"(If You Can't Sing It) You'll Have to Swing It (Mr. Paganini)" is a song written by

Sam Coslow Sam Coslow (December 27, 1902 – April 2, 1982) was an American songwriter, singer, film producer, publisher and market analyst. Coslow was born in New York City. He began writing songs as a teenager. He contributed songs to Broadway revues, ...

for

Rhythm on the Range ''Rhythm on the Range'' is a 1936 American Western musical film directed by Norman Taurog and starring Bing Crosby, Frances Farmer, and Bob Burns. Based on a story by Mervin J. Houser, the film is about a cowboy who meets a beautiful young wom ...

that is strongly associated with

Ella Fitzgerald Ella Jane Fitzgerald (April 25, 1917June 15, 1996) was an American jazz singer, sometimes referred to as the "First Lady of Song", "Queen of Jazz", and "Lady Ella". She was noted for her purity of tone, impeccable diction, phrasing, timing, in ...

. It was first recorded by Fitzgerald on 29 October 1936 and became one of her signature songs. It was a firm fixture of her live performances, providing a springboard for her

scat singing In vocal jazz, scat singing is vocal improvisation with wordless vocables, nonsense syllables or without words at all. In scat singing, the singer improvises melodies and rhythms using the voice as an instrument rather than a speaking medium. ...

. On the 2007 tribute album '' We All Love Ella: Celebrating the First Lady of Song'' recorded to mark Fitzgerald's 90th birthday, it was performed by Chaka Kahn and

Natalie Cole Natalie Maria Cole (February 6, 1950 – December 31, 2015) was an American singer, songwriter, and actress. She was the daughter of American singer and jazz pianist Nat King Cole. She rose to success in the mid-1970s as an R&B singer with the h ...

. Cole and Patti Austin performed the song at the tribute concert to Fitzgerald on June 6, 2007.

Recordings

– '' Jukebox Ella: The Complete Verve Singles, Vol. 1'' (2003), '' Ella in Hollywood'' (1961), '' Ella in Budapest, Hungary'' (1970) * Dee Dee Bridgewater – '' Dear Ella'' (1997) * Chaka Kahn and

– '' We All Love Ella: Celebrating the First Lady of Song'' (2007) *

Nikki Yanofsky Nicole Rachel "Nikki" Yanofsky (born February 8, 1994) is a Canadian jazz-pop singer from Montreal, Quebec. She sang the CTV Olympic broadcast theme song, " I Believe", which was also the theme song of the 2010 Winter Olympic Games. She also p ...

– "Nikki" (2010) *

Celine Dion Céline Marie Claudette Dion ( ; born 30 March 1968) is a Canadian singer. Noted for her powerful and technically skilled vocals, Dion is the best-selling Canadian recording artist, and the best-selling French-language artist of all time. Her ...

– Celine Live in Las Vegas residency 2011 – 2015 * (vocal) and Katica Illényi (violin) - Katica Illényi and Friends, live September 1917, at the Budapest Congress Center, IKP Music, ASIN B075FZG5L

References

Songs about classical music Songs about musicians Ella Fitzgerald songs Songs written by Sam Coslow 1936 songs {{Pop-standard-stub