " swing" rhythm generated ) cause.

Scat singing was therefore particularly widespread in the swing and bebop era and was cultivated in the cool jazz and hard bop period on. Typical and successful scat songs from this period are, for example, How High the Moon and Lullaby of Birdland from the repertoire of Ella Fitzgerald and Sarah Vaughan.

A well-known example is Cab Calloway Minnie the Moocher with his piece ( 1931). In the chorus there are both simple ( " Hidi Hidi Hidi Ho " ) syllable games as well as very fast and hardly understandable combinations.

Particularly closely related to the scat singing is also Al Jarreau, the instruments can imitate deceptively with his voice and is therefore occasionally apostrophized as the " man with the orchestra in the throat ". The jazz pianist Aziza Mustafa Zadeh merged in the 1990s with scat singing Azerbaijani Mugham and classical elements.

Another familiar scat example is " Doo be doo be doo " which Frank Sinatra was finish the song Strangers in the Night.

In the broadest sense are also vocal percussion and beatboxing, where rhythm instruments to imitate the voice, variants or further developments of scat singing, a cappella singing originally meant as an imitation of instruments by the human voice, so singing without text. " Hollarretidijia " yodeling with consonants would be a European root, is sung in the likewise without text.

Scat singing and rap have about the same roots; American radio DJs attacked this chant later and developed from an early form of rap (see also Hip- Hop ); a typical example is a text of the DJs Dr Hep Cat:

Typical representatives ( in alphabetical order)

  • Louis Armstrong - Heebie Jeebies, for example (1926 )
  • George Benson
  • Dee Dee Bridgewater
  • Cab Calloway - Trickeration, Between The Devil And The Deep Blue Sea (early thirties )
  • Bing Crosby - Some of These Days (1932 )
  • Sammy Davis Jr. - Love Me Or Leave eg Me
  • Cliff Edwards
  • Kurt Elling - eg Nature Boy (2003)
  • Ella Fitzgerald - eg, How High the Moon
  • Dizzy Gillespie - Oop Bop Sh'Bam
  • Eddie Harris - eg Come on Down
  • Ruth Hohmann - most famous (East ) German representative
  • Al Jarreau
  • Ulita Knaus
  • Bobby McFerrin
  • Mark Murphy - eg Bebop Lives, Stolen Moments
  • Lauren Newton
  • Dianne Reeves
  • Scatman John - Scatman eg, Scatman 's World ( 1994)
  • The Swingle Singers - A cappella choral than or octet with choral settings on works by Bach and Mozart ( 1960s )
  • Caterina Valente
  • Sarah Vaughan - eg Lullaby of Birdland
  • Leo Watson - It's the Tune That Counts (1939 )
  • Aziza Mustafa Zadeh - eg Scrapple from the Apple (1997)
Gospel music Vocal jazz Phrase (music) Louis Armstrong and His Hot Five Comédie en vaudeville First Viennese School Hip hop music Mark Murphy (singer)
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