SOUND PROJECTIONS
AN ONLINE QUARTERLY MUSIC MAGAZINE
EDITOR: KOFI NATAMBU
SUMMER, 2019
VOLUME SEVEN NUMBER TWO
HOLLAND DOZIER HOLLAND
(LAMONT DOZIER EDDIE HOLLAND BRIAN HOLLAND)
Featuring the Musics and Aesthetic Visions of:
SHIRLEY SCOTT
(June 15-21)
FREDDIE HUBBARD
(June 22-28)
BILL WITHERS
(June 29- July 5)
OUTKAST
(July 6-12)
J. J. JOHNSON
(July 13-19)
JIMMY SMITH
(July 20-26)
JACKIE WILSON
(July 27-August 2)
LITTLE RICHARD
(August 3-9)
KENNY BARRON
(August 10-16)
BLIND LEMON JEFFERSON
(August 17-23)
MOS DEF
(August 24-30)
BLIND BOY FULLER
(August 31-September 6)
Shirley Scott
(1934-2002)
Artist Biography by Alex Henderson
An admirer of the seminal Jimmy Smith, Shirley Scott has been one of the organ's most appealing representatives since the late '50s. Scott,
a very melodic and accessible player, started out on piano and played
trumpet in high school before taking up the Hammond B-3 and enjoying
national recognition in the late '50s with her superb Prestige dates
with tenor sax great Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis.
Especially popular was their 1958 hit "In the Kitchen." Her reputation
was cemented during the '60s on several superb, soulful organ/soul-jazz
dates where she demonstrated an aggressive, highly rhythmic attack
blending intricate bebop harmonies with bluesy melodies and a gospel
influence, punctuating everything with great use of the bass pedals.
Scott married soul-jazz tenor man Stanley Turrentine, with whom she often recorded in the '60s. The Scott/Turrentine union lasted until the early '70s, and their musical collaborations in the '60s were among the finest in the field. Scott
wasn't as visible the following decade, when the popularity of organ
combos decreased and labels were more interested in fusion and pop-jazz
(though she did record some albums for Chess/Cadet and Strata East). But
organists regained their popularity in the late '80s, which found her
recording for Muse. Though known primarily for her organ playing, Scott
is also a superb pianist -- in the 1990s, she played piano exclusively
on some trio recordings for Candid, and embraced the instrument
consistently in Philly jazz venues in the early part of the decade. At
the end of the '90s, Scott's
heart was damaged by the diet drug combination, fen-phen, leading to
her declining health. In 2000 she was awarded $8 million in a lawsuit
against the manufacturers of the drug. On March 10, 2002 she died of
heart failure at Presbyterian Hospital in Philadelphia.
https://musicians.allaboutjazz.com/shirleyscott
Shirley Scott began playing piano and trumpet in her native Philadelphia. By the mid 1950s, she was playing piano in the city's thriving club scene - often with the very young John Coltrane. A club owner needed her to fill in on organ one night and the young Shirley took to it immediately, crafting a swinging, signature sound unlike anyone else almost from the get go.
On a swing through town, Basie tenor man Eddie “Lockjaw” Davis (1922-86) heard Scott and asked her to join his band. They recorded prolifically together - as co-leaders - and released a hugely popular series of “Cookbook” records for Prestige during the late 1950s.
Shirley launched her solo career in 1958, recording 23 albums for Prestige (1958-64), 10 for Impulse (1963-68), three for Atlantic (1968-70), three for Cadet (1971-73), one in 1974 for Strata East, two for Muse (1989-91) and three for Candid (1991-92).
She was married to the late, great tenor sax player Stanley Turrentine (1961-71) and the two made some of their finest music - together - for the Blue Note, Prestige, Impulse and Atlantic labels.
Her playing consistently possessed one of the most graceful and lyrical touches applied to the bulky B-3. But it was her deeply-felt understanding of the blues and gospel that made her playing most remarkable.
Shirley Scott resided in Philadelphia up until her death in early 2002. She occasionally performed locally (on piano, mostly) and was musical director of Bill Cosby's short-lived 1992 show You Bet Your Life.
After a long battle with heart disease, organist Shirley Scott
died on Sunday, Mar. 10 at Presbyterian Medical Center in her hometown
Philadelphia. She was 67.
Born Mar. 13, 1934, Scott began playing music on the trumpet, but in the 1950s the sound of Jimmy Smith’s screaming Hammond B-3 lured her to the heavier keyboard instrument. By the late ’50s Scott had gained considerable recognition, recording album after album for Prestige, many featuring the bold sound of Eddie “Lockjaw” Davis on tenor saxophone. It was Davis that had given Scott a break in the late ’50s, having her record on albums like Jaws In Orbit and Very Saxy. In 1960, Scott married saxophonist Stanley Turrentine and the two cut many of the most cherished soul-jazz recordings of the 1960s before ending their marriage eleven years later.
