Contemporary Indigenous Music
Posted by Joel Spence | Filed under Essays
By Joel A Spence October 2009
Indigenous Australia has many voices.
Contemporary Indigenous music fuses the traditional and modern.
Indigenous songwriters address social and economic issues faced by their communities through a variety of mainstream genre’s ranging from folk, rock, pop, country and hip hop.
This essay will explore how contemporary Indigenous music articulates Indigenous culture. It will reflect on the challenges they face catering to a culturally diverse country. A study the lyrics of Indigenous artists will help to understand the feelings and messages being portrayed through their song.
Traditionally, Indigenous Australians inhabited Australia for some 40,000 years before European settlement. Hunter-gatherers, Indigenous Australians share a complex oral culture based on strong spiritual values, respect for the land and a belief in the dreamtime. Music forms an integral part of their social, cultural and ceremonial observances through their collective history to the modern day. Indigenous Australians have adopted many Western musical styles in combination with their traditional instruments to fuse a popular contemporary musical style to share their stories. To do this, it is important to explore the onset of European Settlement and the explicit changes that have transformed the history of Indigenous Australians, such as Land Rights, the Stolen Generations and dealing with the effects of racism. Many Indigenous Australians have achieved mainstream prominence. This essay will look closely at Kev Carmody, Yothu Yindi, Archie Roach and Tjimba and the Yung Warriors, and will discuss the important elements of their music and the powerful messages they convey in the aspects of their experiences.
Australia’s Indigenous culture is said to represent the oldest surviving culture in the world. Recognised as either Aboriginal people or Torres Strait Islanders, habitants of the Australian continent and nearby islands currently make up about 2.6% of Australia’s population’. (Australian Bureau of Statistics)
Indigenous culture developed over time with a diverse population and is estimated having approximately 250 individual communities. Many communities were in alliance with one another, and within each there existed several clans, from as little as 5 or 6 people to as many as 30 or 40 people. Each community had its own language whilst some had several. The mode of life and material cultures varied greatly from region to region. The greatest population density was to be found in the southern and eastern regions of the continent, in particular the River Murray valley.’(Windschuttle, K. 2001)
Australian settlement by European settlers started with establishment in New South Wales at Sydney Cove by Captain Arthur Phillip, 26th of January 1788. Other British settlements followed, at various points around the continent. In 1824, a penal colony was established near the mouth of the Brisbane River (the basis of the later colony of Queensland). In 1826, a British military camp was established in Western Australia at King George Sound, to discourage French colonization. (The camp formed the basis of the later town of Albany.) In 1829, the Swan River Colony and its capital of Perth were founded on the west coast proper and also assumed control of King George Sound. Separate colonies were created from parts of New South Wales: South Australia in 1836, New Zealand in 1840, Victoria in 1851 and Queensland in 1859. The Northern Territory was founded in 1863 as part of South Australia. The transportation of convicts to Australia was phased out between 1840 and 1868. The Introduction White settlement was a harrowing time for Indigenous Communitities. Indigenous Austalians were forcibly removed from their lands/homes and gathered at reserves and missions.
‘Indigenous resistance against the settlers was widespread, and prolonged fighting between 1788 and the 1930s led to the deaths of at least 20,000 Indigenous people and between 2,000 and 2,500 Europeans. During the mid-late 19th century, many indigenous Australians in southeastern Australia were relocated, often forcibly, to reserves and missions. The nature of many of these institutions enabled disease to spread quickly and many were closed as their populations fell.’ (Dennis, P. 1995)
One of the most important issues Indigenous Australians have faced since European colonization is land right.
