Editing Kazoo (section)

==Professional usage==
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The kazoo is played professionally in [[jug band]]s and [[comedy music]], and by amateurs everywhere. It is among the acoustic instruments developed in the United States, and one of the easiest melodic instruments to play, requiring only the ability to vocalize in tune.<ref name = "Harness" /> In [[North East England]] and [[South Wales]], kazoos play an important role in [[juvenile jazz band]]s. During [[Carnival]], players use kazoos in the [[Carnival of Cádiz]] in Spain and in the corsos on the [[murga]]s in [[Uruguay]].

[[Image:Rhythm band WPA National Youth Administration Sandwich, Illinois USA 1936.gif|thumb|350px|[[National Youth Administration]]: "rhythm band" plays in [[Sandwich, Illinois]], 1936]]

In the [[Original Dixieland Jass Band]] 1921 recording of ''Crazy Blues'', what the casual listener might mistake for a trombone solo is actually a kazoo solo<ref name = "Harness" /> by drummer [[Tony Sbarbaro]].

[[Red McKenzie]] played kazoo in a Mound City Blue Blowers 1929 film short.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P5QFR4whDdo#at=27 Mound City Blue Blowers "St. Louis Blues" 1929], performance video 1929, accessed July 12, 2013</ref>  The [[Mound City Blue Blowers]] had a number of hit kazoo records in the early 1920s featuring [[Dick Slevin]] on metal kazoo and Red McKenzie on [[comb and tissue paper]] (although McKenzie also played metal kazoo). The vocaphone, a kind of kazoo with a trombone-like tone, was occasionally featured in [[Paul Whiteman]]'s Orchestra.<ref name="Rayno2012">{{cite book|first=Don|last=Rayno|title=Paul Whiteman: Pioneer in American Music, 1930-1967|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=n-hYmPstZmIC&pg=PA608|access-date=12 July 2013|date=19 December 2012|publisher=Scarecrow Press|isbn=978-0-8108-8322-2|pages=608–}}</ref> Trombonist-vocalist [[Jack Fulton (singer)|Jack Fulton]] played it on Whiteman's recording of ''Vilia'' (1931) and [[Frankie Trumbauer]]'s ''Medley of [[Isham Jones]] Dance Hits'' (1932). [[The Mills Brothers]] vocal group originally started in vaudeville as a kazoo quartet, playing four-part harmony on kazoo with one brother accompanying them on [[guitar]].<ref>[http://www.vocalgroup.org/inductees/mills_brothers.html The Mills Brothers - Inductees] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081015041037/http://www.vocalgroup.org/inductees/mills_brothers.html |date=2008-10-15 }}, Vocal Group Hall of Fame, accessed July 12, 2013</ref>

The kazoo is rare in [[European classical music]]. It does appear in [[David Bedford]]'s ''[[With 100 Kazoos]]'', where, rather than having professionals play the instrument, kazoos are handed out to the audience, who accompany a professional instrumental ensemble.<ref name = "Harness" /> [[Leonard Bernstein]] included a segment for kazoo ensemble in the First Introit (Rondo) of his ''[[Mass (theatre)|Mass]].'' The kazoo was used in the 1990 [[Koch International]] and 2007 [[Naxos Records]] recordings of American classical composer [[Charles Ives]]' ''Yale-Princeton Football Game'', where the kazoo chorus represents the football crowd's cheering. The brief passages have the kazoo chorus sliding up and down the scale as the "cheering" rises and falls.

In [[Frank Loesser]]'s score for the 1961 [[Broadway theatre|Broadway]] musical comedy ''[[How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying (musical)|How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying]]'', several kazoos produce the effect of electric razors used in the executive washroom during a dance reprise of the ballad ''I Believe in You''.

In 1961, [[Del Shannon|Del Shannon's]] "So Long Baby" issued on Big Top Records featured a kazoo on the instrumental break. In addition to the single release it featured on the UK London American release of his album ''Hats Off To Del Shannon''. [[Joanie Sommers|Joanie Sommers']] 1962 hit single "[[Johnny Get Angry]]" featured a kazoo ensemble in its instrumental bridge, as did [[Dion DiMucci|Dion]]'s hit of the same year, "[[Little Diane]]", and [[Ringo Starr]]'s 1973 cover of "[[You're Sixteen]]".

