Various Artists The Story of Vocal Jazz 1911-1940
10 CD Box Set
Released : 20 October 2004
Label: Le Chant d (Harmonia Mundi)
Format: Flac
Part 1 of 2
The roots of jazz music were very much vocal, with field hollers and ceremonial chants, but while the blues maintained a strong vocal tradition, with singers such as Ma Rainey and Bessie Smith heavily influencing the progress of American popular music in general, early jazz bands only featured vocalists periodically, albeit those with a more "bluesy" tone of voice; one of the first "jazz" recordings, the 1917 Original Dixieland Jass Band recordings featured one Sarah Martin as vocalist.
It was Louis Armstrong who established singing as a distinct art form in jazz, realising that a singer could improvise in the same manner as an instrumentalist, and along with American vocalist Adelaide Hall they established scat singing as a central pillar of the jazz vocal art.
A frequently repeated legend alleges that Louis Armstrong invented scat singing when he dropped the lyric sheet while singing on his 1926 recording of "Heebie Jeebies". This story is false and Armstrong himself made no such claim. Jazz musicians Don Redman, Cliff Edwards, and Red Nichols all recorded examples of scat earlier than Armstrong. However, the record "Heebie Jeebies" in 1926 by Armstrong and "Creole Love Call" in 1927 by Duke Ellington and Adelaide Hall subsequently introduced scat singing to a wider audience and did much to popularize the style. Armstrong was an innovative singer who while experimenting with all kinds of sound, improvised with his voice as he did on his instrument. In one famous example, Armstrong scatted a passage on "I'm A Ding Dong Daddy From Dumas" – he sings "I've done forgot the words!" in the middle of recording before taking off in scat.
The entrance of Billie Holiday into the world of jazz singing in the early 1930s was a revelation. She approached the voice from a radical angle, explaining, in her own words, I don't feel like I'm singing, I feel like I'm playing the horn.
Compared to other great jazz singers, Holiday had a rather limited vocal range of just over an octave. Where Holiday's genius lay, however, was to compensate for this shortcoming, with impeccable timing, nuanced phrasing, and emotional immediacy, qualities admired by a young Frank Sinatra.
With the end of prohibition in the United States, a more "danceable" form of jazz music arose, giving birth to the Swing era, and with it big bands such as those led by Count Basie, Benny Goodman, Duke Ellington, Tommy Dorsey, Jimmie Lunceford, Glenn Miller, Artie Shaw and Chick Webb. Many of the great post war jazz singers sang with these bands in the infancy of their careers.
With the end of the Swing era, the great touring Big bands of the past decade were no longer a viable option, and the demise of the typical big band singer was further complicated by the advent of be-bop as a creative force in jazz.
The rise of be-bop saw a new style of jazz singer, one who could match instrumentalists for sheer technical skill, and this was evident in Ella Fitzgerald's rise to fame, the art of jazz singing was elevated to even higher rankings, allowing the notion of "free voice" to exist, giving instrumental qualities to the voice through timbres, registers and tessitura.