‘Indigenous people have traditionally enjoyed little protection from the law. The matter of land has been at the heart of white settler/Indigenous relations since Australia was founded. It is only recently that recognition has been given to the land rights of Indigenous Australians.’(Hocking, B. 1999)
Contemporary Indigenous songwriters have expressed many thoughts and feelings through various songs of protest in regards to land right issues. An important Indigenous singer songwriter that conveys his feelings and messages through song is Kev Carmody. Fig 1.0 shows the lyrics to the song From Little Things Big Things Grow. This piece is co written by Indigenous singer-songwriter Kev Carmody and singer-songwriter Paul Kelly. In this song Kev Carmody wrote the lyrics based on the story regarding The Gurindji Strike. The Gurindji strike refers to a historical strike by 200 stockmen, servants and their families in 1966. This took place at Wave Hill Cattle Station in the Northern Territory. The Gurindji people led by Indigenous rights activist Vincent Lingiari and Gurindji member took protest for the return of their land.
FIG 1.0
From Little Things Big Things Grow
By Kev Carmody & Paul Kelly
Gather round people let me tell you’re a story An eight year long story of power and pride
British Lord Vestey and Vincent Lingiarri
Were opposite men on opposite sides
Vestey was fat with money and muscle
Beef was his business, broad was his door
Vincent was lean and spoke very little
He had no bank balance, hard dirt was his floor
From little things big things grow
From little things big things grow
Gurindji were working for nothing but rations
Where once they had gathered the wealth of the land
Daily the pressure got tighter and tighter
Gurindju decided they must make a stand
They picked up their swags and started off walking
At Wattie Creek they sat themselves down
Now it don’t sound like much but it sure got tongues talking
Back at the homestead and then in the town
From little things big things grow
From little things big things grow
Vestey man said I’ll double your wages
Seven quid a week you’ll have in your hand
Vincent said uhuh we’re not talking about wages
We’re sitting right here till we get our land
Vestey man roared and Vestey man thundered
You don’t stand the chance of a cinder in snow
Vince said if we fall others are rising
From little things big things grow
From little things big things grow
Then Vincent Lingiarri boarded an aeroplane
Landed in Sydney, big city of lights
And daily he went round softly speaking his story
To all kinds of men from all walks of life
And Vincent sat down with big politicians
This affair they told him is a matter of state
Let us sort it out, your people are hungry
Vincent said no thanks, we know how to wait
From little things big things grow
From little things big things grow
Then Vincent Lingiarri returned in an aeroplane
Back to his country once more to sit down
And he told his people let the stars keep on turning
We have friends in the south, in the cities and towns
Eight years went by, eight long years of waiting
Till one day a tall stranger appeared in the land
And he came with lawyers and he came with great ceremony
And through Vincent’s fingers poured a handful of sand
From little things big things grow
From little things big things grow
That was the story of Vincent Lingairri
But this is the story of something much more
How power and privilege can not move a people
Who know where they stand and stand in the law
From little things big things grow
From little things big things grow
From little things big things grow
From little things big things grow
Not only does this song tell the story from an Indigenous perspective but it also conveys a strong message of unity amongst Indigenous people. Feelings that are conveyed through these lyrics in my opinion bring a message of encouragement, strength and bond. The words and title “From Little Things Big Things Grow” is the main message in the lyrics, used in a context that reflects not only the issue of land right but a strong message for Indigenous people that they will stand together in unity. Paul Kelly first recorded this piece in 1991. For Kelly being a mainstream Australian artist releasing this song, it may have been used as a protest tool for Carmody to get his message across into mainstream Australia. It was on 3rd June 1992 that the High Court of Australia delivered its landmark Mabo decision. This major land rights decision rewrote Australian common law and gave a massive boost to the struggle for recognition of Indigenous land rights. The law gave Indigenous people land title, or native title within common law of their rights. (Economist, Vol. 345)
In 1993, Carmody released a version of this piece with Paul Kelly, this time it uses traditional sounds of Carmody playing the Didgeridoo along side Kelly who is playing the guitar. This gives a hybridization of the modern and traditional elements of Indigenous music with western culture. It may be coincidental that after Australian laws were changed, Kev Carmody recorded with popular mainstream artist Paul Kelly, sending a message of unity amongst white and black Australians on the Issue of land rights.
Indigenous pop Rock band Yothu Yindi is no stranger to sending political message through song. Yothu Yindi represent an Aboriginal community in the Northern Territory known as the Yolngu people. Fig 1.1 show’s the lyrics to their song Treaty. Treaty was co written by Yothu Yindi members and Paul Kelly in 1991. Paul Kelly’s interest also in the writing of this song may suggest a period where non Indigenous artists needed help by mainstream artists to help express their feelings and message.