[[Jesse Fuller]]'s 1962 recording of his song "San Francisco Bay Blues" features a kazoo solo,<ref name = "SF">Peter Siegel, liner notes to ''Friends of Old Time Music'' ([[Smithsonian Folkways]], SFW40160) [http://media.smithsonianglobalsound.org/liner_notes/smithsonian_folkways/SFW40160.pdf Media.smithsonianglobalsound.org]</ref> as does [[Eric Clapton]]'s 1992 recording of the song on MTV's ''Unplugged'' television show and album. On the song "Alligator" on the [[Grateful Dead]] album ''[[Anthem of the Sun]]'', three members of the band play kazoo together. Many [[Paolo Conte]] performances include kazoo passages.

Short kazoo performances appear on many modern recordings, usually for comic effect. For example, in his first album, ''[[Freak Out!]]'', [[Frank Zappa]] used the kazoo to add comic feel to some songs<ref name = "Harness" /> — including one of his best known, "[[Hungry Freaks, Daddy]]". In the song "[[Crosstown Traffic (song)|Crosstown Traffic]]" from the album ''[[Electric Ladyland]]'', [[Jimi Hendrix]] used a comb-and-paper instrument to accompany the guitar and accentuate a blown-out speaker sound.<ref name = "Harness" /><ref>[http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=5051 Crosstown Traffic by Jimi Hendrix], Songfacts, 2013, accessed July 12, 2013</ref> The song "[[Lovely Rita]]", from [[the Beatles]] album ''[[Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band]]'', uses combs-and-paper instruments.<ref name = "Harness" /><ref>{{cite book| last=Lewisohn| first=Mark| year=1988| author-link=Mark Lewisohn| title=The Beatles Recording Sessions| publisher=[[Harmony Books]]| location=New York| isbn=0-517-57066-1}}</ref> Kazoo playing parodied the sound of a military brass band in the [[Pink Floyd]] song "[[Corporal Clegg]]".<ref>[http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=6811 Corporal Clegg by Pink Floyd], Songfacts, 2013, accessed July 12, 2013</ref>
 
In the [[McGuinness Flint]] recording ''[[When I'm Dead and Gone]]'', [[Benny Gallagher]] and [[Graham Lyle]] play kazoos in harmony during the instrumental break. [[The New Seekers]]' live track ''(Ever Since You Told Me That You Loved Me) I'm A Nut'' features a kazoo solo by singer [[Eve Graham]].  British singer-songwriter [[Ray Dorset]], the leader of pop-blues band [[Mungo Jerry]], played the kazoo on many of his band's recordings, as did former member Paul King.

One of the best known kazooists of recent times is [[Barbara Stewart (composer)|Barbara Stewart]] (1941–2011).<ref name = "Harness" /> Stewart, a classically trained singer, wrote a book on the kazoo, formed the "quartet" Kazoophony, performed kazoo at [[Carnegie Hall]] and on the ''[[Late Night with Conan O'Brien]]'' television show.<ref name = "Harness" /><ref name="Stewart2006">{{cite book|first=Barbara|last=Stewart|title=The Complete How to Kazoo [With Kazoo]|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZhDx0XKwzPkC|access-date=July 12, 2013|year=2006|publisher=Workman Publishing Company|isbn=978-0-7611-4221-8}}</ref> 

The soundtrack of the film ''[[Chicken Run]]'', released in 2000 and composed by [[John Powell (film composer)|John Powell]] and [[Harry Gregson-Williams]], makes use of kazoos in several pieces.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Clemmensen |first1=Christian |title=Review of Chicken Run |url=https://www.filmtracks.com/titles/chicken_run.html |website=Filmtracks |access-date=11 January 2022}}</ref>

The video game ''[[Yoshi's New Island]]'', released in 2014, has synthesized kazoos in several tracks of its soundtrack.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Orland|first1=Kyle|title=Review: Yoshi's New Island is a solid new Yoshi's Island|url=https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2014/03/review-yoshis-new-island-is-a-solid-new-yoshis-island/|access-date=14 August 2016|date=13 March 2014}}</ref>

The Ukrainian polka band [[Los Colorados]] released a cover of [[Rammstein]] song "Du Hast", which features a kazoo.<ref>{{Citation|last=LosColoradosBand|title=Los Colorados - Du Hast (Official Rammstein Cover)|date=2012-05-24|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a5xSxGhlHfc |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/a5xSxGhlHfc| archive-date=2021-12-11 |url-status=live|access-date=2018-07-16}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

In November 2010, [[Sandra Boynton]] produced and released a full-length 300-kazoo plus orchestra performance of Maurice Ravel's ''Bolero'', titled ''Boléro Completely Unraveled, performed by the Highly Irritating Orchestra''. Boynton played solo kazoo on this recording noting "I am at the perfect level of musical incompetence for this."