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30-692: John Paul Larkin (March 13, 1942 – December 3, 1999), known professionally as Scatman John , was an American musician. A prolific jazz pianist and vocalist for several decades, he rose to prominence during the 1990s through his fusion of scat singing and dance music . He recorded five albums, which were released between 1986 and 2002. In the United States and Europe, Larkin is recognized for his 1995 singles " Scatman (Ski-Ba-Bop-Ba-Dop-Bop) " and " Scatman's World ". He achieved his greatest success in Japan, where his album Scatman's World (1995) sold over

60-402: A great natural 'ear' for extemporaneous music-making. When jazz pianists improvise , they use the scales, modes, and arpeggios associated with the chords in a tune's chord progression. The approach to improvising has changed since the earliest eras of jazz piano. During the swing era, many soloists improvised "by ear" by embellishing the melody with ornaments and passing notes. However, during

90-652: A means of artistic expression to compensate for his speech difficulties, and he "hid behind [the] piano because [he] was scared to speak." His first known performance on a studio album was in 1981 on the album Animal Sounds by Sam Phipps . In 1986, he released the self-titled album John Larkin on the Transition label. This album was produced by John himself, along with Marcia Larkin. It featured Joe Farrell on saxophone. To advance his career in 1990, Larkin moved to Berlin , Germany. Once there, he discovered an appreciative jazz culture and started playing jazz gigs. This

120-578: A million copies. Outside of his musical activities, he had deepened exchanges with stuttering organizations and established the Scatland Foundation in 1996 with the purpose of furthering research of and educating the public on stuttering. Larkin was a recipient of the American Speech–Language–Hearing Association 's Annie Glenn Award for outstanding service to the stuttering community and a posthumous inductee to

150-493: A more flexible role. Ultimately, the skilled pianist was free both to lead and to answer the instrumental soloist, using both short and sustained, chordal and melodic, fragments—a technique known as comping . Good comping musicians were capable of many and different chord voicings, so to match the various moods the different soloists were aiming for. In the early days, not all leading pianists were concerned to provide comping. Others—notably Duke Ellington , who became famous during

180-625: The Harlem Renaissance at the Cotton Club —earned great esteem among band members as well as other musicians. Ellington comped enthusiastically in support of the soloist and did much to develop the technique. Jazz piano moved away from playing lead melody to providing foundation for song sets; soon, skilled jazz pianists were performing as soloists. In the 1940s and 1950s, a number of great piano players emerged. Pianists like Thelonious Monk and Bud Powell helped create and establish

210-574: The National Stuttering Association Hall of Fame. Larkin was born in El Monte, California . He had a severe stutter by the time he learned to speak. This stutter contributed to his emotionally traumatic childhood. At age twelve, he began to learn the piano and was introduced to the art of scat singing two years later through records by Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong , among others. The piano provided him with

240-430: The bebop era, the rapid tempo and complicated chord progressions made it increasingly harder to play "by ear." Along with other improvisers, such as saxes and guitar players, bebop-era jazz pianists began to improvise over the chord changes using scales (whole tone scale, chromatic scale, etc.) and arpeggios. Jazz piano (the technique) and the instrument itself offer soloists an exhaustive number of choices. One may play

270-498: The chords found in Western art music, such as major, minor, augmented, diminished, seventh, diminished seventh, sixth, minor seventh, major seventh, suspended fourth, and so on. A second key skill is learning to play with a swing rhythm and "feel". In jazz, the roots are usually omitted from keyboard voicings, as this task is left to the double bass player. Jazz pianists also make extensive use of chord "extensions", such as adding

300-478: The saxophone or trumpet . A new style known as "stride" or "Harlem stride" emerged during the 1920s, predominantly in New York , United States. James P. Johnson was a prominent proponent. The left hand was used to establish rhythm while the right hand improvised melodies. Mastering the various chord voicings—simple to advanced—is the first building block of learning jazz piano. Jazz piano technique uses all