Fig 1.1
Treaty
By Yothu Yindi
Well I heard it on the radio And I saw it on the television Back in 1988, all those talking politicians Words are easy, words are cheap Much cheaper than our priceless land But promises can disappear Just like writing in the sand
Treaty yeah treaty now treaty yeah treaty now
Nhima djat’pangarri nhima walangwalang Nhe djat’payatpa nhima gaya nhe Matjini … Yakarray Nhe djat’pa nhe walang gumurrt jararrk gutjuk
This land was never given up This land was never bought and sold The planting of the union jack Never changed our law at all Now two river run their course Seperated for so long I’m dreaming of a brighter day When the waters will be one
Treaty yeah treaty now treaty yeah treaty now
Nhema gayakaya nhe gayanhe Nhe gayanhe matjini walangwalang nheya Nhimadjatpanhe walang Gumurrtjararrk yawirriny Nhe gaya nhe matjini Gaya gaya nhe gaya nhe Matjini walangwalang Nhema djat’pa nhe walang Nhe gumurrtjarrk nhe ya
Promises disappear - priceless land – destiny Well i heard it on the radio And i saw it on the television But promises can be broken Just like writing in the sand
Treaty yeah treaty now treaty yeah treaty now Treaty yeah treaty now treaty yeah treaty now Treaty yeah treaty ma treaty yeah treaty ma Treaty yeah treaty ma treaty yeah treaty ma
The lyrics in the song discuss the feelings and message of Yothu Yindi and their Indigenous community. The song was written in conjunction with the ‘1988 bi-centenary of British settlement, and it was in this year that Prime Minister Bob Hawke attended the Barunga Festival in a small Indigenous community south of Katherine. Chairmen of the Northern and Central Land Councils, Galarrwuy Yunupingu and Wenten Rubuntja, presented the Prime Minister with the Barunga Statement. The Barunga Statement called on the Australian Government to recognize the rights of Indigenous landowners and to formalize a treaty with them. On receiving the Barunga Statement Prime Minister Hawke vowed that his government would enter into a Treaty with Indigenous Australians by 1990. (Howie-Willis, I. 2001) To help understand the message that is being portrayed in this song I learnt that there were two film clips created. The first, features footage of the 1988 Barunga Festival where the Barunga Statement is displayed in its final stages of preparation, and Prime Minister Hawke is shown participating by playing didgeridoo. In this first clip are images of the band in concert, and footage from ceremonial dancing in the bush and children dancing on the beach.
The hybridization of traditional with western is visually powerful when watching the first clip. The Aboriginal translation of the lyrics shown in Fig 1.2 reflects joy and happiness of these people. This is even clearer when watching happiness that is portrayed in the film clips of these songs, when traditional language is used. At this point the feelings that are portrayed are not of hurt but of a united people. The second version of this clip is extremely similar without the use of the visual of the Prime Minister.
Fig 1.2
Nhima djatpangarri nhima walangwalang
You dance djatpangarri, that’s better
Nhe djatpayatpa nhima gaya’ nhe marrtjini yakarray
You’re dancing, you improvise, you keep going, wow
Nhe djatpa nhe walang
You dance djatpangarri, that’s good
Gumurr-djararrk Gutjuk My dear paternal grandson Nhima gayakaya nhe gaya’ nhe You improvise, you improvise Nhe gaya’ nhe marrtjini walangwalang nhe ya You improvise, you keep going, you’re better Nhima djatpa nhe walang You dance djatpangarri, that’s good Gumurr-djararrk yawirriny’ My dear young men
Nhe gaya’ nhe marrtjini gaya’ nhe marrtjini
You improvise, you keep improvising, you keep going
Gayakaya nhe gaya’ nhe marrtjini walangwalang
Improvise, you improvise, you keep going, that’s better
Nhima djatpa nhe walang
You dance djatpangarri, that’s good
Gumurr-djararrk nhe yå, e i, e i, e i i i, i i i, i i i, i i
You dear things, (terminal vocables)
Treaty ma’ Treaty now
Further intervention into Aboriginal culture and life was evidenced in the Government’s White Australia Policy and an explicit strategy of Indigenous assimilation through forced removal of children from their family of origin and placement with Europeans. This period, referred to as the Stolen Generations, was perhaps the most critical assault on Indigenous culture as it undermined and destabilized their social structures central to cultural practice. (Australian Museum, 2004. Indigenous Australia: Family)
Slowly, the policy (1901 – 1973) was dismantled in stages by successive Liberal Governments after the conclusion of World War II, with the encouragement of first non-British and later non-white immigration. From 1973 onwards, the White Australia policy was for all practical purposes defunct, and in 1975 the Australian Government passed the Racial Discrimination Act, which made racially based selection criteria illegal.