Scott will be remembered by jazz fans for her melodic and accessible style, but she made headlines outside of jazz in her last years as she litigated against American Home Products, makers of the diet drug fen-phen. Claiming the drug had caused her to develop primary pulmonary hypertension, her fight against the pharmecutical company won her an $8 million settlement in 2000. The drug is now banned.
Scott is survived by two sons, three daughters, nine grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.
https://variety.com/2002/scene/people-news/shirley-scott-1117865935/
Jazz musician Shirley Scott, whose dozens of albums — including more
than 50 as a leader — from the 1950s to 1990 earned her the nickname
“Queen of the Organ,” died March 10 of heart disease in Philadelphia.
She was 67.
After developing extensive heart and lung problems from using the diet drug combination known as fen-phen, she was awarded $8 million by a Philadelphia jury in February 2000 in a lawsuit against American Home Products (maker of one of fen-phen’s components) and a doctor who prescribed the drug.
Scott had recorded since the mid- 1950s, the golden age of Hammond B3 organ jazz, with groups including saxophonists Eddie Davis and Stanley Turrentine, to whom she was married for a number of years. Her first recordings were with Davis, including his 1958 hit song “In the Kitchen.” She recorded more than 50 albums as a leader, most on the Prestige and Impulse labels, and made a number of albums with Turrentine during the 1960s including “Soul Shoutin’,” “Blue Flames” and “Hip Soul.”
Scott continued to play in Philadelphia clubs into the 1990s, later switching to the piano. She also taught jazz history and piano at Cheyney U.
http://www.jazzhouse.org/gone/lastpost2.php3?edit=1016136546
Shirley Scott was a leading figure in one of the most popular of all jazz movements, the off-shoot of hard bop known as soul jazz. The style was led by Hammond organ players like Jimmy Smith and Jack McDuff, and although her initial ambition was to succeed on piano, Scott established her reputation on the Hammond B3 alongside these titans.
She developed her own distinctive approach to the instrument. Despite her slight build, she was a powerful player, but one who liked to emphasise subtlety and control over the outright excitement favoured by many exponents of the style. That was evident in both her inventive soloing and in her probing, suggestive accompaniments behind the many saxophonists she worked with over her career.
She was born into a family with strong roots in jazz. Her father ran a jazz club in Philadelphia, and her brother played saxophone. She learned piano at school, and took up trumpet as a second instrument for a time. She took both bachelor and masters degrees at Cheyney University, one of the longest established African-American institutions in the USA, and later taught there.
Her career as a musician took off when she bowed to pressure from promoters and switched from piano to the newly popular Hammond B3. She worked with a local band in 1955 which included John Coltrane, then on the cusp of emerging as the most important jazz creator of his generation.
When saxophonist Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis found himself short of an organ player in the city, he overcame his initial doubts about having a woman in his band and hired Scott. He was quickly won over, and she enjoyed a successful stint with the hard-hitting saxophonist, including recording the classic sessions released as The Eddie Davis Cookbook, but left the band in 1960.
She married another saxophonist, Stanley Turrentine, shortly afterwards, and they worked together a great deal over the decade of their marriage, occasionally hiding behind barely disguised pseudonyms like "Little Miss Cott" on each other's records, for contractual reasons.
She made her recording debut as a leader with Great Scott! for Prestige in 1958, and recorded regularly for a variety of labels in the next two decades, including Prestige, Impulse and Atlantic. She worked with saxophonists Oliver Nelson (in a big band setting), Harold Vick, Jimmy Forrest, and
Dexter Gordon, and trombonist Al Grey, among others.
The Hammond fell out of fashion for a time in the 1970s, and she returned to her original choice of instrument, the piano. The big revival of interest in the Hammond from the late-1980s restored interest in her music, but she rarely performed on the organ again, preferring to stay with piano. Her final recording, Walkin' Thing, was released in 1996.
She took up a post teaching jazz history and piano at Cheyney University in 1991, and served as musical director for Bill Cosby's short-lived television quiz show You Bet Your Life, which was recorded in her home city of Philadelphia.
Her health began to fail after using the now banned diet drug combination "fen-phen", which she began taking in 1995. By 1997 she had developed primary pulmonary hypertension as a result of the drugs, and was permanently bed-ridden. She sued the manufacturer and the prescribing doctor, and was awarded a settlement of 8 million dollars in 2000.
