Jazz pianists who make weird humming noises during their improvisations

-- Matos-Webster Dictionary (michaelangelomato...), July 5th, 2005.

Yeah, a lot of guys did this before Jarrett, but Jarrett's is more pronounced. Anyway, my impression is that it's just this sort of "I'm thinking about what I'm playing" noise.

-- mzui (mzu...), July 5th, 2005.

Are you talking about that awesome sounding "WOO WOO WOO WOO WOO"? Because I think whoever it is does it on some other live recordings too. It's a really important part of the music for me now.

Makes me wonder: Are ALL jazz pianists kinda flakey, or just the ones on this thread? (OK, McCoy Tyner's fairly sobersided.)

OK, Cecil Taylor confirmed. (thx Walter.)

art tatum was a hummer, too

isn't it a bit like the faces some old-skool guitarists pull? "lost in music" faces?

it is an artefact of recording and esp.of close-miking: beethoven used to bellow deafly along to his legendary improvs but no one could hear so never commented

You can hear Elvin Jones making grunting sounds, shouts, etc. on some recordings. I think on Unity it's pretty noticable. Art Blakey too.

(Elvin's grunts are awesome tho)

Did Duke Ellington do this or am I thinking of his unrelated scat solos?

Art Tatum had a bass player for a long time who actually incorporated humming into his playing. It's weird at first listen, but is really interesting. Can't remember his name though....

Art Tatum had a bass player for a long time who actually incorporated humming into his playing. It's weird at first listen, but is really interesting. Can't remember his name though....

-- PB, Tuesday, 5 July 2005 18:05 (2 years ago) Link

Slam Stewart? He did a lot of nasal humming with his bowed solos,

The Cecil Taylor recording with the most prominent vocalizing (while he's playing, not his poetry recitations) is the solo works on Akisakila, Vol. 2 (live in Japan, 1973). And that's not McCoy Tyner humming on Coltrane records, it's bassist Jimmy Garrison -- it's most obvious when Jimmy's soloing.

Errol Garner makes all kinds of strange guttural noises on Concert by the Sea

Everytime I've caught Medeski do this he was totally right on tune with what he was playing, impressive and hilarious at the same time.

Slam Stewart was also known as "Singin' Slam"

Haha. Because "Slam" is just not a colorful enough nickname on its own.

PERFECT time to revive this thread - I was listening to Cecil Taylor do that stuff mere hours ago. Student Studies the album, which I hadn't yet heard at the time of my post upthread.

I wonder if any jazz ppl have been asked about this? As in, do they realize, and if it isn't unconscious, why do they do this?

chick corea!

"As in, do they realize, and if it isn't unconscious, why do they do this?"

I'm a jazz pianist and I've noticed that when I sing when I play, it changes my playing a lot. Hearing myself sing what I play while I play it somehow externalizes the music more than just playing it; when I sing something it usually comes out closer to the way I mentally intended it than it would on piano, so that helps me keep the direction of the solo and decide on the next thing to play. Basically I think it's a way of getting closer to my subconscious.

Before you ask: Yes, Jarrett does that distracting uvular thing of his here and there, especially noisily at one juncture on "Body and Soul." Yet this tic of his isn't as annoying this time, maybe on account of the intimate (almost private) nature of these dialogues—it doesn't seem to bother Haden, so why should it bother us? Jarrett is infamous for demanding abject silence from audiences in live performance, and even though I applaud him for so, the irony is that once he starts "singing" along with himself, it's him you wish you could shush.

http://www.villagevoice.com/2010-08-18/music/keith-jarrett-cecil-taylor/

Better weird humming than inaccurate foot tapping.