Scat--I don't get it.

It's when you are too high to remember the lyrics. Artsy fartsy reviewers of jazz elevated it to a supposed art form. I don't mind it, especially thinking that the musicians were too wasted to do the song properly.

Sometimes it just sounds cool. You sorta do have to work at it to make it sound good, so in that respect, it's certainly artistic.

Scatting is one of those 'either you get it or you don't" kind of things. Ella (who was never wasted) was the best. Her voice morphed into one of the instruments. That's good scatting. Al Jarreau is another to do wondrous things with his voice.

eoe, exactly! Scat is using the voice as an instrument.

Must admit, though. I never cared for it.

Ella, who was indeed never wasted, was the best. She picked it up from Louie though, who I suspect had the odd joint in his day.

Louie rocked....

Oh. Well yes, Louis was wasted. I heard that he smoked one doobie a day until he died. Which explains everything, huh?

Only scat I've heard of is the porn.

Kicky emailed me asking if I had any I could send him.

Nice to see you back Slappy. Scat indeed...it figures kicky would be into that.

Come on Slappy. You've heard of Scat in musical terms, haven't you?

Slappy, where are those scat movies you promised me, by the way? You told me you had a whole wing in your porn library devoted to scat. What da dealio?

I can't remember who did this notorious scat line: "Zoo yoo do, oo bukaki yabba doo..."

Sounds like Louis to me.

You know who does a good scat? Jonathan Davis of Korn. Not bad for a young white dude

Yoo doo somethink to meeee.

Ella was remarkable in using her voice as an instrument but for me, a little goes a long way.

Slappy Doo Hoo knows scat a tat tat.

The technique of scat singing is likely to be originated in the US as singers imitated the sounds of jazz instrumentalists, though some concepts behind it might be traced to West African musics. As a prominent example Louis Armstrong started a vogue for scat singing, other singers such as Cab Calloway popularizing it.


(For more exact exposition, cf. The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians (2nd edition).)

I prefer scatting to siging with words, when I sing.

Skiddily wha wha wha!

I love skat, it's sound poetry. Ella was certainly the queen but I kinda thought Cab Calloway had it going on...

Now, here's a story 'bout Minnie the Moocher,
She was a low-down hoochie-coocher,
She was the roughest, toughest frail,
But Minnie had a heart as big as a whale.

Ho-de-ho-de-ho
Ho-de-ho-de-ho
Hi-de-hi-de-hi
Hi-de-hi-de-hi
Bodoo-la-doo-la-doo-ba-doo
Bodoo-la-doo-la-doo-la-doo
Ho-de-ho-de-ho
Ho-de-ho-de-ho

She messed around with a bloke named Smokey,
She loved him though he was cokey.
He took her down to Chinatown,
And showed her how to kick the gong around.

Oh, the gong around!
Oh, the gong around!
Wit-da-slow-joe-vi
Wit-da-slow-joe-vi
Bod-de-doden-boddle-oh
Bod-de-doden-boddle-oh
Ho-de-ho-ho-ho-ho
Ho-de-ho-ho-ho-ho

She had a dream 'bout the king of Sweden,
He gave her things that she was needing,
He gave her a home built of gold and steel,
A platinum car with diamond studded wheels.

Hi-de-hi-de-hey!
Hi-de-hi-de-hey!
O-de-bot-doo-doo!
O-de-bot-doo-doo!
Ba-doo-ba-doo-ba-doo-bottle!
Ba-doo-ba-doo-ba-doo-bottle!
La-Minnie had a heart as big as a whale.

Poor Min, dead Min, oh, Minnie-Min.

Cab was da man...

Reefer Man
Cab Calloway

"Man whats the matter with that cat there?"
"must be full of reefer"
"full of reefer?!"
"yea man"
"you mean that cats high?!"
"sailing"
"sailing"
"sailing lightly"
"get away from here
Man is that the reefer man?"
"thats the reefer man"
"I belive hes losing his mind"
"I think hes lost his mind!"

Oh have you ever met that funny reefer man reefer man
have you ever met that funny reefer man reefer man
If he said he swam to china, and he sell you south carolina
then you know your talkn to that reefer man
Have you ever met funny reefer man reefer man
Have you ever met funny reefer man reefer man
If he said he walks the ocean, any time he takes the notion
then you know your talkn to reefer man.

Have you ever met this funny reefer man reefer man
oh baby baby baby reefer man reefer man
If he trades you dimes for nickles
and calls watermellons pickles
then you know your talkn to that reefer man
Have you ever met funny reefer man reefer man
Have you ever met funny reefer man reefer man
If he takes a sudden mania
he'll want to give you pennsylvaina
oh you know your talking to the reefer man

Have you ever met funny reefer man reefer man
Have you ever met funny reefer man reefer man
If he said one sweet is funny
because he wont sell me atlantic
then you know your talkin to that reefer man