An Indigenous songwriter who experienced first hand the effects of the Stolen Generation is Archie Roach. At about the age of three, Roach and his two sisters, were removed from their family by Australian Government Authorities and were sent to a Salvation Army Orphanage before being placed with white foster parents. (Quin, K. 2002)
Fig 1.3 shows the lyrics to Roach’s song called Took The Children Away.
Fig 1.3
Took The Children Away
By Archie Roach
This story’s right, this story’s true
I would not tell lies to you
Like the promises they did not keep
And how they fenced us in like sheep.
Said to us come take our hand
Sent us off to mission land.
Taught us to read, to write and pray
Then they took the children away,
Took the children away,
The children away.
Snatched from their mother’s breast
Said this is for the best
Took them away.
The welfare and the policeman
Said you’ve got to understand
We’ll give them what you can’t give
Teach them how to really live.
Teach them how to live they said
Humiliated them instead
Taught them that and taught them this
And others taught them prejudice.
You took the children away
The children away
Breaking their mothers heart
Tearing us all apart
Took them away
One dark day on Framingham
Come and didn’t give a damn
My mother cried go get their dad
He came running, fighting mad
Mother’s tears were falling down
Dad shaped up and stood his ground.
He said ‘You touch my kids and you fight me’
And they took us from our family.
Took us away
They took us away
Snatched from our mother’s breast
Said this was for the best
Took us away.
Told us what to do and say
Told us all the white man’s ways
Then they split us up again
And gave us gifts to ease the pain
Sent us off to foster homes
As we grew up we felt alone
Cause we were acting white
Yet feeling black
One sweet day all the children came back
The children come back
The children come back
Back where their hearts grow strong
Back where they all belong
The children came back
Said the children come back
The children come back
Back where they understand
Back to their mother’s land
The children come back
Back to their mother
Back to their father
Back to their sister
Back to their brother
Back to their people
Back to their land
All the children come back
The children come back
The children come back
Yes I came back.
This 1990 song “Took The Children Away” is Roach’s way of telling people that taking children from their families was not necessarily the best or only so-called solution concerning children and their wellbeing. Roach experiencing this first hand paints a picture of how hard this would be on a child and family living through this experience. Indigenous people whom had the same experience would be able to relate with these lyrics and story. For myself I can’t begin to imagine what it may have been like but, the dynamics and reflection in these lyrics paint a sad story of the injustices given to these people. Every verse is very descriptive giving powerful feelings of hurt and loss.
Indigenous communities and people have experienced widespread racism since colonization. In recent times it is still an issue that is being expressed from the Indigenous youth and Hip Hop culture.
‘Like the American Hip Hop origins and culture from New York this style of music is said to bring together social, cultural and political issues that had derived in contemporary American society’ (Rose, T. Black Noise, Pg 2).
Indigenous youth have found this style a way to translate their feelings to mainstream audiences. Indigenous Hip Hop group Tjimba and The Yung Warriors is a Hip Hop group from Melbourne that has found themselves to have commercial success. This has included playing major festivals (Big Day Out, 2007) and supporting United States rapper 50 Cent on his Australian tour (2008). Fig 1.4 I have transcribed lyrics from Indigenous Hip Hop group Tjimba and the Young Warriors and their song “Hunters and Gathers” (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7pOW9w8PguM). This example of contemporary Indigenous Hip Hop gives an insight to the feelings of Indigenous youth. It also shows a need to express feelings due to the contemporary society issues. In my opinion this piece gives an incite of inner city experience as well as the effects of colonization, racism, and alienation from an Indigenous youth perspective.
