Jive, scatting, and vocal carryings-on

Subject: Jive, scatting, and vocal carryings-on
From: keberoxu
Date: 14 Apr 20 - 03:12 PM

Well, if you can come up with a better name for it,
I'm open to suggestions.

The recordings and performances that come to mind
in particular
are African-American in origin,
and although not 'blues' as such,
there is a relationship to the blues,
if only 'rhythm-and-blues'.

Then there is the music that has come to be called jazz.

This stuff has always got, not just a rhythm, but a BEAT.
And often as not,
there is music in there someplace.
The vocal part may be little more than 'rapping'
but if so, then there is musical accompaniment.

This artist was from the first half of the 20th century,
and he is nothing like a household name now,
but between 1935 and 1950
many of the jazz musicians and jazz oddballs,
from Babs Gonzales to Eddie Jefferson (scat singer nonpareil)
knew who he was.

Here, Leo Watson fronts the Gene Krupa band.
He is unusually, erm, calm in this performance.
Just you wait until I link you to some of the WILD records he made.

Jeepers Creepers

Subject: RE: Jive, scatting, and vocal carryings-on
From: keberoxu
Date: 14 Apr 20 - 03:19 PM

Leo Watson (1898 - 1950)
was by no means the only purveyor of this exuberant form
usually packaged either as
"novelty music"
or race records.

He is just one of its more flamboyant representatives.
Here's some more.

Scattin' The Blues

Subject: RE: Jive, scatting, and vocal carryings-on
From: keberoxu
Date: 14 Apr 20 - 03:30 PM

The piano tremolo which opens this performance is played by none other than
Leonard Feather, who went on, as a writer,
to an eminent career writing about popular music in general
and 'jazz' in particular.

But the singing is Leo Watson, larger than life.

three minutes of 'Snake Pit"

Subject: RE: Jive, scatting, and vocal carryings-on
From: Jack Campin
Date: 14 Apr 20 - 04:36 PM

Indian classical vocalists are the most virtuosic at it that I've heard.

Subject: RE: Jive, scatting, and vocal carryings-on
From: keberoxu
Date: 13 May 20 - 09:50 AM

Between the previous post and this one,
the death of Little Richard has taken place,
see obituary thread.

a wop bop a loo bop a lop bam boom
or something rather like that ...

would that be called scat singing? or something else?
'rock and roll,' to be sure, but I mean
the singing that is sounds that aren't words.

The obit thread references a far lesser-known performer
who took it even further than Richard Penniman did.
I haven't listened to those links yet.
It might be instructive to compare that singer
with Leo Watson, who died before 'rock and roll' even happened.

The exuberant non-intellectual noisemaking with the voice
seems to recall minstrelsy, I'm not certain how.
I can't say that 'minstrels' did scat singing.
The attitude, the attention-getting provocative commotion,
and the emphasis on rhythm and comedy,
is what I am looking at here.