She is survived by two sons, three daughters, nine grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.
Cultural Influences on Organ Music Written By African American Women 1
Abstract
In this paper, major events in African American history are described and contrasted with the history of organ music written by African American women in the twentieth- and the twenty-first centuries. The discussion includes the emergence of women's rights, especially women composers. The author traces the beginnings of African American women composers from church music to all other forms of musical performance. Included in the paper are the history, works, and styles of Florence Price (1887-1953), Undine Smith Moore (1905-1989), Zenobia Powell Perry (1908-2004), Betty Jackson King (1928-1994), Shirley Scott (1934-2002), Judith Marie Baity (b. 1944), Sharon J. Willis (b. 1949), Eurydice V. Osterman (b. 1950), and Regina Harris Baiocchi (b. 1956). As this discourse reveals the struggles and history of women composers in general, it also gives hope to the future of exploration in this field. With easier exposure to this music and continued advancements in culture and technology, research will continue into black music history, and especially into the music of African American women.
One misconception about African American classical music works is that they are only based on Negro Spiritual themes and folk songs.2 While it is true that many of them are from this source, other works of African American composers are a reflection of social changes in black history. In addition, African American composers were not only influenced by their culture. They were also affected by the changing styles and periods represented in music history as a whole. These musicians and their music were shaped by the African American experience. The struggle for justice, equality, integration, and acceptance in the large mainstream culture have led to the renewal of pride in African heritage and its incorporation into the European American milieu of art, literature, and music.
“The works of African-Americans, particularly those writing for the organ, are based upon a rich and diverse set of influences that include not only spirituals but plainchant, general Protestant hymnody, German chorale tunes, themes of African origin, and original themes.”3 African American elements can also be heard in works by composers of European descent. “Dvorak, Ravel, Gershwin and Bernstein are noted for their inclusion of elements that are considered African-American.”4 There is not one absolute definition of “black music” that pertains to every piece written by an African American composer. As stated by Mickey Thomas Terry:
The Harlem Renaissance was an important movement both in the
definition and the celebration of black music. The migration of African
Americans in the early 1920s brought them to northern cities such as New
York City, Chicago, and Washington, D.C. In the Harlem section of New
York City, African American literature, art, music, dance, and social
commentary began to flourish. African Americans were encouraged to
celebrate their heritage. This came at a time when a nationalistic
revival of folk music was flourishing in many areas of early
twentieth-century music in Europe and America. “But it was in the realm
of concert music that Renaissance thinkers hoped for great achievement,
expecting that black folk music would serve as the basis for great
symphonic compositions that would be performed by accomplished black
musicians.”6
“Eileen Southern has ... identified as black nationalist composers such
figures as Harry T. Burleigh, Clarence Cameron White, Robert Nathaniel
Dett, Harry Lawrence Freeman, Florence Price, J. Harold Brown, and
William Levi Dawson, writing that they all ‘consciously turned to the
folk music of their people as a source of inspiration for their
compositions.’”7 “In critical discussions of the first orchestral music by black American composers, William Grant Still’s Afro-American Symphony, Florence Price’s Symphony in E minor, and William Dawson’s Negro Folk Symphony are often cited in the context of American musical nationalism.”8 Although The Harlem Renaissance ended in the 1930s, African Americans continued to compose in a variety of genres.
As Eileen Southern has written: “Though rarely discussed in the literature, black women composers of church music have played an important role in the development of the genre ever since the first independent black churches in the United States were founded in the 1790s.”9 The first known black woman church organist was Ann Appo (1809-28), who was given the position when St. Thomas Episcopal Church in Philadelphia purchased an organ in 1828. Notably, The African Methodist Episcopal (AME) and the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church (AMEZ) published their own hymnals. Generally, in other denominations, the hymnals of the affiliated white churches were used.
The following is a chronological list of African American women composers for the organ compiled in research for this article: Florence Price (1888-1953); Loretta Manggrum (1896-1992); Undine Smith Moore (1905-1989); Zenobia Powell Perry (1908-2004); Evelyn Pittman (1910-1992); Julia Perry (1924-1979); Ruth Norman (b. 1927); Betty Jackson King (1928-1994); Shirley Scott (1934-2002); Charlene Moore Cooper (b. 1938); Judith Baity (b. 1944); Dr. Sharon J. Willis, (b. Cleveland, 1949); Eurydice V. Osterman, (b. Atlanta, 1950); Evelyn Simpson-Curenton, (b. Philadelphia, 1953); and Regina Harris Baiocchi, (b. Chicago, 1956). These composers were found in journals, books, music, and music periodicals at the beginning of the 21st century. There are undoubtedly more African American women composers, but these were the ones named and written about in the sources referenced. Without making this article overtly lengthy, nine of these composers and their works are highlighted in this discussion.
