There have been many great scat-singers in our times. There has been, to name a few, Ella Fitzgerald, Scatman Crothers, and Mel Torme. It is safe to say that none of them ever sounded like Shooby Taylor nor would they want to. Shooby not only marched to a different drummer but sang in a different tonal system. Shooby Taylor would sing over recorded tapes in his own style which resembled demented karaoke. His use of sounds and syllables was at best unique in the genre of scat-singing but there is a cerain amount of acrobatic, if not musical, virtuosity evident as he effortlessly scats around the melodies.

His only recording was a cassette recording called The Human Horn and is freely available on the “official” web site. Once you get used to his unique style Shooby can be quite endearing and fun. The material is fascinating as he embellishes gospel tunes like “How Great Thou Art” and “Why Me, Lord” Of the secular material, I love his rather swinging rendition of “Stout-hearted Men” and an amazing turn at “Peg O’ My Heart”. Aside, from the 15 tracks making up the full album, there are also 2 tracks of Taylor “accompanying” Johnny Cash and one with Shooby scatting over a Johnny Griffin jazz track of “Gigi”.

All tracks are in 128kbps MP3 except “Gigi” which is 96kbps.

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