In vocal jazz, scat singing is vocal improvisation with wordless vocables, nonsense syllables or without words at all. In scat singing, the singer improvises melodies and rhythms using the voice as an instrument rather than a speaking medium.
Catfish Row, originally titled Suite from Porgy and Bess, is an orchestral work by George Gershwin based upon music from his famous opera Porgy and Bess. Gershwin completed the work in 1936 and it premiered at the Academy of Music in Philadelphia on January 21 of that year, with Alexander Smallens conducting the Philadelphia Orchestra. Gershwin played the piano part, including the piano solo in the opening moments. This piece preserves some of the darkest and most complex music Gershwin ever wrote.
Porgy and Bess: A Symphonic Picture is a 1942 album arranged by George Gershwin's good friend and sometimes assistant, Robert Russell Bennett, which includes most of the best-known songs from the Gershwin opera Porgy and Bess, although not in the exact order of their appearance. Though the Symphonic Picture is sometimes dismissed as a sequence of the opera's "greatest hits," the first well-known melody, "Summertime," is not heard until nearly seven minutes into the work. While some of the more esoteric parts of the opera are absent, many of the catchier tunes that can be heard in this suite are absent in others, including Gershwin's own Catfish Row Suite, which tended to highlight the more cerebral elements of the work.
Ella and Louis Again is a 1957 studio album by Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong. It is the "sequel" to their 1956 album, Ella and Louis; in contrast to their previous collaboration, this album does not only feature duets. It was reissued in 2006 on a 2 CD-set as Verve 0602517036918.
Ella and Louis is a 1956 studio album by Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong, accompanied by the Oscar Peterson Quartet. Having previously collaborated in the late 1940s for the Decca label, this was the first of three albums that Fitzgerald and Armstrong were to record together for Verve Records, later followed by 1957's Ella and Louis Again and 1959's Porgy and Bess.
The Complete Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Armstrong on Verve is a 1997 compilation album of recordings made by Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong for Verve between 1956 and 1957.
"It Ain't Necessarily So" is a popular song with music by George Gershwin and lyrics by Ira Gershwin. The song comes from the Gershwins' opera Porgy and Bess (1935) where it is sung by the character Sportin' Life, a drug dealer, who expresses his doubt about several statements in the Bible. The song's melody also functions as a theme for Sportin' Life's character. This song came under direct critique from composer Hall Johnson for depicting African Americans as unfaithful.
Porgy and Bess (2006), first studio cast recording directly based on the original 1935 production of George Gershwin's opera Porgy and Bess. This studio recording originated as several semi-staged performances which took place on February 24 and 25, 2006 at the Tennessee Performing Arts Center in Nashville, with Alvy Powell as Porgy, Marquita Lister as Bess, Nicole Cabell as Clara and Robert Mack as Sportin' Life. The Nashville Symphony Orchestra was conducted by John Mauceri. The recording incorporates changes Gershwin made to his original score after its first publication, which were not discovered until 1987.
"I Loves You, Porgy" is a duet from the opera Porgy and Bess with music by George Gershwin and lyrics by Ira Gershwin. It was published in 1935.
Ella Fitzgerald Live at Mister Kelly's is a live album of a 1958 Ella Fitzgerald performance at Mister Kelly's, and released in 2007.
Oscar Peterson Plays Porgy & Bess is a 1959 studio album by Oscar Peterson, playing selections from George Gershwin's 1935 opera, Porgy and Bess.
"Bess, You Is My Woman Now" is a duet with music by George Gershwin and lyrics by Ira Gershwin. This song comes from the Gershwins' opera Porgy and Bess (1935) where it is sung by the main character Porgy and his beloved Bess. They express their love for each other and say that they now belong together.
"I Got Plenty o' Nuttin' " is a song composed in 1934 by George Gershwin for the 1935 "folk-opera" Porgy and Bess (1934). The lyrics are by DuBose Heyward, the author of the novel Porgy on which the opera was based, and Ira Gershwin. It is one of the most famous songs from the opera and it has been recorded by hundreds of singers and music groups.
Porgy and Bess is a 1959 album by Sammy Davis Jr. and Carmen McRae of selections from George Gershwin's opera Porgy and Bess. Davis and McRae were accompanied by the Bill Thompson singers and the album was arranged by Buddy Bregman and conducted by Bregman, Jack Pleis and Morty Stevens.
The collaborations between Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong have attracted much attention over the years. The artists were both widely known icons not just in the areas of big band, jazz, and swing music but across 20th century popular music in general. The two African-American musicians produced three official releases together in Ella and Louis (1956), Ella and Louis Again (1957), and Porgy and Bess (1959),. Each release earned both commercial and critical success. As well, tracks related to those albums have also appeared in various forms in multi-artist collections and other such records.
Porgy & Bess Revisited, subtitled Played by a Very Unusual Cast, is an album of jazz interpretations of songs from the George Gershwin opera Porgy and Bess performed by cornetist Rex Stewart and trumpeter Cootie Williams, with saxophonists Hilton Jefferson and Pinky Williams and trombonist Lawrence Brown, that was recorded in late 1958 and released on the Warner Bros. label.
