Vocal jazz, scat, vocalese

Style · 1926 → · United States · Swing and big bands

The voice as instrument: Armstrong's scat, Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan, vocalese (King Pleasure from 1949). Absent from the original diagram.

What is still debated

"Heebie Jeebies" (1926) as the first recording with scat: disputed.

Where it comes from

Artists

Louis Armstrong (1901–1971, trumpet, vocals)
Billie Holiday (1915–1959, vocals)
Ella Fitzgerald (1917–1996, vocals, piano)
Sarah Vaughan (1924–1990, vocals, piano)
Abbey Lincoln (1930–2010, vocals)
Cassandra Wilson (1955–2026?, vocals, guitar)
Esperanza Spalding (1984, double bass, vocals)
Sister Rosetta Tharpe (1915–1973, guitar, vocals)
Peggy Lee (1920–2002, vocals)
Frank Sinatra (1915–1998, vocals)
Ray Charles (1930–2004, vocals, keyboards)
Sam Cooke (1931–1964, vocals)
Norah Jones (1979, vocals, piano)
Dinah Washington (1924–1963, vocals)
Valaida Snow (1904–1956, trumpet)
Eartha Kitt (1927–2008, vocals)
Diana Krall (1964, piano, vocals)
Melody Gardot (1985, vocals, guitar, piano)
Henri Salvador (1917–2008, guitar, vocals)
Camille Bertault (vocals)
Jamie Cullum (1979, vocals, piano)
Harry Connick Jr. (1967, piano, vocals)
Bobby McFerrin (1950, vocals, piano)
Cécile McLorin Salvant (1989, vocals)
Gregory Porter (1971, vocals)
Ethel Waters (1896–1977, vocals)
Jimmy Scott (1925–2014, vocals)
Slim Gaillard (1911–1991, vocals, guitar, piano, vibraphone, tenor saxophone)
Miriam Makeba (1932–2008, vocals)
Daymé Arocena (vocals, composition, choir conductor)
Youn Sun Nah (1969, vocals)
Hugh Coltman (vocals)
Cyrille Aimée (vocals)
Jacob Collier (1994, vocals, keyboards, guitar, double bass, bass, drums, percussion)
Ellen Birath (vocals)
Gabi Hartmann (vocals, guitar)
Marion Rampal (vocals)
Flore Benguigui (vocals)
Jazzmeia Horn (1991, vocals)
Maria João (1956, vocals)
Lisa Simone (vocals)
Mel Tormé (1925–1999, vocals, drums, piano, arrangement)
Esther Phillips (1935–1984, vocals)
Dianne Reeves (1956, vocals)
China Moses (1978, vocals)
Al Jarreau (1940–2017, vocals)
Fred Astaire (1899–1987, vocals, dance)
Gretchen Parlato (1976, vocals)
Ana Carla Maza (cello, vocals, piano)
Kandace Springs (1989, vocals, piano)
Stella Cole (1999, vocals)
Tyreek McDole (vocals)
Jesse Harris (guitar, vocals, composition)
Vanisha Gould (vocals)
Ekep Nkwelle (vocals)
Cab Kaye (1921–2000, vocals, piano)
Wouter Hamel (1977, vocals, guitar)
Ilse Huizinga (1966, vocals)