330-559: The title track tribute to Louis Armstrong and "Let It Go", both of which were successful. Additionally, the Japanese bonus tracks "Pripri Scat" and " Su Su Su Super Ki Re i " charted successfully there as single releases. " The Invisible Man " is a cover of the Queen song, adding numerous ingredients not present in the original. Arguably the most popular song on the album is "U-Turn": a revamped version of "Hey You" which earlier appeared as

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360-640: The B-side to " Song of Scatland ". The album reached No. 45 in Switzerland. In Japan it reached No. 17 and remained in the Top 40 for 9 weeks, selling just under 100,000 copies, making it a minor success compared to Scatman's World , but still an accomplishment for a foreign artist. The album was originally intended to release in May, with the title "Journey Of Fantasy", however, was delayed until November. "Only You"

390-563: The Ultraman characters wearing Scatman's trademark hat and mustache. The album reached No. 45 in Switzerland. In late 1998, Larkin was diagnosed with lung cancer. In June 1999, he released his third and final album as Scatman John, Take Your Time . Shortly afterwards, he was sent into intensive treatment. Larkin died at home in Los Angeles on December 3, 1999, at the age of 57. He was cremated , and his ashes were scattered at sea off

420-486: The bass register and chords in the tenor register, while the right hand plays melody and improvises, as performed in George Gershwin 's "Liza". The right hand may play melodic lines, or harmonic content, chordally or in octaves. It may also be played in lockstep with the left hand, using a double melody block chord called "locked-hand" voicing , or Shearing voicing—a technique popularized, though not invented, by

450-430: The bass register in an ostinato pattern, popular in boogie-woogie style, where the left hand repeats a phrase numerous times throughout a song, as performed by Rob Agerbeek in "Boogie Woogie Stomp". The left hand can also be played as a melodic counterline that emulates the walking of an upright bass . In stride piano , (similar to the earlier ragtime ) the left hand rapidly plays alternate positions between notes in

480-585: The coast of Malibu, California two years later. He was married to Judy McHugh Larkin, who died in 2023. In 2022, 23 years after his death, Jeff Chi wrote and illustrated Who's The Scatman? , a graphic novel biography published in German. The comic details Larkin's rise in fame and career, as well as his recovery from drug and alcohol addiction. To gather details about Larkin's life, Chi conducted video chats with those who knew Larkin during his jazz days and Eurodance phase, including John's manager Manfred Zähringer,

510-440: The ninth, eleventh or thirteenth scale degree to the chord. In some cases, these extensions may be "altered" i.e. sharpened or flattened, as in the case of a "sharp 11" chord. The next step is learning to improvise melodic lines using scales and chord tones. This ability is perfected after long experience, including much practice, which internalizes the physical skills of playing and the technical elements of harmony, and it requires

540-554: The pianist and set leader George Shearing . Jazz piano has played a leading role in developing the sound of jazz. Early on, Black jazz musicians created ragtime on the piano. As the genre progressed, the piano was usually featured in the rhythm section of a band, which was typically configured as one or more of piano, guitar, bass, or drums, or other instruments, such as the vibraphone. Over time, playing piano-accompaniment in ensemble sets, and then bands, changed from primarily time-keeping (consisting of repetitive left-hand figures) to

570-456: The producers of his hit singles and albums, and musicians who knew him during his career. In March 2023, a biopic on John's life was announced via The Hollywood Reporter . The rights to the life story were given by his estate and the film is set to feature unparalleled access to the entire Scatman library, as well as previously unpublished private home videos. In September 2024, an authorized biography on John's life written by Gina Waggott

600-468: The song " Scatman's World " entering the UK Singles Chart at number 10, which met lesser but still notable success, selling a million copies and charting highly throughout Europe. In 2019, "Scatman's World" had some resurgence after becoming an internet meme . Following the success of these two singles, he released his debut album as Scatman John, also titled Scatman's World , which entered