Fig 1.4
Hunters & Gathers
Tjimba And The Yung Warriors
Hunters gathers warriors dancers
The dream times in the blood of my ancestors
I’m looking for answers to all of these questions
Hope your ready for me I’m indigenous
As they come you can call me spirtual
I’m the number one roll that ryhmes
See me on the streets of Melbourne all the time
I’m on the line of liberation but I’m facing
Australia’s still racist
Everyday is wasted – fuck that I’m here to give it back
To the blacks and that’s a fact lets make this generation
For the new revolution the black from down under
And it’s time get loud, louder than thunder
To be Aborigine I’m prouder than ever
It’s time for clear skies no stormy weather
Lets make the clouds clear round here
Will be better than ever
so I holla to my people of Australia
stop being negative your lives aint a failure
keep it real and stay true
this is Indigenous land fool
Hunters gathers warriors dancers
The dream times in the blood of my ancestors
Tjimba and the Yung Warriors reflect on experiences that raise possible questions and observations of Indigenous youth. They raise difficulties in society and Australian culture which is similar to a variety of cultural settings globally. It is possible that through Hip Hop Tjimba and the Yung Warriors use sonic symbolism to express themselves to Indigenous youth. These lyrics represent to me a culture or community that is similar to the feelings discussed in previous studied songs. This raises questions of the struggles that Indigenous people in this country have faced, still face, and also shows how they have proliferated as a race musically.
Preservation and understanding of cultures feelings are important. Music can be used as a tool to express social cultural representation.
“How musical forms are shaped by social forces is important, because it brings into focus how significantly technology and economics contribute to the development of cultural forms”. (Rose, T. Black Noise, PG 23)
It is clear to me that researching into contemporary Indigenous song and the culture of which has derived that it has all been greatly influenced by colonization, economic, political and cultural hegemony. Indigenous artists in Australia have developed strong stylistic musical influence from Western and European influences and have hybridised music into a proliferation of styles that represent their values. This musical hybridity by Indigenous artists give them a voice that motivates, educates and unites their people much the same way cultures all over the world have to express their feelings.
References:
- Rose, T. 1994, Black Noise, University Press of New England
- Economist. (12/06/97). Vol 349, a question of honour.
- Hocking, Barbara. (1999). Ratio Juris. Vol. 12, No. 2, Australian Aboriginal Property Rights as Issues of Indigenous Sovereignty and Citizenship
- Hayes, D. October – December 2007: Issue 88, Skip Hop Mentor, Australian Geographic.
- Mitchell, T. 2006:Volume 65, The New Corroboree, Meanjin.
- Quin, Karl. (25/08/2002). The Age, Archie’s Road.
- Lashua, B & Fox, K. 2006: Vol 28, Rec Needs a New Rythem Cuz Rap Is where We’re Livin’, Leisure Sciences.
- Hay, B. 2007, Rhythm and Poetry – The Australian Hip Hop Perspective, Underground Transmitter.
- Howie-Willis, Ian (2001). “Barunga Statement“. The Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS)
- The Fabrication of Aboriginal History, The New Criterion Vol. 20, No. 1, 20 September.
- Dennis, Peter. (1995). The Oxford Companion to Australian Military History. Melbourne: Oxford University Press.
