AtiBlog: Vocal Jazz

You might be thinking why on earth I did not write about vocal jazz earlier. Well, you are right, I should have. I should have, because human voice is probably the first instrument in music history, meaning there was human voice and singing way earlier than all the jazz styles that I published posts about in this blog.

So here is a chance to redeem myself.

Vocal Jazz:

I guess it would be a fair statement to say that the human voice is the earliest musical instrument and vocal music or singing can be considered as the oldest form of music. Obviously there was a fair amount of "vocal music" or "music that included vocal elements" from the early ages of Christianity in the forms of hymns or chants to the late 19th century with opera and bel canto. However since we are going to analyze vocal music within the jazz idiom, we can maybe concentrate on a period that started with the first examples of African-American work songs that paved the way to blues and in later years, jazz...

In my opinion the unofficial history of jazz music started with vocal music. We can say that vocal music's message in its earlier days was quite parallel with jazz music in general: "to communicate individual reaction to life in that moment of time". The first examples were mostly work songs that were the extension of West African chants. This tradition continued in cotton fields, railroad constructions and prisons both as work songs and spirituals that eventually evolved to Blues.

Singing fishermen of Ghana

The desire of self-expression through singing was also a part of the holy places. A musical form on its own, Gospel music with religious lyrics accompanied with hand claps or foot stomps was also an important vocal music style at that time.

A Gospel song "Ain't But Me One" by Beatie Gay

With the turn of the century, all these different singing approaches led to one of the greatest musical styles: Blues. It incorporated all I mentioned above and more. One could hear the sounds of work songs, spirituals, hollers, shouts, ceremonial chants and gospels. It was a more structured type of music, with its call and response format and specific chord progressions (i.e. 12 bar blues, blues scale and blue notes). The term "Blues" was almost always associated with melancholy and sadness that reflected the social conditions of the African-Americans.

"Mama's Got the Blues" by Lillian Harris

One important note here. As we have stated various times that the human voice was probably the first musical instrument, it was again the case for blues and jazz musicians. Initially, it was the instrument players who copied the sounds of the singers. This was going to change in the more matured years of jazz and it would be the singers now who would want to copy the sounds of the instruments.

As you can remember from the earlier posts, we had stated that "Dixieland" was the first form of jazz as we know it. By the 1920s, singing was also a part of jazz music however not in a creative way until Louis Armstrong introduced something totally new to the jazz world.

He established a distinctive way of singing called "scat". It was an improvised technique that was performed by the singer via using his/her voice like an instrument rather than a speaking medium. Use of syllables that do not make any sense at all or hums without words was the common practice in scat singing.

"Dinah" by Louis Armstrong

There is a false belief claiming that Louis Armstrong had to invent scat singing because he had dropped the lyrics sheet during a concert, however it is true that he occasionally resorted to scat upon forgetting the lyrics.

After the 1930s during the "Swing Era", the jazz music was at its top form. Almost all orchestras had taken on singers and singing was one of the key elements of an orchestra to succeed. Naturally, this tendency created an opportunity for many great vocalists to take place in the jazz scene. Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, Cab Calloway, Anita O'Day, Billy Eckstine and many others have all started their careers during this period.

However with the fading glamour of swing jazz, the importance of vocal was interrupted for some time due to the fact that bebop was not a musical style to embrace the vocalists. Obviously the new jazz style did not totally suppress the vocal artists. Whoever could break the barriers with the past became even more successful.

As you will remember from the earlier posts, jazz styles had evolved quite distinctively until the 1950s. Jazz forms such as Dixieland, Swing and Bebop, roughly followed one another. However in the second half of the 20th century, as it was the case for almost all art forms, jazz music also began to intertwine. Obvious trends among the increasingly varied substyles of jazz began to break down. The vocalists were primarily interested in developing their own voice without regard for any perceived direction that jazz as a whole might be taking. New vocal styles evolved simultaneously with different inspirations from the past. This process is still valid today which keeps vocal jazz as one of the true inspiring elements of jazz music...

Now I will try to introduce you some of the earlier key figures in vocal jazz with some of their best performances.

Louis Armstrong: Nicknamed as "Satchmo" thanks to his wide grim who played his horn with unprecedented technique. At the same time a true pioneer in vocal jazz with scat singing.His singing was also very authentic just like his playing. He can be considered as the real inventor of the swing feel.

"Heebie Jeebies" by Louis Armstrong and His Hot Five

Billie Holiday: Nicknamed "Lady Day", almost no formal music education and a limited voice scale, a great jazz vocalist jazz thanks to her phrasing and tempo skills. Even though she sang very little blues, she could transform each song to a bluesy sound. Her technique allowed her to be an extension of the band rather than the traditional vocalist and accompanying band form. She could turn any simple song to an artistic highlight. One can easily understand how she struggled in life through her songs. She has been an inspiration to many jazz instrumentalists. For all these reasons her style is still called "Holiday mystique"..

"Strange Fruit" by Billie Holiday

Ella Fitzgerald: Powerful,bright and a clear voice, capable of great precision. Many nicknames, "First Lady of Song", "Queen of Jazz" and "Lady Ella". Incredible vocal abilities made her a legend.

"A Tisket A Tasket" by Ella Fitzgerald

Mel Tormé: Nicknamed "The Velvet Fog", also a composer, arranger and drum player. Composer of the famous "Christmas Song".

"Jeepers Creepers" by Mel Tormé

Anita O'Day: Probably the greatest jazz singer who was not African-American. She had to develop an authentic style due to an uvula illness during childhood. A true feminist who refused the traditional stage attire and introducing the rebel look.

"Beautiful Love" by Anita O'Day

Sarah Vaughan: Nicknamed "Sassy", strangely never as popular as Ella Fitzgerald or Billie Holiday but in my opinion a very authentic voice similar to opera singers.