[Dixielandjazz] Jazz singers

[Tony Davis]

Brian Goggin wrote:

> To be honest I'm not into jazz singers and I would think most of us who are
> into the pre-war music wouldn't be either.

Can't argue with personal taste, but the second half of that statement is
pretty sweeping - can we have a vote?

> However I do like Louis Armstrong's, Jelly Roll Morton's and Fats Waller's
> singing and don't mind a little singing on record.
> While an occasional vocal is ok, it's still the instruments that hold the
> most interest.

But the best singers use their voice as an instrument - and I don't mean that
awful scat stuff that Ella used to do which went down so well with audiences
but always sounded horribly artificial to me.  I'm thinking of Billie Holiday,
Sarah Vaughan, Lee Wiley, to name only three.  And of course Louis Armstrong
was a prime example of this - he sang exactly the way he played his horn.

--
Tony Davis
Trumpet/Cornet
Zenith Hot Stompers/Kaminsky Connection/Harlem
Aston, Oxfordshire, UK