“Ella Scats a Little Lamb,” from Portraits in Jazz, by Valerie Capers
“Ella Scats the Little Lamb” is slightly longer than one page long, and is inspired by Ella Fitzgerald’s renowned scat singing. This piece is bright and spirited, and the performer should strive to carefully observe all notated accents, in order to emphasize the scat style. A student would learn more about this particular style, where a singer improvises a melodic line on syllables or sounds, imitating the style of various instrumental performers. It would be helpful to become aurally familiar with Ella Fitzgerald’s work in order to mimic her style, and to be aware that the right hand plays a melodic variation of the tune, “Mary Had a Little Lamb.” The texture of the piece is pretty lean, and the writing puts it at the early intermediate level; however, the rhythm (which features syncopations and off-beat accents) may be challenging for a student not familiar with this type of jazzy writing.
Portraits of Jazz by Valerie Capers is a collection of 12 early intermediate to intermediate jazz style pieces published in 1976 by Aztec Diaz-Tec 800, and Oxford University Press in 1992. These pieces are inspired by or dedicated to a particular jazz musician or singer
Valerie Capers was born in 1935, and was introduced to music through her father’s ties to Fats Waller (American Jazz Pianist), and her brother’s performances in the Mongo Santamaria Band. She received her early education at the New York Institute for the Education of the Blind and graduated from the Juilliard School of Music, with Bachelors and Masters degrees. Capers brings a wide scope of pianistic styles and concepts to her playing, drawing from jazz idols and keyboard masters alike.
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