Ella Fitzgerald: "Take the A Train"

There is a certain fearlessness that is required for scat singing. It's more than technique or ability; it's willingness to cast about, to improvise, to start a line without always being sure exactly where it'll end.

Or maybe not. Maybe musical geniuses like Ella Fitzgerald had some kind of chord progression map in their brains, guiding the assortment of notes toward an inevitable and resolved conclusion.

All I know is that scat singing is really, really difficult. It's especially difficult to do well. And this -- this is scat singing done unbelievably, extraordinarily, inhumanly well.

I apologize for the lack of actual live video. I have no idea when this was recorded -- Ella Fitzgerald was actively performing for more than 60 years, starting in the 1930's -- but I'm sure she looked fabulous. Maybe you can muster the enthusiasm for trains that drove my little brother to learn to use YouTube when he was two years old so he could look up Thomas the Tank Engine videos.

This generation is so weird.

Thanks to my grandpa for sending me this video!