It was not until the last decade of the 19th century that women composers emerged into the classical music scene in America as well as in Europe. Therefore, black women composers were also late to be recognized. “It was not until the white composer Mrs. H.H.A. Beach (1867-1944) wrote her Mass in E-flat Major, Gaelic Symphony, and Piano Concerto in C-Sharp Minor during the last decade of the 19th century that American women composers began to claim their place alongside their male colleagues. Performances of Beach’s music would have been heard by the black composer Florence Price while she studied in Boston, and may have inspired her own ambitions.”10
Shirley Scott (1934-2002)
Jazz organist Shirley Scott was born and died in Philadelphia. She started out playing the piano and trumpet. In the mid-1950s, she was playing the piano in night clubs. “A club owner needed her to fill in on organ one night and the young Shirley took to it immediately, crafting a swinging, signature sound unlike anyone else almost from the get go.”66 She recorded for Prestige Records with Eddie “Lockjaw” Davis (1922-86). She was married to Stanley Turrentine (1961-71), a tenor saxophone player, and they played and recorded music together. She performed on electronic organs (ex. Hammond B-3). “Her playing consistently possessed one of the most graceful and lyrical touches applied to the bulky B-3. But it was her deeply-felt understanding of blues and gospel that made her playing most remarkable.”67 “Her reputation was cemented during the 1960s on several superb, soulful organ/soul-jazz dates where she demonstrated an aggressive, highly rhythmic attack blending intricate bebop harmonies with bluesy melodies and a gospel influence.”68 In popular music circles, Scott has been labeled the “Queen of the Organ.”
Helen Walker-Hill has listed a collection of organ solos written by Scott entitled Great Scott, published by Bradley Music in New York, 1977. This includes (1) Basie in mind; (2) Big George; (3) Blues everywhere; (4) Cherokee; (5) Little girl blues; (6) Merv’s theme; (7) My romance; (8) What is there to say?; and (9) What makes Harold sing? This collection can be found at the Library of Congress in the Music Division, Washington, DC. See Appendix for a listing of Scott's organ solos.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shirley_Scott
Shirley Scott (March 14, 1934 – March 10, 2002) was an American jazz organist.
Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Scott studied trumpet and piano in school. As a performer in the 1950s, she played the Hammond B-3 organ. Her recordings with Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis included the hit "In the Kitchen". Influenced by gospel and blues, she played soul jazz in the 1960s with Stanley Turrentine, who became her husband during the same decade; the couple divorced in 1971.[1]
Although organ trios declined in popularity during the 1970s, they resurged in the 1980s and she recorded again. In the 1990s, she recorded as pianist in a trio and performed at venues in Philadelphia.[2] She was also a jazz educator.
Scott won an $8 million settlement in 2000 against American Home Products, the manufacturers of the diet drug fen-phen. She died of heart failure in 2002.[2][3]
https://www.npr.org/artists/101338676/shirley-scott
In this Piano Jazz episode recorded in 1992, we remember the remarkable talents of Shirley Scott, the "Queen of the Organ," as she solos on "Skylark" and joins host Marian McPartland for a piano duet of "In a Mellow Tone."
Shirley Scott was born in Philadelphia in 1934. Famous for her impeccable sense of swing and leadership within soul jazz, she developed her reputation on the Hammond B3 organ. While she was growing up, her father ran a jazz club in the family basement where prestigious musicians performed, including pianist Red Garland, drummer Philly Joe Jones and tenor saxophonist Al Steele. Scott herself began playing music when her brother T.L. needed accompaniment for his tenor sax. She took up the piano and quickly developed a thirst for solos. In high school, she briefly played the trumpet, but finally settled with the B3 after hearing a Jackie Davis recording.
Scott's breakthrough came in 1953, when the tenor saxophonist Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis heard her while searching for an organist. Together, Scott and Davis were prolific artists, releasing the popular series of Cookbook albums for Prestige Records. In 1958, Scott released her first solo recording, Great Scott, and went on to record more than 50 solo albums throughout her career. She also performed and recorded with her husband, tenor player Stanley Turrentine.
https://musicians.allaboutjazz.com/shirleyscott
Shirley Scott
Shirley Scott began playing piano and trumpet in her native Philadelphia. By the mid 1950s, she was playing piano in the city's thriving club scene - often with the very young John Coltrane. A club owner needed her to fill in on organ one night and the young Shirley took to it immediately, crafting a swinging, signature sound unlike anyone else almost from the get go.