- Australian Museum, 2004. Indigenous Australia: Family
Audio/Media References:
- Hunters and Gathers Tjimba and The Yung Warriors
- Treaty Yothu Yindi
- You Will Believe In Me Troy Cassar-Daley True Believer Country
- The Wind Blows Over (The Lonely Of Heart) Troy Cassar-Daley
- Bird on a wire Jimmy Barnes & Troy Cassar-Daley with Bella
- Dream Out Loud Troy Cassar-Daley
- My Island Home Christine Anu
- From Little Things Big Things Grow The Waifs
- From Little Things Big Things Grow Kev Carmody
- Aussie Hip-Hop (Djapana Mix) Myth feat. Yothu Yindi
- Took The Children Away Archie Roach
How Jazz as proliferated as a style
Posted by Joel Spence | Filed under Essays
There are far too many things that one can consider when discussing the influence and proliferation of Jazz and how it has arrayed into various substyles since the early 1940’s and perhaps even earlier still. In this piece I intend to focus on how the art of scat singing and vocal improvisation has developed from Jazz and the impact it has had in modern music. I intend to do this by exploring modern artist Bobby Mcferrin and the way he has been influenced by Jazz and the impact it has had on him as a modern artist with his voice.
Scat singing and vocal improvisation is the use of random vocables and syllables with or without the use of words which gives singers the ability to sing using an improvised melody or an improvised rhythm which in turn creates a solo with the voice the same way an instrument usually would. Even though scat is improvised singing it uses melodic lines and variations of scales, arpeggio fragments, riffs and possible imitation of various or meaningless sounds, which incorporates and uses musical structure. ‘This may allow singers to have the same improvisational opportunities as instrumentalists, which can be rhythmically and harmonically improvisational without concern about destroying lyric’. (Crowther & Pinfold, 1997, pg 132). One of the earliest examples of scatting and vocal improvisation recorded is in the 1911 recording of “That Haunting Melody” by Al Jolson. ‘Though in Jazz it is more Louis Armstrong and his 1926 recording of “Heebie Jeebies” that is more commonly referred to as the first song to employ scat singing even though there are earlier examples from the ragtime era’ (Edwards 2002, pg 627).
Louis Armstrong has been considered the turning point in scat and vocal improvisation and from here it is said that the 1926 recording of “Heebie Jeebies” has shown a foundation of techniques that are said to have led the way to modern scat. ‘Over the years as Jazz music developed and grew in complexity, scat singing did as well. During the Bop era Jazz and scat became more highly developed in complexity which began to create change in the way scat was performed’ (Robinson). This led to such successful scat artists such as Ella Fitzgerald, Eddie Jefferson, Betty Carter, Anita O’day, Joe Carroll, Sarah Vaughn, Carmen McRae, Jon Hendricks, Babs Gonzales and Dizzy Gillespie. All of these singers have been extremely important throughout Jazz and scat history by creating, innovating and developing scat and vocal improvisation to what it has become today. ‘Ella Fitzgerald has been recognised as one of the best vocal improvisers that Jazz has ever had and it is seen to be that many critics over time believe this’ (Friedwald, 1990, pg 282). It was artists like Ella Fitzgerald who in the 1960’s gave away traditional scatting to welcome a free Jazz Movement. Free Jazz movement allowed scat singers to include sounds that would have once been considered non-musical, including things such as laughter, cries, sound effects and screams.
In modern times an artist who has been greatly influenced and influential to scat singing and vocal improvisation is Robert Mcferrin Jnr or commonly known as Bobby McFerrin. Bobby McFerrin is well known for his creative singing techniques and has an ability to sing an unusual range of four octaves. An example of this ability is in the recording of “Black Bird” on the 1984 album The Voice. In this recording Mcferrin shows the ability to rapidly switch between normal and falsetto registers creating polyphonic effects and has the ability to perform the main melody with the accompanying parts of the song without any instrumentation. All these vocal instrumentation effects are demonstrated on his album The Voice, which was the first ever solo vocal Jazz album ever recorded with no accompaniment or overdubbing. In this album McFerrin makes use of vocal percussion, vocal sounds and free Jazz improvisation all created with his mouth, throat and by tapping on his chest. He also demonstrates the ability to overtone sing, which is when a singer has the ability to manipulate harmonic resonance which is created when the air travels from the lungs, past the vocal folds and out to the lips creating more than one pitch simultaneously.
