60 anos de scatting brasileiro: um panorama de 1959 a 2018

Abstract

The thesis “60 years of Brazilian scatting: a panorama from 1959 to 2018” presents a detailed study on vocal improvisation in Brazilian popular singing, designated here as Brazilian scatting, that is, an adaptation of the vocal improvisation technique based on syllabification, originally associated the scat singing of American jazz. The chronological cut covers from 1959 to 2018, highlighting important singers in the evolution of this practice in Brazil: DOLORES DURAN, JORGE BENJOR, LENY ANDRADE, ELZA SOARES, WILSON SIMONAL, GAL COSTA, BABY DO BRASIL, ALAÍDE COSTA, DJAVAN, JOÃO BOSCO, JORGE VERCILLO, SAMBARANDA and XÊNIA FRANÇA. After contextualizing the concept of scat singing (STOLLOF, 1998), the interrelationships between instrumental and vocal music in jazz are observed, before focusing on the path of vocal improvisation in Brazilian territory. Based on studies by NESTROVSKI (2013), NADER (2020) and LEPRI (2023), we investigated how vocal improvisation influenced by jazz was incorporated into Brazilian popular music, adapting to the country's cultural and stylistic context, especially in the sambajazz genre. The primary sources consist of 14 audio sources, treated here as case studies, in which singers who made Brazilian scatting a standout feature in their performances are presented. Representative excerpts selected from the recordings of each singer were transcribed and edited in the form of EdiPs (Performance Editions; BORÉM, 2023). From the EdiPs, (1) a phonetic analysis of the types of consonants and vowels used in each case and their syllable recurrence and (2) a musical analysis of melodic contour, rhythmic patterns, emphases, relationships with harmonics and linked patterns were carried out. to jazz and Brazilian genres such as samba, sambajazz, samba-canção, bossa nova, bolero and pop and (3) the recurrence of basic vocal effects such as vibrato and portamento. Finally, the work reflects on the importance of these vocal practices in the construction of a hybrid musical identity, which dialogues with North American jazz, but preserves the particularities of Brazilian music. The research highlights the role of vocal improvisation as a tool of artistic expression, highlighting its relevance both in the development of the individual style of performers and in the formation of a musical aesthetic that integrates genres of Brazilian popular music and jazz.