Disc One
01. Sophie Tucker – Some Of These Days (1911)
02. Fisk University Jubilee Quartet – Roll Jordan Roll (1913)
03. Marion Harris – After You’ve Gone (1918 )
04. Mamie Smith – Crazy Blues (1920)
05. Bessie Smith Down Hearted Blues (1923)
06. Ida Cox I’ve Got The Blues For Rampart Street (Summer 1923)
07. Bessie Smith – Graveyard Dream Blues (1923)
08. Esther Bijeou – West Indies Blues (1923)
09. Ida Cox – Blues Ain’t Nothin’ Else But! (1924)
10. Bessie Smith – Boweavil Blues (1924)
11. Bessie Smith – Weeping Willow Blues (1924)
12. Alberta Hunter – Nobody Knows The Way I Feel Dis Mornin’ (1924)
13. Blind Lemon Jefferson – Black Snake Moan (1925)
14. Eva Taylor – Cake Walking Babies From Home (1925)
15. Ethel Waters – Sweet Georgia Brown (1925)
16. Bessie Smith Soft Pedal Blues (1925)
17. Bessie Smith – Careless Love (1925)
18. Ethel Waters Shake That Thing (1925)
19. Blind Blake – Too Tight Blues (1926)
20. Paul Robeson – Sometimes I Feel Like A Motherless Child (1926)
21. Fred Astaire & Adele Astaire – Fascinating Rhythm (1926)
22. Reverend J.M. Gates Death’s Black Train Is Comin’ (1926)
23. Bessie Smith & Her Blue Boys – Young Woman Blues (1926)
24. Bertha “Chippie” Hill – Pratt City Blues (1926)
25. Lonnie Johnson – Mean Old Bedbug Blues (1927)
Disc Two
01. Blind Willie Johnson – It’s Nobody’s Fault But Mine (1927)
02. Bessie Smith – Back Water Blues (1927)
03. Bessie Smith – Alexander’s Ragtime Band (1927)
04. Blind Lemon Jefferson – Match Box Blues (1927)
05. Sippie Wallace – Dead Drunk Blues (1927)
06. Adelaide Hall – The Blues I Love To Sing (1927-10-26)
07. Bessie Smith – Dyin’ By The Hour (1927)
08. Bessie Smith – Foolish Man Blues (1927)
09. Victoria Spivey – Dope Head Blues (1927)
10. Helen Humes – Cross Eyed Blues (1927)
11. Marion Harris – The Man I Love (1927)
12. Louis Armstrong – Hotter Than Hot (1927)
13. Hattie McDaniels – I Thought I’d Do It (1927)
14. Jimmie Rodgers – Waiting For A Train (1928 )
15. Mississippi John Hurt – Ain’t No Tellin’ (1928 )
16. Reverend Johnny Blake – Warming By The Devil’s Fire (1928 )
17. Blind Willie Davis – Oh When The Saints Go Marching In (1928 )
18. Memphis Jug Band Peaches In The Springtime (1928 )
19. Bessie Smith – Empty Bed Blues 2 (1928 )
20. Rube Lacy – Mississippi Jail House Blues (1928 )
21. Henry Williams – Georgia Crawl (1928 )
22. Ma Rainey And Her Tubjug Washboard Band – Prove It On Me Blues (1928 )
23. Arizona Dranes – God’s Got A Dream (1928 )
24. Ivy Smith – State Street Secret (1928 )
25. Ethel Waters – Guess Who’s In Town (1928 )
Disc Three
01. Walter “Furry” Lewis – Kassie Jones (1928 )
02. Bertha “Chippie” Hill – Some Cold Rainy Day (1928 )
03-03. Noah Lewis – Viola Lee Blues (1928 )
04. Texas Alexander – No More Woman Blues (1928 )
05. Ozie Ware & Irving Mills – Diga Diga Doo (1928 )
06. Louis Armstrong – Basin’ Street Blues (1928 )
07. Charley Patton – Screamin’ And Hollerin’ The Blues (1929)
08. Memphis Minnie – Bumble Bee (1929)
09. Blind Blake – Georgia Bound (1929)
10. Sonny Greer – Sloppy Joe (1929)
11. Jabbo Smith – Decatur Street Tutti (1929)
12. McKinney’s Cotton Pickers – Beadle-Um-Bum (1929)
