Misplaced Pages

Revision as of 21:05, 1 May 2024

Vocal Jazz

Vocal jazz or jazz singing is a genre within jazz music where the voice is used as an instrument.

Vocal jazz began in the early twentieth century. Jazz music has its roots in blues and ragtime and can also traced back to the New Orleans jazz tradition. Jazz music is characterized by syncopated rhythms, improvisation, and unique tonality and pitch deviation. In vocal jazz, this includes vocal improvisations called scat singing where vocalists imitate the instrumentalist's tone and rhythm.

Vocal jazz emerged in the early twentieth century, with its roots in Blues. Popular blues singers such as Bessie Smith and Ma Rainey had a great deal of influence of jazz vocalists such as Billie Holiday. Other characteristics of vocal jazz such as scat singing came out of the New Orleans jazz tradition. Louis Armstrong's 1926 recording of "Heebie Jeebies" is often cited as the first modern song to employ scatting. This later evolved into the complex vocal improvisation of the bop era that was adopted by Anita O'Day, Sarah Vaughan, Betty Carter, and Dizzy Gillespie. The Boswell Sisters were a vocal jazz trio originating from New Orleans that help popularize vocal jazz music among the general American public during the 1930s.

History

Jazz singing originates from African-American enslaved people who sang field hollers and work songs. Work songs and field hollers provided a mode of expression for enslaved people to challenge the oppressive structures of white power. They allowed emotional expression, helped pass the time, and coordinated labor movements. The musical elements of these songs involved a call-and-response structure and included repetitive phrasing and improvisation which are foundational elements of jazz music.

Spirituals in churches, minstrels, and vaudeville also were the basis for jazz music. Jazz grew into popularity in the early twentieth century, with its roots in blues.

Louis Armstrong is often cited as being a large contributor to the rise in popularity of vocal jazz music, beginning in the late 1920s. His 1926 recording of “Heebie Jeebies” is often cited as the first modern song to employ scatting, a vocal improvisation technique.

In the 1940s, jazz evolved into the bop era. Notable singers of this period were Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan, Billie Holiday, and Dinah Washington who had all previously sung with big bands and developed their solo career.

Alongside the rise of cool jazz in the 1950s singers followed the same laid-back approach of laid-back. This period gave rise to Peggy Lee, June Christy, Chris Connor, Helen Merrill, Chet Baker, Carmen McRae, Joe Williams, and Ray Charles.

See also

• Vocalese
• Scat singing

References

1. ^ "Jazz | Definition, History, Musicians, & Facts | Britannica". www.britannica.com. 2024-03-20. Retrieved 2024-04-16.
2. "Bessie Smith Biography: Controversy". SparkNotes. Retrieved 2022-04-16.
3. Crowther, Bruce; Pinfold, Mike (1997). Singing Jazz. Miller Freeman Books. ISBN 0-87930-519-3.
4. Robinson, J. Bradford (2007). Scat Singing. The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians.
5. Moline, Lara Marie (2019). Vocal Jazz in the Choral Classroom: A Pedagogical Study (DMA dissertation). University of Northern Colorado. Paper 576 – via Digital UNC.
6. ^ Yanow, Scott (2008). The Jazz Singers: The Ultimate Guide. New York, NY: Backbeat Books. pp. x–xi.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
7. ^ "Work Song, Field Call & More". Timeline of African American Music. Retrieved 2024-04-26.
8. Crowther, Bruce; Pinfold, Mike (1997). Singing Jazz. Miller Freeman Books. ISBN 0-87930-519-3.

v t e Jazz
General topics	Outline of jazz Jazz (word) Jazz band Big band Improvisation Jazz Jam session Scat singing Swing performance Jazz bass Jazz drumming Jazz guitar French horn in jazz Jazz piano Jazz trombone Jazz violin Vocal jazz Women in jazz
Genres	Avant-garde jazz Bebop Hard bop Neo-bop Post-bop Cape jazz Chamber jazz Cool jazz Dixieland Flamenco jazz Folk jazz Free jazz Free funk Free improvisation Punk jazz Gypsy jazz Jazz-funk Jazz fusion Jazz rap Latin jazz Afro-Cuban jazz M-Base Mainstream jazz Marabi Modal jazz Nu jazz Orchestral jazz Organ trio Progressive jazz Ska jazz Smooth jazz Soul jazz Spiritual jazz Sacred jazz Stride Swing Swing revival Third stream Trad jazz
Musicians	Bassists Clarinetists Drummers Guitarists Organists Percussionists Pianists Saxophonists Trombonists Trumpeters Vibraphonists Violinists Vocalists
Musicians by genre	Bebop Chamber jazz Cool jazz and West Coast jazz Hard bop Jazz fusion Scat Smooth jazz Soul jazz Swing
Standards	Pre-1920 1920s 1930s 1940s post-1950
Discographies	Bethlehem Blue Note BYG Cobblestone Contemporary CTI ECM ESP-Disk Flying Dutchman Freedom Groove Merchant Impulse! India Navigation JMT Landmark Mainstream Milestone MPS Records MPS Muse Prestige Riverside Strata-East Verve Winter & Winter
Festivals	Beaches (Toronto) Cape Town Chicago Copenhagen Detroit Jakarta Monterey Montreal Montreux New Orleans Newport North Sea Pori Saint Lucia
Culture	Contrafacts Institutions and organizations Jazz funeral Jazz poetry Jazz royalty Jazz theory See Template: Jazz theory Rare groove Second line Venues
Regional scenes	African Ethiopia Malawian South African Cape jazz Marabi Zimbabwean Asian Armenian Azerbaijani Jazz mugham Chinese Indian Indo jazz Sitar Iranian Japanese European Balkan Bulgarian Belgian British British dance band Continental European Czech and Slovak Danish Dutch European free jazz French German Italian Polish Yass Spanish Flamenco jazz Swedish North American Canadian Haitian Latin American Cuban American Baltimore Chicago Detroit Kansas City New Orleans New York City Washington, D.C. West Coast Oceanian Australian South American Brazilian Latin American Worldwide Ethno jazz
History	Bibliography of jazz Blues British dance band Ragtime Jazz Age Continental jazz Straight-ahead jazz Pre-1920 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s 2020 2021 2022
Related	Acid jazz Afrobeat Contradanza Blues Jump blues New Orleans blues Brass band Exotica Plugg Quiet storm Ragtime Novelty ragtime Sophisti-pop West African music Western swing
Media	Album covers of Blue Note Records Bird Jazz (miniseries) The Jazz Singer Round Midnight Straight, No Chaser
Jazz portal

This jazz-related article is a stub. You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it.

• v
• t
• e

• Jazz stubs
• Vocal jazz
• Jazz music education
• Vocal music