Louis Armstrong shaping scat singing to make it achieve posterity Louis Armstrong (1901-1971) is surely one of the most famous and incredible jazz singer and trumpet player. He influenced widely, and still does, jazz music. But there is something that only jazz specialists or some aficionados know: he actually reinvented a brand new genre of vocal jazz, the scat singing. And I said “reinvented” on purpose. Indeed, though Louis Armstrong 's recording Heebie Jeebies in 1926 is often cited as the first song to use scatting, there are some earlier examples of artists ' pieces of work that could be considered as premises of scat singing. There were even some who believed that scat singing had its origins in the music of Western Africa. The standard African rhythms and percussion patterns may have been transcribed into syllables and onomatopeias in order to be taught. Nevertheless, thanks to his genius in melody ans harmony, and his improvisation skills, Louis Armstrong breathed new life into scat singing. He made it so popular and universal that it passes through the years and the fashions until now without us figuring out. Scat singing is a vocal jazz style that consists of improvising a song made of senseless syllables or wordless vocables. Also, it follows a tune (improvised or not), usually over an instrumental background. All these elements turn scat singing into a very difficult technique. In order to master it, it is necessary to have excellent musical skills and