13. Blind Lemon Jefferson – Mosquito Man (1929)
14. Bessie Smith – Nobody Knows When You’re Down And Out (1929)
15. Louis Armstrong – Black And Blue (1929)
16. T-Bone Walker – Wichita Falls Blues (1929)
17. Noble Sissle – Camp Meeting Day (1929)
18. Edith Johnson – Nickle’s Worth Of Liver Blues (1929)
19. Bessie Smith – Blue Spirit Blues (1929)
20. Georgia Tom Dorsey – Come On Mama (1929)
21. Bing Crosby – After You’ve Gone (1929)
22. Blind Willie McTell – Travelin’ Blues (1929)
23. Louis Armstrong – St. Louis Blues (1929)
24. Sleepy John Estes – Milk Cow Blues (1930)
25. Dunham Jubilee Singers – I Dreamed Of The Judgement Morning (1930)
Disc Four
01. Fred Astaire – Puttin’ On The Ritz (1930)
02. Bessie Smith – On Revival Day (1930)
03. George Thomas With McKinney’s Cotton Pickers – Baby Won’t You Please Come Home (1930)
04. Hall Johnson – Good News (1930)
05. Ethel Waters – I Got Rhythm (1930)
06. Bumble Bee Slim – No Woman No Nickel (1931)
07. Louis Armstrong And His Sebastian New Cotton Orchestra – Shine (1931)
08. Bessie Smith – Shipwreck Blues (1931)
09. George Morton And Mill’s Blue Rhythm Band – Heebie Jeebies (1931)
10. Boswell Sisters – It’s The Girl (1931)
11. Rosa Henderson – Can’t Be Bothered With No Sheik (1931)
12. Louis Armstrong – Stardust (1931)
13. Bessie Smith – Need A Little Sugar In My Bowl (1931)
14. Mildred Bailey – Georgia On My Mind (1931)
15. Big Bill Broonzy – Too-Too Train (1932) (2:54)
16. Leroy Carr – How Long Has That Evening Train Been Gone (1932)
17. Ivie Anderson – It Don’t Mean A Thing If It Ain’t Got That Swing (1932)
18. Harlan Lattimore – I Wanna Count Sheep (1932)
19. Bing Crosby – Some Of These Days (1932)
20. Josh White – Little Brother Blues (1932)
21. Mildred Bailey And Matty Malneck Orchestra – Rockin’ Chair (1932)
22. Irene Taylor – Willow Weep For Me (1932)
23. Bing Crosby And Mills Brothers – My Honey’s Lovin’ Arms (1933)
24. Lee Wiley And Dorsey’s Brothers Orchestra – I Gotta Right To Sing The Blues (1933)
25. Ethel Waters And Dorsey’s Brothers Orchestra – Stormy Weather (1933)
Disc Five
01. Connie Boswell And Dorsey’s Brothers Orchestra – The River’s Taking Care Of Me (1933)
02. Henry “Red” Allen – Nagasaki (1933)
03. Louis Bacon – Rude Interlude (1933)
04. Jack Teagarden – I Gotta Right To Sing The Blues (1933)
05. Cab Calloway – Zah Zuh Zah (1933)
06. Jack Teagarden – Love Me (1933)
07. Spirits Of Rhythm – Rhythm (1933)
08. Bessie Smith – Take Me For A Buggy Ride (1933)
09. Tampa Red – King Fish Blues (1934)
10. Kokomo Arnold – Old Original Kokomo Blues (1934)
11. Charley Patton – Stone Pony Blues (1934)
12. Mitchell’s Christian Singers – Them Bones (1934)
13. Ivie Anderson – Troubled Waters (1934)
14. Red McKenzie With Spirits Of Rhythm – As Long As I Live (1934)
15. Spirits Of Rhythm – Dr. Wattson And Mr. Holmes (1934)
16. Leroy Carr – Blues Before Sunrise (1934)
17. Charlie McCoy (2) – Baltimore Blues (1934)
18. Billie Holiday – Symphony In Black (1934)
19. Carter Family – Wildwood Flower (1935)
20. Memphis Minnie – Dirty Mother For You (1935)
21. Leadbelly – Midnight Special (1935)
22. Leadbelly – See See Rider (1935)