On a swing through town, Basie tenor man Eddie “Lockjaw” Davis (1922-86) heard Scott and asked her to join his band. They recorded prolifically together - as co-leaders - and released a hugely popular series of “Cookbook” records for Prestige during the late 1950s.
Shirley launched her solo career in 1958, recording 23 albums for Prestige (1958-64), 10 for Impulse (1963-68), three for Atlantic (1968-70), three for Cadet (1971-73), one in 1974 for Strata East, two for Muse (1989-91) and three for Candid (1991-92).
She was married to the late, great tenor sax player Stanley Turrentine (1961-71) and the two made some of their finest music - together - for the Blue Note, Prestige, Impulse and Atlantic labels.
Her playing consistently possessed one of the most graceful and lyrical touches applied to the bulky B-3. But it was her deeply-felt understanding of the blues and gospel that made her playing most remarkable.
Shirley Scott resided in Philadelphia up until her death in early 2002. She occasionally performed locally (on piano, mostly) and was musical director of Bill Cosby's short-lived 1992 show You Bet Your Life.
She successfully won a multi-million dollar lawsuit against a
diet-drug company in 2000 and had not performed in public for about five
years before her untimely death in early 2002.
Shirley
Scott, a jazz organist who recorded dozens of albums from the 1950's to
the 90's, earning her the nickname ''Queen of the Organ,'' died on
Sunday at a hospital in Philadelphia. She was 67 and lived in West
Chester, Pa.
The cause was heart disease brought on by the diet drug known as fen-phen, said Everett Yancey, her son.
Ms.
Scott had sued both American Home Products, now known as Wyeth, the
manufacturer of one of the drug's components, and the doctor who
prescribed it to her. In February 2000 a Philadelphia jury awarded her
$8 million.
She had begun using fen-phen in 1995 and within two years developed extensive heart and lung problems, Mr. Yancey said..
Ms.
Scott emerged in the mid-1950's, the golden age of Hammond B3 organ
jazz, with a quick, punchy sound that merged bebop, gospel and the
blues. She had a lighter touch than Jimmy Smith, the leading organist in
jazz, and relied on the blues less heavily than he did. In her groups
with the saxophonists Eddie Davis, known as Lockjaw, and Stanley
Turrentine, to whom she was married for a number of years, Ms. Scott
produced some of the most influential recordings in the smoother, more
pop-oriented soul-jazz style.
Her
recorded output was great, with more than 50 albums as a leader to her
credit, most on the Prestige and Impulse labels. Her first recordings
were with Davis, and she played with him on a number of classics,
including his ''Cookbook'' albums and the 1958 hit song ''In the
Kitchen.''
In
1960 she married Turrentine and made a number of albums with him over
the next decade, including ''Soul Shoutin','' ''Blue Flames'' and ''Hip
Soul.'' Their music together was often intense, but Ms. Scott also
recorded plenty of easygoing tracks, often including show tunes and pop
covers like the Beatles' ''Can't Buy Me Love.''
A lifelong Philadelphian, Ms. Scott continued to play clubs in the city into the 90's, though she eventually switched to piano.
In
the 90's she also began teaching jazz history and piano at Cheyney
University in Cheyney, Pa., and worked as the musical director for Bill
Cosby's short-lived television quiz show, ''You Bet Your Life.''
In
addition to Mr. Yancey, of Philadelphia, she is survived by her son
Thomas, also of Philadelphia; three daughters, Lisa Turrentine, of West
Chester, Pa., and Pamela and Nicole Turrentine, of Philadelphia; nine
grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren.
Shirley Scott Dies at 67
Born Mar. 13, 1934, Scott began playing music on the trumpet, but in the 1950s the sound of Jimmy Smith’s screaming Hammond B-3 lured her to the heavier keyboard instrument. By the late ’50s Scott had gained considerable recognition, recording album after album for Prestige, many featuring the bold sound of Eddie “Lockjaw” Davis on tenor saxophone. It was Davis that had given Scott a break in the late ’50s, having her record on albums like Jaws In Orbit and Very Saxy. In 1960, Scott married saxophonist Stanley Turrentine and the two cut many of the most cherished soul-jazz recordings of the 1960s before ending their marriage eleven years later.
Scott will be remembered by jazz fans for her melodic and accessible style, but she made headlines outside of jazz in her last years as she litigated against American Home Products, makers of the diet drug fen-phen. Claiming the drug had caused her to develop primary pulmonary hypertension, her fight against the pharmecutical company won her an $8 million settlement in 2000. The drug is now banned.
