Enough already Slam!

[Jason Sypher]

Does anyone else wish Slam Stewart had abandoned the "hum along" approach to soloing after the novelty wore off in the late 30's? I realize it's a bah-humbug post, the day before xmas but REALLY! I was listening to him this morning on a recording made in the 70's, Fish Scales, and tweaking my ear the whole time to hear his beautiful bass playing! I don't know, I just don't like that singing thing. When he occasionally stops singing a bar ahead of his bass playing you can really hear the whole shape of his bass note, the trailing phrase, the ringing open string decaying beautifully into the air. I like it so much better that way! Maybe I could get one of those vocal removing programs...

[Jazzdogg]

Some people hum or sing to themselves while they play, and sometimes the folks who record them decide to capture their "vocal stylings" in addition to their instrumental output, while others attempt to minimize these extraneous sounds from their recordings.

In the case of Slam Stewart, I've always considered his vocalizations neither good nor bad - just part of the package.

Should we infer that you're not a big fan of Erroll Garner for the same reason?

[Jason Sypher]

Erroll Garner? How about Jarrett! Of course I understand extraneous noises. Slam, of course, featured that humming with a microphone. I just wish he hadn't or at least, didn't do it for his entire career. His bowing is so exquisite and his sound so earthy and warm, I just think the vocalizing got in the way of hearing deeper into his fantastic bass playing.

[Jake deVilliers]

And how about Oscar Peterson's 'Groan Along with Oscar' ?

[Chris Fitzgerald]

And for the young'ns, let's not forget Rosenwinkel. Or Stefon Harris.

[Marcus Johnson]

Rahsaan Roland Kirk took it a step further, and had conversations with himself, or talked smack to the other band members during their solos.

Bright Moments!

[TroyK]

The voices in my head usually drown out my solos. If someone says to me afterward "great solo" I say "was it?"

What? I'm typing on talkbass! No, I'm not talking about you! Okay, I'm talking about you, so what?

Sorry guys, gotta go....

[mattfong]

Originally Posted by Marcus Johnson

or talked smack to the other band members during their solos.

I read that Mingus would do this too, when he felt they weren't playing their best.

[Marcus Johnson]

Originally Posted by mattfong

I read that Mingus would do this too, when he felt they weren't playing their best.

Yeah, I've heard that too. The difference was, he could see you, and punch you out.

[Jason Sypher]

So no one else just wished Slam would stop singing along and play?

[TroyK]

I see your point. For some reason, it bugs me with other people more; Oscar Peterson, for example. I accept that is part of Slam's thing.

[jallenbass]

Originally Posted by Jason Sypher

So no one else just wished Slam would stop singing along and play?

Nah. I just hear it as music. I don't really care what combination of instruments/voices it is. I love how hard he swings and how great his phrasing was.

[Jason Sypher]

Ok, just imagine Edgar Meyer singing into a microphone while he played?

[jallenbass]

Well, since I haven't heard Edgar doing that I can't say whether I would like it or not. Maybe. Maybe not. I like when George Benson sings his lines. The only thing that I know that I don't like is the vocalization that Jarrett does.

[Matt Weiner]

Jason,

I have Fish Scales and some of the other "Black and Blue Sessions" reissues. Slam is nailing it!

If you don't like his singing, try messing with the balance on your stereo. On "Fish Scales" at least Slam's bass is panned really hard to the left channel and his voice panned really hard to the right channel.

Start panning your stereo and stop panning Slam!

[Paul Warburton]

I was in a studio in L.A. doing a side with Cal Tjader, took a break and walked down the hall. They were mixing that Slam and Major Holly side in a studio. I went in.......they had the basses on one channel and the voices on another. I gotta tell ya that was some ugly **** coming outta the basses without the voices. I love both those guys, voices/basses together but without the voices they sounded scratchy, sloppy and way out of tune.

[Jason Sypher]

Whoa really? That really surprises me!? I do have that fish scales album. It's simply incredible playing.

[Jack Clark]

And vocalizing while playing isn't limited to jazz, it happens in classical, even. One famous classical vocalizer was Glenn Gould, particularly on his 1981 re-recording of the Goldberg Variations.

[Anonymatt]

I love Jarret's vocalising. Counterpoint it's not, but it's sympathetic w/ the music.

[Matt Weiner]

Also, check out "Steff and Slam", on the same label. With Grappelli, Slam has some serious arco inspiration, and turns it up a notch, in my opinion.