23. Heavenly Gospel Singers – Lead Me To The Rock (1935)
Disc Six
01. Dixie Rhythm – The Four Blackbirds (1935)
02. Valaida Snow – I Can’t Dance, I’ve Got Ants In My Pants (1935)
03. Cab Calloway – I Ain’t Got Nobody (1935)
04. Sleepy John Estes – Down South Blues (1935)
05. Georgia White – Honey Dripper Blues (1935)
06. Billie Holiday – I’m Painting The Town Red (1935)
07. Frances Langford And The Mahlon Merrick Orchestra – I Feel A Song Comin’ On (1935)
08. Walter Davis – Ashes In My Whisky (1935)
09. Fats Waller – Truckin’ (1935)
10. Blind Boy Fuller – My Brown Skin Sugar Plum (1935)
11. Louis Armstrong – I’m In The Mood For Love (1935-10-03)
12. Robert Johnson – Cross Road Blues (1936)
13. Robert Johnson – Ramblin’ On My Mind (1936)
14. Memphis Minnie – Hoodoo Lady (1936)
15. Lil Johnson – That Bonus That Done Gone Thru (1936)
16. Bill Casey – W.P.A. Blues (1936)
17. Ella Fitzgerald – All My Life (1936)
18. Kid Prince Moore – South Bound Blues (1936)
19. Billie Holiday – These Foolish Things (1936)
20. Billie Holiday And Her Orchestra – Billie’s Blues (1936)
21. Ella Fitzgerald – Mr Paganini You’ll Have To Swing It (1936)
22. Midge Williams – Where The Lazy River Goes By (1936)
23. Lonnie Johnson (2) – Flood Water (1937)
24. Washboard Sam – The Big Boat (1937)
25. Golden Gate Quartet – Golden Gate Gospel Train (1937)
Disc Seven
01. Norfolk Jubilee Quartet – Didn’t It Rain (1937)
02. Mildred Bailey – Smoke Dreams (1937)
03. Gladys Palmer – Where The Lazy River Goes By (1937)
04. Duke Ellington – I’ve Got To Be A Rug Cutter (1937)
05. Ivie Anderson & Rex Stewart – I’ve Got To Be A Rug Cutter (1937)
06. Blind Boy Fuller – Pistol Slapper Blues (1937)
07. Ella Fitzgerald – You Showed Me The Way (1937-03-24)
08. Mills Brothers, The & Louis Armstrong – Darling Nelly Gray (1937)
09. Merline Johnson – Make Me A Pallet On The Floor (1937)
10. Billie Holiday – Mean To Me (1937)
11. Bukka White – Shake’em On Down (1937)
12. Mahalia Jackson – Keep Me Every Day (1937)
13. Jimmy Rushing – Good Morning Blues (1937)
14. Edythe Wright & Tommy Dorsey And His Clambake Seven – Nice Work If You Can Get It (1937)
15. Maxine Sullivan – The Folks Who Live On The Hill (1937)
16. Billie Holiday – My Man (1937)
17. Ella Fitzgerald – I Want To Be Happy (1937)
18. Andrews Sisters – Bei Mir Biste Schon (1937)
19. Mills Brothers – Tiger Rag (1938 )
20. Peetie Wheatstraw – What More Can A Man Do? (1938 )
21. Golden Gate Quartet – Sweet Adeline (1938 )
22. Billie Holiday – Now They Call It Swing (1938 )
23. Jimmy Rushing – Sent For You Yesterday (1938 )
24. Jazz Gillum – Mule Blues (1938 )
25. Slim & Slam – Chinatown My Chinatown (1938 )
26. Rosetta Howard & Harlem Hamfats – How Long Baby Will You Keep Me This Way (1938 )
Disc Eight
01. Billie Holiday – You Go To My Head (1938 )
02. Sonny Boy Williamson (2) – Goodbye Red (1938 )
03. Louis Armstrong – Shadrack (1938 )
04. Louis Armstrong – Nobody Knows The Trouble I’ve Seen (1938 )
05. Tiny Mayberry – Mailman Blues (1938 )
06. Nan Wynn – Laugh And Call It Love (1938 )
07. Yank Rachell – When You Feel Down (1938 )
08. Bea Wain – At Long Last Love (1938 )
