In Defense of Scat
Feb. 27th, 2013 03:17 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
babeinthewoodsI know.
We're all being affected by the new rules.
The Big 4.
It's madness, I tells ya...utter madness.
Not only are we not allowed to do three things that we were never able to do before (pedophilia, bestiality and incest) but now SCAT is bad, too.
Scat.
You heard me.
Scat.
I don't get it.
It might not be everyone's cup of tea, but for the love of Odin...it's an American art form. There have been countless practitioners of it and some of it is good. It's pure improvisational expressionism. Ella Fitzgerald built an entire career on nothing but scat. She got a lifetime achievement award for scat!
Show me anyone who doesn't smile at a good Ski bi di bi di do bap do do bam do, and I'll show you someone with no heart.
Someone with no soul.
In fact, I'll bet some of the honchos at Visa are closet scat fans.
It's true, though. Scat singing has never been universally accepted, even by jazz enthusiasts. Writer and critic Leonard Feather offers an extreme view: he once said that "scat singing—with only a couple exceptions—should be banned". Many of the finest jazz singers, including Bessie Smith, Billie Holiday, Jimmy Rushing, and Dinah Washington, have avoided scat entirely.
That doesn't mean that scat isn't without its merits. That it shouldn't be there for those who do love it and appreciate it and have it speak to their souls. That it shouldn't be there for the appreciation of future generations.
Back in 2007, when the controversy erupted over giving Kazan a lifetime achievement award at the Academy Awards, Robin Williams implored "For the love of god, people...let Lainie SING!". I second his sentiment now that the great Scat Controversy of 2013 is upon us.
For the love of god, people...let Ella SING!
What's next?
Banning beatboxing? Now, THAT I could get behind if Visa were to impose that as a restriction.
We're all being affected by the new rules.
The Big 4.
It's madness, I tells ya...utter madness.
Not only are we not allowed to do three things that we were never able to do before (pedophilia, bestiality and incest) but now SCAT is bad, too.
Scat.
You heard me.
Scat.
I don't get it.
It might not be everyone's cup of tea, but for the love of Odin...it's an American art form. There have been countless practitioners of it and some of it is good. It's pure improvisational expressionism. Ella Fitzgerald built an entire career on nothing but scat. She got a lifetime achievement award for scat!
Show me anyone who doesn't smile at a good Ski bi di bi di do bap do do bam do, and I'll show you someone with no heart.
Someone with no soul.
In fact, I'll bet some of the honchos at Visa are closet scat fans.
It's true, though. Scat singing has never been universally accepted, even by jazz enthusiasts. Writer and critic Leonard Feather offers an extreme view: he once said that "scat singing—with only a couple exceptions—should be banned". Many of the finest jazz singers, including Bessie Smith, Billie Holiday, Jimmy Rushing, and Dinah Washington, have avoided scat entirely.
That doesn't mean that scat isn't without its merits. That it shouldn't be there for those who do love it and appreciate it and have it speak to their souls. That it shouldn't be there for the appreciation of future generations.
Back in 2007, when the controversy erupted over giving Kazan a lifetime achievement award at the Academy Awards, Robin Williams implored "For the love of god, people...let Lainie SING!". I second his sentiment now that the great Scat Controversy of 2013 is upon us.
For the love of god, people...let Ella SING!
What's next?
Banning beatboxing? Now, THAT I could get behind if Visa were to impose that as a restriction.
