Please recommend me some jazzy songs - scat and swing especially!

Cafe Society
1

What the title says (and no poo jokes please!) :stuck_out_tongue:

I’m very new to jazz - I don’t even know if the above sort of songs are jazz at all. I’d love to start a CD collection because I’ve noticed a lot of my favourite songs have the same sort of style to them, but I have no idea where to start. The swing songs I like are the big band, swing dancing-type ones like Sing Sing Sing and upbeat versions of Diamonds Are A Girl’s Best Friend. If anyone could recommend me some songs and CDs along those lines I’d be grateful.

Also does anyone have recommendations for songs with great examples of scat? I’ve heard it in a couple of modern songs and really liked the sound of it, but I don’t have the faintest idea where to begin - and I’m too scared to search for “scat” on the internet.

Additionally, what category of jazz do songs like Almost Like Being In Love (Nat King Cole, Sinatra, etc) belong to? They’re sort of ballady but swingy and they just make you want to get up and dance.

Thanks for any help!

2

The pure “jazz song” may not even exist. Songs that have a jazz feel even when done “straight” fall into the category that used to be called “pop” before “pop” came to mean mostly “rock.”

Having said that, “jazz songs” include things like:

Round Midnight
Here’s That Rainy Day
When Sunny Gets Blue
I Got Rhythm
How High The Moon
Misty
Autumn Leaves
When The Sun Comes Out
Since I Fell For You
Sweet Georgia Brown
Georgia On My Mind
Stardust
Blues In The Night
Early Autumn

I could go on, but the ones listed are just the first ones I thought of. Are any of these in the category you’re thinking of?

3

May I direct you to this thread? There are lots and lots of links to early pop and jazz sites.

4

I’ve heard of a couple of those songs, but Misty is the only one that I’ve actually listened to. It’s a little more ballady and slower-paced than what I normally like - of Ella Fitzgerald’s songs I prefer things like Dream a Little Dream of Me, Cheek to Cheek, Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas, etc.

Does that help at all? :slight_smile:

5

Thanks for the link, Eve - I’ll be sure to download some songs as soon as I can - I’m pushing my limit a bit this month, I 'm afraid! I have no idea how we go through 3 gigs of downloads a month. scratches head

6

I think Ella Fitzgerald’s the gal for you: she was a master of both swing and scat. There are a million great Ella albums out there, but this compilation is as good a place to start as any:

This was put together from the Songbooks that Ella did for various songwriters, all of which are great (but expensive.)

7

I think the quintessential example of scat has got to be Ella Fitzgerald scatting to Benny Goodman’s Air Mail Special. You may also want to check out Lambert, Hendricks, and Ross. For great Big Band swing with great vocals, I’d suggest Anita O’Day Swings Cole Porter with Billy May (also check out her work with Oscar Peterson on Anita O’Day Sings the Most). Of all jazz vocalists, I think Anita’s phrasing is the most swingin’est. Unfortunately, the bulk of Ella’s studio work was with Nelson Riddle which I just don’t think was a great match. I have zero doubt you will love “Ella and Basie”:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B0000047G4/103-9863166-4715066?v=glance

8

Listen to the first few bars of Honeysuckle Rose on that amazon site and tell me that’s not what you’re looking for.

9

When Ella scatted to Air Mail Special, it was called Good Enough to Keep. It’s old and it’s live but it’s a classic. Listen here:

http://www.vitaminic.com/cgi-php/src_eng.php3?text=good+enough+to+keep&what=ALL&where=ALL&go.x=0&go.y=0

10

I must recommend Cab Calloway to the OP.

Try your local library’s CD collection. Mine has a box set chronicling the man’s career. Some real gems in there!

11

I neglected to add that Cab Calloway does plenty of scat singing.
He even has a piece entitled “The Scat Song”.

Enjoy.

12

Betty.

Carter.

13

I agree with BwanaBob. Cab is tops.

You might need to crank up the old turn table and spin some vinyl to get the really good stuff.

For some blowin’ and goin’ swing, check out Woody Herman’s Bijou album and Charlie Barnett’s Cherokee album. Also hard to beat Lionel Hampton doing Flying Home or A Train.

Some others you might like: Count Basie, Bob Crosby and the Bob Cats, and for fun, Louis Prima.

14

If you’re interested in swing, check out Duke Ellington, the Dorsey Brothers, the Glen Miller Orchestra, the Benny Goodman Orchestra, the Dorsey Brothers, and Count Basie. It’s some of the best music recorded.

15

Thanks for all the suggestions guys! I only have 10 more days of study and then I have months and months to devote to lazing around and listening to music. :smiley: I’ve already got most of your suggestions on my eBay watch list, and I’ve got a trip to the CD store planned for very first day I’m free.

KidCharlemagne I listened to Honeysuckle Rose and from the moment it started I had a huge grin on my face. That’s exactly the sort of stuff I love!

Once again, thanks so much everyone!