09. Fats Waller – Two Sleepy People (1938 )
10. Georgia White – The Blues Ain’t Nothin’ But… (1938 )
11. Marian Anderson – Deep River (1938 )
12. Marian Anderson – Sometimes I Feel Like A Motherless Child (1938 )
13. Big Joe Turner – Roll ‘Em Pete (1938 )
14. Leadbelly – Bourgeois Blues (1939)
15. Selah Jubilee Singers – I Want Jesus To Walk Around My Bedside (1939)
16. Trummy Young – ‘Tain’t What You Do (1939)
17. Helen Humes – My Heart Belongs To Daddy (1939)
18. Louis Armstrong – Jeepers Creepers (1939)
19. Billie Holiday – More Than You Know (1939)
20. Jimmy Rushing – Goin’ To Chicago Blues (1939
21. Ella Fitzgerald – Undecided (1939)
22. Jean Eldridge – Mississippi Dream Boat (1939)
23. Cootie Williams & His Rug Cutters – She’s Gone (1939)
24. Helen Ward – Mutiny In The Parlor (1939)
Disc Nine
01. Pha Terrell – You Set Me On Fire (1939)
02. Helen Humes – If I Could Be With You (1939)
03. Billie Holiday – Long Gone Blues (1939)
04. Ivie Anderson – Something To Live For (1939-03-21)
05. Billie Holiday – Fine And Mellow (1939)
06. Ella Fitzgerald – Have Mercy (1939)
07. Big Bill Broonzy – Too Many Drivers (1939)
08. Jimmy Rushing – Nobody Knows (1939)
09. Quintones, The & Barney Bigard – Utt-Da-Zay (1939)
10. Ivie Anderson – I’m Checkin’ Out Go’om Bye (1939)
11. Fats Waller – Honeysuckle Rose (1939)
12. Helen Forrest – Day In, Day Out (1939)
13. Frank Sinatra – All Or Nothing At All (1939)
14. Trummy Young – Think Of Me Little Lady (1939)
15. Martha Raye – Body And Soul (1939)
16. Ethel Waters – Baby What Else Can I Do (1939)
17. Ida Cox – Death Letter Blues (1939)
18. Fats Waller – Your Feet’s Too Big (1939)
19. Hazel Scott – Mighty Like The Blues (1939-12-01)
20. Billie Holiday – The Man I Love (1939)
21. Ida Cox – ‘Fore Day Creep (1939)
22. Bukka White – Parchman Farm (1940)
23. Leadbelly – Good Morning Blues (1940)
24. Blind Gary Davis – Cross And Evil Blues (1940)
25. Charioteers – Wade In The Water (1940)
Disc Ten
01. Charioteers – Ezechiel The Wheel (1940)
02. Lee Wiley – A Ship Without A Sail (1940)
03. Faber Smith – East St. Louis Blues (1940-02-23)
04. Viola Jefferson – I Got Rhythm (1940)
05. Billie Holiday – Body And Soul (1940)
06. Champion Jack Dupree – New Long Down Dog (1940)
07. Shirley Ross – It Never Entered My Mind (1940)
08. Maxine Sullivan – The Hour Of Parting (1940)
09. T-Bone Walker – T-Bone Blues (1940)
10. Alberta Hunter – My Castle’s Rockin’ (1940)
11. Josh White – Trouble (1940)
12. Billie Holiday – Laughing At Life (1940)
13. Valaida Snow – You’re Driving Me Crazy (1940)
14. Jimmy Rushing – I Want A Little Girl (1940)
15. Sammy Price – The Dirty Dozens (1940)
16. Big Joe Turner – Piney Brown Blues (1940)
17. Frank Sinatra – Stardust (1940)
18. Sonny Boy Williamson (2) – War Time Blues (1940)
19. Helen Forrest – The Man I Love (1940)
20. Jazz Gillum – Key To The Highway (1940)
21. Nat King Cole – Sweet Lorraine (1940)
22. Helen Ward – Embraceable You (1940)
23. Golden Gate Quartet – Blind Barnabus (1941)
24. Son House – Delta Blues (1941)
25. Memphis Minnie – Me And My Chauffeur (1941)
26. Golden Gate Quartet – Jezebel (1941)
