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. This is different from vocalese, which uses recognizable lyrics that are sung to pre-existing instrumental solos.
Sheila Cecilia Escovedo better known under the stage name Sheila E., is an American percussionist, singer, author, and actress. She began her career in the mid-1970s as a percussionist and singer for The George Duke Band. After leaving the group in 1983, Sheila began a successful solo career, starting with her critically acclaimed debut album, which included the career-defining song, "The Glamorous Life". She became a mainstream solo star in 1985 following the success of the singles "The Belle of St. Mark", "Sister Fate", and "A Love Bizarre" with the last becoming one of her signature songs. She is commonly referred to as The Queen of Percussion.
Freda Charcilia Payne is an American singer and actress. Payne is best known for her career in music during the mid–1960s through the mid–1980s. Her most notable record is her 1970 hit single, "Band of Gold". Payne was also an actress in musicals and film, as well as the host of a TV talk show. Payne is the older sister of Scherrie Payne, a former singer with the American vocal group The Supremes.
Shawn Colvin is an American singer-songwriter and musician. While Colvin has been a solo recording artist for decades, she is best known for her 1998 Grammy Award-winning song "Sunny Came Home".
Veronica "Randy" Crawford is an American jazz and R&B singer. She has been more successful in Europe than in the United States, where she has not entered the Billboard Hot 100 as a solo artist. However, she has appeared on the Hot 100 singles chart twice. First, was in 1979 as a guest vocalist on The Crusaders's top 40 hit "Street Life". She also dueted with Rick Springfield on the song "Taxi Dancing," which hit #59 as the b-side of Springfield's hit "Bop Til You Drop." She has had five Top 20 hits in the UK, including her 1980 number 2 hit, "One Day I'll Fly Away", as well as six UK Top 10 albums. Despite her American nationality, she won Best British Female Solo Artist in recognition of her popularity in the UK at the 1982 Brit Awards. In the late 2000s she received her first two Grammy Award nominations.
Marcella Levy, known professionally as Marcella Detroit, is an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist. She co-wrote the 1977 Eric Clapton hit "Lay Down Sally" and released her debut album Marcella in 1982. She joined Shakespears Sister in 1988 with ex-Bananarama member Siobhan Fahey. Their first two albums, Sacred Heart (1989), and Hormonally Yours (1992), both reached the top 10 of the UK Albums Chart. Detroit sang the lead vocals on their biggest hit, "Stay", which spent eight consecutive weeks at number one on the UK Singles Chart in 1992. Detroit left the band in 1993 and had a UK top 20 hit with "I Believe" in 1994. She formed the Marcy Levy Band in 2002, and finished third in the 2010 ITV series Popstar to Operastar.
Betty Carter was an American jazz singer known for her improvisational technique, scatting and other complex musical abilities that demonstrated her vocal talent and imaginative interpretation of lyrics and melodies. Vocalist Carmen McRae once remarked: "There's really only one jazz singer—only one: Betty Carter."
Sheila Jordan is an American jazz singer and songwriter. She has recorded as a session musician with an array of critically acclaimed artists in addition to recording her own albums. Jordan pioneered a bebop and scat jazz singing style with an upright bass as the only accompaniment. Jordan's music has earned praise from many critics, particularly for her ability to improvise lyrics; Scott Yanow describes her as "one of the most consistently creative of all jazz singers." Charlie Parker often introduced Jordan as "the singer with the million dollar ears."
Live at Yoshi's is a 1998 live album by Dee Dee Bridgewater, recorded at Yoshi's Jazz Club in Oakland, California.
Karrin Allyson is an American jazz vocalist. She has been nominated for five Grammy Awards and has received positive reviews from several prominent sources, including the New York Times, which has called her a "singer with a feline touch and impeccable intonation."
Norma Ann Winstone MBE is an English jazz singer and lyricist. In a career spanning more than 50 years she is best known for her wordless improvisations. Musicians with whom she has worked include Michael Garrick, John Surman, Michael Gibbs, Mike Westbrook, as well as pianist John Taylor, who was her former husband.
Rebecca Chirnside Barnard is an Australian singer, songwriter, producer and musician. She was the lead singer of the band Rebecca's Empire from 1993 to 2000, and has forged a solo career since her debut album, Fortified, was released in 2006. Her second solo album, Everlasting, was released in 2010. After a lengthy break of just under seven years, Barnard released her third solo album in 2017, called Music for Listening and Relaxation. Barnard is a Melbourne based musician.
Thornetta Davis is an American Detroit blues and rhythm and blues singer. She has opened for Bonnie Raitt, Gladys Knight, and Etta James, and sang backing vocals on Bob Seger's 1991 album, The Fire Inside. She also worked with Kid Rock and Alberta Adams, and has released two full-length solo albums.
Old Flame is the seventh solo studio album by country rock singer Juice Newton. It was released by RCA Records in November 1985.
Cécile McLorin Salvant is an American jazz vocalist. She was the winner of the first prize in the Thelonious Monk International Jazz Competition in 2010, releasing her first album, Cécile, shortly thereafter. Her second album, WomanChild, was released in 2013 on Mack Avenue Records, receiving a 2014 Grammy Award nomination for Best Jazz Vocal Album. Salvant won four categories in the 2014 DownBeat Critics Poll: Jazz Album of the Year, Female Vocalist, Rising Star–Jazz Artist, and Rising Star–Female Vocalist. Her third album, For One to Love, was released on September 5, 2015, to critical acclaim from The New York Times, The Guardian, and Los Angeles Times. It won her the Grammy Award for Best Jazz Vocal Album in 2016.
Trilogy is a 2013 live album by Chick Corea and his trio, featuring Corea on piano with Christian McBride on double bass and Brian Blade on drums. The three-disc album was recorded live in Washington, D.C. and Oakland, California, and in Spain, Switzerland, Austria, Slovenia, Turkey, and Japan. In the Billboard Jazz albums charts 2014 the album peaked number 9. It won the 2014 Grammy Award for Best Jazz Instrumental Album.
Camille Filfiley, known professionally as Camille, is an American singer best known for her recordings with Eumir Deodato and her prominence in the early 1990s freestyle music and dance music genres.
Ori Dagan is a jazz singer-songwriter based in Toronto, Canada. He has released three studio albums. On October 24, 2017, he released Nathaniel: A Tribute to Nat King Cole as the first visual album in the jazz genre; the album was made possible by over 200 contributors on PledgeMusic.,. Dagan has released fifteen music videos, including the twelve videos accompanying Nathaniel: A Tribute to Nat King Cole as well as "Googleable" (2012), "Bad Romance" (2012), and "Clap on the 2 and the 4" (2016). Ori has played festivals and showcases around the world including SXSW, TD Toronto Jazz Festival, Canadian Music Week, Jazz Sudbury Festival and TanJazz.
Rick Matle is an American rock and jazz guitarist. He has performed with jazz vocalist Sheila Landis since the early 1990s. All Music Guide's David Nathan writes "Matle's cool style, digital dexterity, and clean sound reflects the influences of the two jazz guitar players he admires the most: Joe Pass and Kenny Burrell. His ability to create a melange of sonics from the guitar comes from his other two major blues and rock influences: Carlos Santana and Jimi Hendrix."
Prelude to a Kiss: The Duke Ellington Album is a studio album by American jazz singer Dee Dee Bridgewater, recorded in tribute to Duke Ellington. The album was released on October 8, 1996 by Philips Records label. The album title was borrowed from the Ellington's tune. The release contais 12 tracks, which include the pop sounds of the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra.