When researching into what may have influenced such a creative modern artist such as McFerrin opened itself up a lot of possibilities. Bobby McFerrin has had an extensive and long career as a songwriter, musician, conductor and producer spanning over 40 years. His father was the first African American operatic baritone to be a regular performer with New York’s Metropolitan Opera, with both his parents being classical musicians. As a boy he was trained in classical music giving him an understanding and appreciation for music at an early age. McFerrin has played also with Jazz great and influential Jazz musician, pianist Chick Corea, who has an extensive Jazz history playing in the Miles Davis Band in the 1960’s and was also extremely influential as a Jazz Fusion artist throughout the 1970’s. An excellent example of how Bobby McFerrin has utilized his scat and vocal ability in performance with Chick Corea is in recording “Blue Bossa” which was part of an album they released called Play in the early 1990’s. In this album McFerrin plays the role of all the rhythm instruments whilst performing, giving a great emphasis on the bass and what clearly resembles snare and drum sounds with his vocals. It is in this album that it shows that Jazz has greatly influenced him as an artist whilst it also shows how Jazz has and can cross over to other styles such as classical, funk and rock.
Bobby McFerrin has also played with other influential Jazz artists such as Herbie Hancock, Joe Zawinul, drummer Tony Williams and cellist Yo – Yo Ma. All great and widely recognised Jazz artists who have played with the some of the best Jazz musicians who have ever lived. It is more than likely that McFerrin has been able to develop his craft from imitating the instruments of the musicians that he has played with at this level to help innovate and create his vocal style. Similarites that I have discovered in the scat singing of McFerrin and the elements of which he uses in his recordings and performance technique may have also come from Jazz vocalist and great scat singer Ella Fitzgerald. In 1969 Ella Fitzgerald performed a live recording of apiece called “One Note Samba”. In this recording she scat sings the whole song using an incredible vocabulary of sounds, syllables, cries, screams and dynamics. In this live recording Fitzgerald in my opinion mimics sounds that you would have heard out of the big band era. She plays the roll of instruments that would include drums, guitar and horn instruments whilst pushing here voice to levels that would not normally be achieved in ordinary scat. I have compared this style of scatting with Bobby McFerrin and his 1984 album The Voice and other recordings that he has released and I believe strongly that he has been influenced strongly by artists like Fitzgerald who shows quite clearly a lot of the qualities that McFerrin uses.
It is also possible that Bobby McFerrin has been influenced by artists like Dianne Reeves, who is very well known for her fluent Jazz improvisational style of singing that mixes vocal improvisation with R&B. Dianne Reaves was releasing her music only slightly before Mcferrin and is extremely well known even today for her abilities vocally as a live performer. It is possible that she may have created an influence on McFerrin as a live performer being very closely from the same era and both having incredible resumes of playing with some of the greatest Jazz musicians that have lived. Dianne Reaves has won four Grammy awards since her first release in 1977, “Welcome To My Love”. Reeves has to date released eighteen solo albums, and appeared on twenty-four other albums as a guest. She is best known as a live performer rather than a studio singer and has appeared with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and the Berlin Philharmonic, singing in her own improvisational scat style. When I compare this to Bobby McFerrin’s career of 19 albums and 10 Grammy awards, it is shortly after Dianne Reaves that Mcferrin came on to the music scene as a known artist with similar vocal style, vocal skill and techniques to Reaves. They both were well known as Jazz performers and both have very similar backgrounds of playing with some of the best Jazz performers and popular orchestras over their careers.
Technically the vocal style that Bobby McFerrin has proliferated from the style of Jazz has been developing scat and vocal improvisation and taking it too a whole new level with the use of counterpoint. McFerrin in my opinion shows the ability to use his voice in a fashion that uses two or more voices that are strongly independent in contour and rhythm, and extremely interdependent in harmony. Examples of this are when he performs in Warsaw in the 2002 Summer Jazz Days festival in a performance with the motion Jazz trio. In this performance McFerrin demonstrates in his performance a similarity to modern wind instruments with his voice. He shows in this performance also a development strongly in the renaissance and tone in his voice. He uses a Technique known as Hocketing in this performance. This is also demonstrated on his The Voice Album on his impersonation of James Browns song “I feel Good”. In these examples McFerrin alternates rapidly between pitch and timbre ranges. The ear does perceive the activity in each range separately and instead of a single melodic line, used in traditional early scat and vocal improvisation, McFerrin uses a clever choice of notes that create and vocal leaps.