Scott is survived by two sons, three daughters, nine grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.
https://variety.com/2002/scene/people-news/shirley-scott-1117865935/
After developing extensive heart and lung problems from using the diet drug combination known as fen-phen, she was awarded $8 million by a Philadelphia jury in February 2000 in a lawsuit against American Home Products (maker of one of fen-phen’s components) and a doctor who prescribed the drug.
Scott had recorded since the mid- 1950s, the golden age of Hammond B3 organ jazz, with groups including saxophonists Eddie Davis and Stanley Turrentine, to whom she was married for a number of years. Her first recordings were with Davis, including his 1958 hit song “In the Kitchen.” She recorded more than 50 albums as a leader, most on the Prestige and Impulse labels, and made a number of albums with Turrentine during the 1960s including “Soul Shoutin’,” “Blue Flames” and “Hip Soul.”
Scott continued to play in Philadelphia clubs into the 1990s, later switching to the piano. She also taught jazz history and piano at Cheyney U.
http://www.jazzhouse.org/gone/lastpost2.php3?edit=1016136546
- Shirley Scott
- Organ, piano
- Born: March 14, 1934 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- Died: March 10, 2002 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Leading Lady of Soul Jazz
Copyright © 2002
Shirley Scott was a leading figure in one of the most popular of all jazz movements, the off-shoot of hard bop known as soul jazz. The style was led by Hammond organ players like Jimmy Smith and Jack McDuff, and although her initial ambition was to succeed on piano, Scott established her reputation on the Hammond B3 alongside these titans.
She developed her own distinctive approach to the instrument. Despite her slight build, she was a powerful player, but one who liked to emphasise subtlety and control over the outright excitement favoured by many exponents of the style. That was evident in both her inventive soloing and in her probing, suggestive accompaniments behind the many saxophonists she worked with over her career.
She was born into a family with strong roots in jazz. Her father ran a jazz club in Philadelphia, and her brother played saxophone. She learned piano at school, and took up trumpet as a second instrument for a time. She took both bachelor and masters degrees at Cheyney University, one of the longest established African-American institutions in the USA, and later taught there.
Her career as a musician took off when she bowed to pressure from promoters and switched from piano to the newly popular Hammond B3. She worked with a local band in 1955 which included John Coltrane, then on the cusp of emerging as the most important jazz creator of his generation.
When saxophonist Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis found himself short of an organ player in the city, he overcame his initial doubts about having a woman in his band and hired Scott. He was quickly won over, and she enjoyed a successful stint with the hard-hitting saxophonist, including recording the classic sessions released as The Eddie Davis Cookbook, but left the band in 1960.
She married another saxophonist, Stanley Turrentine, shortly afterwards, and they worked together a great deal over the decade of their marriage, occasionally hiding behind barely disguised pseudonyms like "Little Miss Cott" on each other's records, for contractual reasons.
She made her recording debut as a leader with Great Scott! for Prestige in 1958, and recorded regularly for a variety of labels in the next two decades, including Prestige, Impulse and Atlantic. She worked with saxophonists Oliver Nelson (in a big band setting), Harold Vick, Jimmy Forrest, and
Dexter Gordon, and trombonist Al Grey, among others.
The Hammond fell out of fashion for a time in the 1970s, and she returned to her original choice of instrument, the piano. The big revival of interest in the Hammond from the late-1980s restored interest in her music, but she rarely performed on the organ again, preferring to stay with piano. Her final recording, Walkin' Thing, was released in 1996.
She took up a post teaching jazz history and piano at Cheyney University in 1991, and served as musical director for Bill Cosby's short-lived television quiz show You Bet Your Life, which was recorded in her home city of Philadelphia.
Her health began to fail after using the now banned diet drug combination "fen-phen", which she began taking in 1995. By 1997 she had developed primary pulmonary hypertension as a result of the drugs, and was permanently bed-ridden. She sued the manufacturer and the prescribing doctor, and was awarded a settlement of 8 million dollars in 2000.
She is survived by two sons, three daughters, nine grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.
https://www.jazz.org/blog/6-underappreciated-jazz-artists-you-should-check-out/
April is Jazz Appreciation Month, so we thought we'd celebrate by delving into the careers of a handful of underappreciated jazz artists.
(This survey represents just a small handful of the hundreds of artists who deserve more recognition, so stay tuned to the blog for upcoming posts on more artists worth investigating.)
