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14 Apr 20 - 03:12 PM (#4046087) Subject: Jive, scatting, and vocal carryings-on From: keberoxu 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 |
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14 Apr 20 - 03:19 PM (#4046091) Subject: RE: Jive, scatting, and vocal carryings-on From: keberoxu 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 |
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14 Apr 20 - 03:30 PM (#4046099) Subject: RE: Jive, scatting, and vocal carryings-on From: keberoxu 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" |
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14 Apr 20 - 04:36 PM (#4046120) Subject: RE: Jive, scatting, and vocal carryings-on From: Jack Campin Indian classical vocalists are the most virtuosic at it that I've heard. |
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13 May 20 - 09:50 AM (#4052232) Subject: RE: Jive, scatting, and vocal carryings-on From: keberoxu 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. |