Another example of how McFerrin has adapted from his Jazz vocal influences into the present is in his 2002 album Beyond Words, as well as many performances around this time with piano great Chick Corea. In this album and his most recent live performances he uses the characteristics from the styles of bebop, swing, funk, blues, pop, calypso, music box Rocco and beat box. All of these live performances are aided only with a microphone, a tapping foot and chest thumping but he seems to be able to create the effect of a full stage with recreating saxophones, basses, drums and flapping wings of a bird. McFerrin is also incorporates into his scat singing and vocal improvisation the ability to circular breath, gasping real notes even as he inhales, to keep the rhythmic flow unbroken. This element is clearly demonstrated in 2006 in a concert solo demonstration in the Sauder Concert Hall United States.
Examining how artists shape musical forms is important; because it brings into focus how significantly scat and vocal improvisation has developed from its origins. It has come clear to me that researching into the Bobby McFerrin and the culture of which his style of vocal performance has derived that it has all been an adaptation from Jazz and Jazz influences. Scat singing and vocal improvisation has developed itself a strong stylistic identity from artists like Bobby Mcferrin in modern times making him a driving force with his voice that motivates, educates and unites people much the same way earlier scat singers were able to in their performance from innovative vocal’s and vocal techniques.
By Joel A Spence October 2008
References:
- Friedwald, Will (1990), “Jazz Singing”, London: Miller Freeman Books
- Edwards, Brent Hayes (2002), “Louis Armstrong and the Syntax of Scat”, Critical Inquiry Vol 28.
- Robinson, J. Bradford, “Scat Singing”, New Groove Dictionary of Music Online.<http://www/oxfordmusiconline.com>
- Garcia, Antonio. J, “Pedagogical Scat”, Music Educators journal;Sep90, Vol. 77, Pg28
- Evan Eisanberg, “Bobby Mcferrin”, The Nation; Jul 27, 1985.
Audio/Media References:
- “Andante” Bobby McFerrin
- “Blackbird” Bobby McFerrin
- “The Voice” Bobby McFerrin
- “Blue Bossa” Bobby McFerrin & Chick Corea
- “Creole Love Call” Duke Ellington
- “Dont Worry Be Happy” Bobby McFerrin
- “I’m My Own Walkman” Bobby McFerrin
- “It Don’t Mean A Thing” Duke Ellington
- “One Note Samba” Ella Fitzgerald and Joe Pass
- “The Pink Panther Theme” Bobby McFerrin
- “So in love” Ella Fitzgerald & Cole Porter
- “That Haunting Melody (1911)” Al Jolson
- “I’m In The Mood For Love” Louis Armstrong
- Warsaw Summer Jazz Days 2002 – www.youtube.com
- Bobby McFerrin Live at the White House – www.youtube.com
- Bobby McFerrin live in Montreal Jazz Festival 2001- www.youtube.com
Chick Corea & Bobby Mcferrin Montreal Jazz Festival 2001 – www.youtube.com
The Rise Of Australian Hip Hop
Posted by Joel Spence | Filed under Essays
In this essay I’m going to explore the development of Hip Hop in Australia and how it has evolved from its origins in New York to become a popular cultural aspect in this country. To help understand and learn about this I’m going to address similarities and explore possibilities that may have led to the influence and emergence from this style of music from one place to another. Areas that I will address in this essay will be a history of Australian Hip Hop, Aboriginal Hip Hop, what is the culture of Australian Hip Hop and similarities with the American origin, the development of the battle DJ from this culture and how Australian Hip Hop has taken on its own identity from the American Hip Hop and music scene. When I refer to Hip Hop in this essay I refer to the culture. The culture of Hip Hop involves Rap music, the battle DJ/ Turntablist, which also involves the graphite artist and the clothing trends that are all portrayed by this particular area of society.
