Ella Fitzgerald (left) and Jazzmeia Horn (right)
Todd Wright, Appalachian State University Jazz Area Coordinator, will take us on a musical journey all about scatting or scat singing. In scat singing, the singer improvises melodies and rhythms using the voice solely as an instrument rather than a speaking medium.
The talk will focus on two of the great scat singers: Ella Fitzgerald, regarded by many as THE greatest scat singer in Jazz history; and Jazzmeia Horn, one of scat’s modern torchbearers.
Jazzmeia Horn is also the Saturday night headlining act for the 2024 High Country Jazz Festival. The concert will take place at the Appalachian Theatre in Boone, NC, from 7:30 to 10 pm.
About the Speaker:
Award-winning Todd Wright is director of jazz studies at Appalachian State University. He has been responsible for conducting Jazz Ensemble I and II, and teaching courses such as jazz improvisation, jazz history, jazz piano, jazz tunes, and coaching combos. He oversees the course of study for the Jazz Certification Program, and created the university's Jazz Vocal Ensemble. He has earned degrees from University of Pikeville (KY), Appalachian State University, and University of South Florida (Tampa).
In 2013 Wright was nominated for O. Max Gardner Award, given annual by the Board of Governors of the University of North Carolina to a faculty member who "has made the greatest contribution to the welfare of the human race." He has been the recipient of several university and community service awards, and was selected a winner of the Jazz Fellowship Award given by the North Carolina Arts Council.
He serves as a jazz clinician, an adjudicator at festivals, and speaks on the history of jazz. He is an active jazz saxophonist. His Appalachian students have gone to perform worldwide.
About Jazzmeia Horn:
“Fans of such legendary jazz singers as Sarah Vaughan, Abbey Lincoln and Betty Carter—and more contemporary standouts including Cassandra Wilson, Cécile McLorin Salvant and neo-soul singer Erykah Badu —will likely discover a lot to love about Jazzmeia Horn.”- Rutland Hera
Named by her jazz-loving grandmother, Jazzmeia Horn was born in Dallas, Texas, in 1991. She grew up in a close church-going family singing gospel music.
Ms. Horn graduated from Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts, which was attended by other great artists such as Roy Hargrove, Norah Jones, and Erykah Badu. In 2009, she enrolled at The School of Jazz at The New School in New York City.
She won the 2013 Sarah Vaughan International Jazz Vocal Competition and the 2015 Thelonious Monk Institute International Jazz Competition and, shortly after, was signed by Concord Records. In 2017, she released her debut album, A Social Call, which was nominated for a Grammy Award.
Ms. Horn continued to tour nationally and internationally, honing her vocal, performance and writing skills, to get across her message about the global need for love and social change in the world. In 2019, she released Love and Liberation which also received a Grammy nomination. The following year, she published her book, Strive From Within: The Jazzmeia Horn Approach, while recording her big band album, Dear Love.
Dear Love, an album of encouragement through poetry and spoken word addressing the aspects of her community, her love, and herself, was released in September 2021.
All while performing, writing, and preparing for a fall 2023 release of her new album, she is teaching students and conducting outreach programs across the globe through The Jazz Horn International Vocal Initiative.
About Ella Fitzgerald:
Dubbed “The First Lady of Song,” Ella Fitzgerald was the most popular female jazz singer in the United States for more than half a century. In her lifetime, she won 13 Grammy awards and sold over 40 million albums.
In mid 1936, Ella made her first recording. “Love and Kisses” was released under the Decca label, with moderate success. By this time she was performing with Chick’s band at the prestigious Harlem’s Savoy Ballroom, often referred to as “The World’s Most Famous Ballroom.”
Shortly afterward, Ella began singing a rendition of the song, “(If You Can’t Sing It) You Have to Swing It.” During this time, the era of big swing bands was shifting, and the focus was turning more toward bebop. Ella played with the new style, often using her voice to take on the role of another horn in the band. “You Have to Swing It” was one of the first times she began experimenting with scat singing, and her improvisation and vocalization thrilled fans. Throughout her career, Ella would master scat singing, turning it into a form of art.
In 1938, at the age of 21, Ella recorded a playful version of the nursery rhyme, “A-Tisket, A-Tasket.” The album sold 1 million copies, hit number one, and stayed on the pop charts for 17 weeks. Suddenly, Ella Fitzgerald was famous.
Her voice was flexible, wide-ranging, accurate and ageless. She could sing sultry ballads, sweet jazz and imitate every instrument in an orchestra. She worked with all the jazz greats, from Duke Ellington, Count Basie and Nat King Cole, to Frank Sinatra, Dizzy Gillespie and Benny Goodman. (Or rather, some might say all the jazz greats had the pleasure of working with Ella.)
She performed at top venues all over the world, and packed them all. Her audiences were as diverse as her vocal range. They were rich and poor, made up of all races, all religions and all nationalities. In fact, many of them had just one binding factor in common—they all loved her.
About the High Country Jazz Festival:
The High Country Jazz Festival brings first-rate jazz experiences to Boone and Blowing Rock, North Carolina. Headline events are in the newly reopened Appalachian Theatre in Boone with a host of affiliated jazz experiences throughout the community. The High Country Jazz Festival is presented by Appalachian State University’s Jazz Studies program, Boone Sunrise Rotary, and the Appalachian Theatre.
Get tickets for Jazzmeia Horn’s performance at the Appalachian Theatre HERE.
Learn more about the High Country Jazz Festival HERE.
“Scatting: From Ella Fitzgerald to Jazzmeia Horn” is free for Members; $8 General Admission.