630-464: The song". The second Scatman John album, Everybody Jam! , was released in 1996. While nowhere near as successful on an international level as his debut, the album and accompanying single took off in Japan, the country in which he would see success on a larger scale than anywhere else in the world. In Europe, subsequent singles failed to replicate the chart success of his first two singles, giving him

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660-405: The sound of bebop. Bill Evans built upon the style of Powell while adding a distinct classical influence to his playing, while Oscar Peterson pushed rhythmic variations and was influenced by the style of Art Tatum , Teddy Wilson and Nat King Cole . Wynton Kelly , Red Garland , Herbie Hancock , and Keith Jarrett were also exceptional pianists who played with Miles Davis . Tommy Flanagan

690-477: The title two-hit wonder . The Japanese version of Everybody Jam! included a total of five bonus tracks, including the hit singles " Su Su Su Super Ki Re i " and "Pripri Scat", which were commissioned by Japanese companies for commercials for cosmetics and pudding respectively. The Ultraman franchise even jumped on the Scatman bandwagon, releasing a single titled "Scatultraman", the cover art of which featured

720-479: The top 10 album charts in many countries, including his then home Germany as well as in Switzerland, Finland and Norway; the album eventually sold millions of copies worldwide, becoming so popular that a Scatman John design appeared on Coca-Cola cans. He began a promotional and concert tour of Europe and Asia. Referring to a performance in Spain, Larkin said, "the kids screamed for five minutes straight, I couldn't start

750-474: Was featured by John Coltrane on his hit album Giant Steps . McCoy Tyner is also an influential player who played with Coltrane. Everybody Jam! Everybody Jam! is the second major label (and third overall) studio album by Scatman John . The album continues along the thematic lines of the first album but with an evolved sound, and cemented his popularity in Japan, released there with five bonus tracks. The album released two international singles:

780-495: Was inspired by Louis: "Louis was the first and strongest influence on my musical existence. There have been many masters of music, of soul, but for me Louis is the father of them all.” The single was followed in November by the album with the same title. All tracks are written by Antonio Nunzio Catania and John Larkin, except where noted Everybody Jam! at AllMusic This 1990s electronic music album-related article

810-447: Was officially announced for a late 2025/early 2026 release. It is set to be published under Bloomsbury Publishing . Over half of the book will contain details about Larkin and his life previously never made public. Jazz pianist Along with the guitar , vibraphone , and other keyboard instruments, the piano is one of the instruments in a jazz combo that can play both single notes and chords rather than only single notes as does

840-710: Was open. Larkin was worried that listeners would realize he stuttered, and his wife, Judy, suggested that he talk about it directly in his music. Working with dance producers Tony Catania and Ingo Kays, he recorded the first single, " Scatman (Ski-Ba-Bop-Ba-Dop-Bop) ". After his first big hit, he adopted the new name and persona of "Scatman" John. In 1995, at age 53, Larkin became a worldwide star. Sales of his debut single were slow at first, but they gradually reached number one in many countries and sold over six million records worldwide. "Scatman (Ski-Ba-Bop-Ba-Dop-Bop)" charted highly across Europe and Japan and remains his biggest-selling and most well-known song. He later followed up with

870-414: Was the third single from the "Scatman's World" album. While Europe got the "Song Of Scatland" single, this was the Japanese release in its place. "Popstar" was another track released as a CD promo in 1995 by Gramaphone Records. In October John prepared a new single called "Everybody Jam", inspired by Jazz, his love, and a tribute to his childhood idol Louis Armstrong . In a 1996 interview John explains why he

900-586: Was when he first decided to take a monumental step away from his insecurities and add singing to his act for the first time, inspired by a standing ovation he received for a performance at the Cafe Moscow in Berlin. Soon after, his agent Manfred Zähringer from Iceberg Records (Denmark) thought of combining scat singing with modern dance music and hip hop effects. Larkin was hesitant at first, terrified of being laughed at and criticized once again, but BMG Hamburg

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