Tracks to start with

Heebie Jeebies — Louis Armstrong & His Hot Five (1926)
A-Tisket, A-Tasket — Ella Fitzgerald (1938)
Strange Fruit — Billie Holiday (1939)
Misty — Sarah Vaughan (1958)
Lullaby of Birdland — Sarah Vaughan (1954)
I Fall in Love Too Easily — Chet Baker (1954)
My Funny Valentine — Chet Baker (1954)
What a Wonderful World — Louis Armstrong (1967)
Do You Know What It Means to Miss New Orleans — Louis Armstrong & Billie Holiday (1947)
Feeling Good — Nina Simone (1965)
Liquid Spirit — Gregory Porter (2013)
Hellhound on My Trail — Cassandra Wilson (1993)
Fever — Peggy Lee (1958)
Black Trombone — Serge Gainsbourg (1962)
Can't Get Out of This Mood — Samara Joy (2022)
Jardin d'hiver — Henri Salvador (2000)
Comment te dire adieu — Camille Bertault (2017)
Twentysomething — Jamie Cullum (2003)
It Had to Be You — Harry Connick Jr. (1989)
Don't Worry, Be Happy — Bobby McFerrin (1988)
I Know You Know — Esperanza Spalding (2008)
WomanChild — Cécile McLorin Salvant (2013)
1960 What? — Gregory Porter (2010)
Transformation — Terri Lyne Carrington (2011)
Stormy Weather — Ethel Waters (1933)
Stars Fell on Alabama — Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Armstrong (1956)
How Deep Is the Ocean? — Benny Goodman and His Orchestra (chant : Peggy Lee) (1941)
Autumn in New York — Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Armstrong (1957)
How Insensitive (Insensatez) — Frank Sinatra & Antonio Carlos Jobim (1967)
Everybody's Somebody's Fool — Lionel Hampton and His Orchestra (chant : Little Jimmy Scott) (1949)
Trouble Blues — Sam Cooke (1963)
Flat Foot Floogie (with a Floy Floy) — Slim & Slam (Slim Gaillard & Slam Stewart) (1938)
This Bitter Earth — Dinah Washington (1959)
High Hat, Trumpet and Rhythm — Valaida Snow (1936)
The World Is Falling Down — Abbey Lincoln (1990)
Every Day I Have the Blues — Count Basie & Joe Williams (1955)
I Can't Stop Loving You — Ray Charles (1962)
Fly Me to the Moon (Sinatra-Basie) — Frank Sinatra & Count Basie (1964)
Butterfly Dreams — Flora Purim (1973)
Eyala — Richard Bona (1999)
Madres — Daymé Arocena (2015)
Come Away with Me — Norah Jones (2002)
The Look of Love (Diana Krall) — Diana Krall (2001)
Baby I'm a Fool — Melody Gardot (2009)
In My Room — Jacob Collier (2016)
My Favorite Things (Youn Sun Nah) — Youn Sun Nah (2010)
Mona Lisa — Hugh Coltman (2015)
It's a Good Day — Cyrille Aimée (2014)
Mon fantôme — Baptiste Trotignon (2012)
Mother of Pearl — Ellen Birath (2026)
Salinda, la fille aux yeux de sel — Gabi Hartmann (2025)
Learning How to Listen — Marion Rampal (2025)
Dis, quand reviendras-tu ? — Flore Benguigui & The Sensible Notes (2026)
River — Herbie Hancock (2007)
Tight — Jazzmeia Horn (2017)
Saris e Capulanas — Maria João & Mário Laginha (1998)
My World — Lisa Simone (2016)
Lulu's Back in Town — Mel Tormé & the Marty Paich Dek-Tette (1956)
Home Is Where the Hatred Is — Esther Phillips (1972)
Yeh, Yeh — Georgie Fame and the Blue Flames (1964)
Better Days — Dianne Reeves (1987)
Dinah's Blues — China Moses & Raphaël Lemonnier (2010)
Spain (I Can Recall) — Al Jarreau (1980)
Santa Baby — Eartha Kitt (1953)
Rainbow in Your Eyes — Al Jarreau (1976)
Fascinating Rhythm — Fred Astaire & Adele Astaire (George Gershwin, piano) (1926)
Willow Weep for Me (Paul Whiteman, 1932) — Paul Whiteman Orchestra (chant : Irene Taylor) (1932)
Baby, It's Cold Outside (Hot Lips Page & Pearl Bailey) — Hot Lips Page & Pearl Bailey (1949)
Lover Man (Oh, Where Can You Be?) (Tivoli, 1963) — Sarah Vaughan (1963)
Blue Moon (Mel Tormé) — Mel Tormé (1949)
In a Dream — Gretchen Parlato (2009)
A Tomar Café — Ana Carla Maza (2022)
Pearls — Kandace Springs (2020)
It's Magic — Stella Cole (2025)
Won't You Open Up Your Senses — Tyreek McDole (2025)
Having a Ball — Jesse Harris (2025)
She's Not Shiny, She's Not Smooth — Vanisha Gould (2024)
Early One Mornin' — Ekep Nkwelle (2026)
Left Over — Cécile McLorin Salvant (2026)
Since I Fell for You — Cab Kaye (1984)
Breezy — Wouter Hamel (2007)
Details — Wouter Hamel (2007)
Up Jumped Springtime — Ilse Huizinga (1997)
Waltz for Debby (Ilse Huizinga) — Ilse Huizinga (1999)

Sources

EN : Vocal jazz

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See its place in the genealogy of jazz