Now, in no particular order:
2. Shirley Scott
Scott's soulful Hammond chops earned her the moniker "Queen of the Organ" and, as the Jazz Night in America video above attests, she regally presided over Philadelphia's jazz scene from her emergence in the 1950s until her death in 2002. She is famed for her own recordings as a leader and her long-running collaborations with tenor saxophonists Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis and Stanley Turrentine, whom she married in 1960. In her later years, she played more piano than organ and spent a significant amount of her energy on jazz education initiatives in Pennsylvania.
Start with: Her 1996 Candid album A Walkin' Thing finds a late-career Scott in full swing alongside Philly musicians whom she'd mentored.
https://www.jazzwax.com/2011/04/shirley-scott-hip-soul.html
https://symposium.music.org/index.php/55/item/10872-cultural-influences-of-organ-music-composed-by-african-american-women
News | April, 25th 2016
(This survey represents just a small handful of the hundreds of artists who deserve more recognition, so stay tuned to the blog for upcoming posts on more artists worth investigating.)
Now, in no particular order:
2. Shirley Scott
Scott's soulful Hammond chops earned her the moniker "Queen of the Organ" and, as the Jazz Night in America video above attests, she regally presided over Philadelphia's jazz scene from her emergence in the 1950s until her death in 2002. She is famed for her own recordings as a leader and her long-running collaborations with tenor saxophonists Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis and Stanley Turrentine, whom she married in 1960. In her later years, she played more piano than organ and spent a significant amount of her energy on jazz education initiatives in Pennsylvania.
Start with: Her 1996 Candid album A Walkin' Thing finds a late-career Scott in full swing alongside Philly musicians whom she'd mentored.
https://www.jazzwax.com/2011/04/shirley-scott-hip-soul.html
April 27, 2011
Shirley Scott: Hip Soul
In the late '50s, through the '60s and into the '70s, albums by 
sax-organ combos seem to have been recorded every three minutes at Rudy
Van Gelder's studio in New Jersey. The Prestige label cornered the
market on this format early, matching every possible Hammond B3 player
with every conceivable tenor saxophonist. The number of reed-organ
recordings for Prestige easily must total in the hundreds.
Among the most consistently interesting of
these sessions were recordings by Shirley Scott [pictured above] and
her then husband Stanley Turrentine [pictured left]. Turrentine's
swinging freight-train sax backed by Scott's reed-section-sounding organ
had a certain something that most other combos did not. If you analyze
it, much had to do with the slow cook of both artists and how they
goosed and played off each other. This was a partnership—not one
instrument backed by the other.
The Turrentine-Scott sweet spot ran between 1961 and 1964,
and the merger started with Hip Soul.
Recorded in June 1961 about a year after the two married, the album is
among their best summits. Of course, I say this loosely, since so many
of their albums were perfect jazz-soul unions, including Never Let Me Go (1963) and Hustlin' (1964). But Hip Soul has something more, delivering a special clarity and purpose.
For one, Scott's organ on the date is set with skating-rink stops that made her chords and notes swell and soar. Turrentine is bitingly quick and soulful, hitting the gas on his boss tenor sound and then rearing back smoothly into a soft hush. This is a church conversation between equals. Scott's solos are as extensive and as well framed as Turrentine's, and both bring a huge gospel feel.
Joining Scott and Turrentine are Herbie Lewis on bass and Roy Brooks on drums. Interestingly, Turrentine appeared under the
name Stan Turner, a pseudonym he had to take on due to his existing Blue Note contract. There are six tracks: Hip Soul is a rich, groovy blues by Turrentine; 411 West is a medium-tempo Benny Golson composition (with amazing solos by both artists); By Myself is the Dietz and Schwartz standard; Trane's Blues is John Coltrane's tune from a 1956 session with Paul Chambers; Stanley's Time is another Turrentine blues, and Out of This World is the Arlen and Mercer standard given a soulful flash fry by Scott and Turrentine.
In 1961, Scott and Turrentine managed to intertwine love and
music. The result was a richness that superseded other organ-sax
combos. Unfortunately, the Scott-Turrentine marriage would last only
until 1970. But while they were together, they made some beautiful
albums. The first was particularly special. [Pictured, from left:
personal manager and bassist John Levy, Shirley Scott and Stanely
Turrentine; courtesy of John and Devra Hall Levy]
JazzWax tracks: Hip Soul is not in print as a stand-alone
album, but all of the material from the date is featured on Shirley Scott: Legends of Acid Jazz as the first six tracks. You'll find the album here.
JazzWax clip: There don't appear to be tracks from Hip Soul on YouTube. But here's Major's Minor from Never Let Me Go (1963). It will give you a fine sense of how these two played together...
