Bing Crosby & Rhythm Boys
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The New Orleans guitarist and banjoist Johnny St. Cyr, who played with Louis Armstrong in the 1920s, recalled, "The (Creole) bands in the early days did not use singers, and there was little or no clowning or what they call showmanship. The musicians, when asked to sing, would say, 'No, we are musicians.' They'd think it was a disgrace to the profession.”
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But with the African influence, jazz ultimately became “talking music.” Breaking from “legitimate” tradition, horn players began to shape and slur their notes to emulate the human voice. Then, in subtle but telling ways, vocalists began echoing the sound of musical instruments. In New Orleans, a young Louis Armstrong and his cohort began “scat” singing—mouthing evocative and percussive syllables rather than whole sentences or thoughts.
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 Boswell Sisters
The idea came from African musical culture, where rhythm can upstage melody and harmony. In Africa, the changing timbres of ritual drums “could communicate actual words.” Some of this appeared in the early Sanctified, “Holiness” Churches, where in their song, congregants and preacher would answer each other—“talking.” The practice later migrated into the jazz ensemble, where horns and horn sections would “call and respond”--in "conversation.". Thus, jazz became vocal music—whether sung or played on an instrument. Armstrong often could be heard singing and playing identical phrases. 
Duke Ellington Orchestra
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As the noted jazz author Stanley Crouch has written, “The audible route to success was through creating subtlety and fire in the tones and timbres of Negro American speech and rhythm and song.”
In this presentation, we hope you will hear that fire in the voices of America’s great jazz singers. 
Annette Hanshaw
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♬ LISTEN: Boswell Sisters
Crazy People
During the 1920s, The Boswell Sisters appeared on New Orleans streets as one of the original "hot" jazz vocal groups. Raised by vaudevillian parents, they were among the first songsters to re-arrange melodies, switch tempos, scat sing, and change keys, often right in the middle of their tunes. These they often learned by hanging around African-American churches and barrooms, an exceptional practice for young white women. The results can be heard in their juicy, sparkling performances.
Crazy People
During the 1920s, The Boswell Sisters appeared on New Orleans streets as one of the original "hot" jazz vocal groups. Raised by vaudevillian parents, they were among the first songsters to re-arrange melodies, switch tempos, scat sing, and change keys, often right in the middle of their tunes. These they often learned by hanging around African-American churches and barrooms, an exceptional practice for young white women. The results can be heard in their juicy, sparkling performances.