[Dixielandjazz] Louis' scats

[Charles Suhor]

> Ed Danielson wrote:

> I once transcribed Louis' scat singing on the Hot Five date "Hotter 
> than That" for a college linguistics class.  As I recall, I was trying 
> to demonstrate something about vocal non-verbal communication for 
> reasons that elude me now.  All those "beeps" and "bops"  and "deets" 
> and "mwahf-mwahf-mwahfs" on the blackboard earned me quizzical looks 
> from my classmates, but I did get an "A" -- even though the prof 
> wasn't Jax Lucas!
>
> Ed Danielson


Great story, Ed. Yeah, the linguistic/musical connections in jazz are 
abundant, fun, and not easily laid out in plain English. I do a dog & 
pony show about this with live musicians, trying to put generative 
grammar, ethnomusicology, the psychology of improvisation, and other 
stuff into an understandable package. Not as tedious as it sounds, when 
the players swing out with musical examples.

Beyond this, I think Louis’ scat on “Hotter Than That” is a masterpiece 
of just about everything. At one point, his syncopated scat syllables 
start on every third 8th note, superimposed over a full 8-bar sequence 
in 4/4 time—man, what a great creative tension in the rhythm! And of 
course the scat melody he’s improvising is within the chord structure 
of the tune, and it’s rich in inflections too. To me, Louis is like 
Bach, Mozart, Shakespeare, Jesus, Buddha, and a handful of others whose 
genius is ultimately unexplainable. They drew on things that came 
before them, but they made quantum leaps that aren’t traceable in the 
usual terms of development.

Charlie Suhor

On Nov 22, 2004, at 11:44 AM, Ed Danielson wrote:

> In a message dated 11/20/04 4:09:44 PM Pacific Standard Time,
> bhaesler at bigpond.net.au writes:
>
>> And how does one transcribe Louis' scats?????
>>
>
> I once transcribed Louis' scat singing on the Hot Five date "Hotter 
> than That" for a college linguistics class.  As I recall, I was trying 
> to demonstrate something about vocal non-verbal communication for 
> reasons that elude me now.  All those "beeps" and "bops"  and "deets" 
> and "mwahf-mwahf-mwahfs" on the blackboard earned me quizzical looks 
> from my classmates, but I did get an "A" -- even though the prof 
> wasn't Jax Lucas!
>
> Ed Danielson
>
>
>
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