Among the most consistently interesting of
The Turrentine-Scott sweet spot ran between 1961 and 1964,
For one, Scott's organ on the date is set with skating-rink stops that made her chords and notes swell and soar. Turrentine is bitingly quick and soulful, hitting the gas on his boss tenor sound and then rearing back smoothly into a soft hush. This is a church conversation between equals. Scott's solos are as extensive and as well framed as Turrentine's, and both bring a huge gospel feel.
Joining Scott and Turrentine are Herbie Lewis on bass and Roy Brooks on drums. Interestingly, Turrentine appeared under the
In 1961, Scott and Turrentine managed to intertwine love and
JazzWax tracks: Hip Soul is not in print as a stand-alone
JazzWax clip: There don't appear to be tracks from Hip Soul on YouTube. But here's Major's Minor from Never Let Me Go (1963). It will give you a fine sense of how these two played together...
Comments
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Hi
Marc, Thanks so much for covering the great Shirley Scott here and her
tremendously underrated collaborations with then-husband Stanley
Turrentine. While both of these greats are gone now, it’s becoming
increasingly difficult to maintain a sense of their musical importance
in the world.
Notices like yours help improve this problem plenty. While I’m not sure I can agree with you about “Hip Soul” as being the best this husband and wife sax and organ duo created together, I thought it would be worthwhile to point out the entirety of the works they actually recorded together…
Under Shirley Scott’s name:
- HIP SOUL (Prestige/1961 – part of the CD, LEGENDS OF ACID JAZZ – SHIRLEY SCOTT)
- HIP TWIST (Prestige/1961 – part of the CD, LEGENDS OF ACID JAZZ – SHIRLEY SCOTT)
- THE SOUL IS WILLING (Prestige/1963 – part of the CD, SOUL SHOUTIN’)
- SOUL SHOUTIN’ (Prestige/1963 – part of the CD, SOUL SHOUTIN’)
- BLUE FLAMES (Prestige/1964)
- EVERYBODY LOVES A LOVER (Impulse/1964)
- QUEEN OF THE ORGAN (Impulse/1964)
- SOUL SONG (Atlantic/1968)
Under Stanley Turrentine’s name:
- DEARLY BELOVED (Blue Note/1961)
- NEVER LET ME GO (Blue Note/1963)
- A CHIP OFF THE OLD BLOCK (Blue Note/1963)
- HUSTLIN' (Blue Note/1964)
- LET IT GO (Impulse/1966)
- AIN'T NO WAY (Blue Note/1968)
- COMMON TOUCH (Blue Note/1968)
Notices like yours help improve this problem plenty. While I’m not sure I can agree with you about “Hip Soul” as being the best this husband and wife sax and organ duo created together, I thought it would be worthwhile to point out the entirety of the works they actually recorded together…
Under Shirley Scott’s name:
- HIP SOUL (Prestige/1961 – part of the CD, LEGENDS OF ACID JAZZ – SHIRLEY SCOTT)
- HIP TWIST (Prestige/1961 – part of the CD, LEGENDS OF ACID JAZZ – SHIRLEY SCOTT)
- THE SOUL IS WILLING (Prestige/1963 – part of the CD, SOUL SHOUTIN’)
- SOUL SHOUTIN’ (Prestige/1963 – part of the CD, SOUL SHOUTIN’)
- BLUE FLAMES (Prestige/1964)
- EVERYBODY LOVES A LOVER (Impulse/1964)
- QUEEN OF THE ORGAN (Impulse/1964)
- SOUL SONG (Atlantic/1968)
Under Stanley Turrentine’s name:
- DEARLY BELOVED (Blue Note/1961)
- NEVER LET ME GO (Blue Note/1963)
- A CHIP OFF THE OLD BLOCK (Blue Note/1963)
- HUSTLIN' (Blue Note/1964)
- LET IT GO (Impulse/1966)
- AIN'T NO WAY (Blue Note/1968)
- COMMON TOUCH (Blue Note/1968)
https://symposium.music.org/index.php/55/item/10872-cultural-influences-of-organ-music-composed-by-african-american-women
Cultural Influences of Organ Music Composed by African American Women
Cultural Influences on Organ Music Written By African American Women 1
Abstract
In this paper, major events in African American history are described and contrasted with the history of organ music written by African American women in the twentieth- and the twenty-first centuries. The discussion includes the emergence of women's rights, especially women composers. The author traces the beginnings of African American women composers from church music to all other forms of musical performance. Included in the paper are the history, works, and styles of Florence Price (1887-1953), Undine Smith Moore (1905-1989), Zenobia Powell Perry (1908-2004), Betty Jackson King (1928-1994), Shirley Scott (1934-2002), Judith Marie Baity (b. 1944), Sharon J. Willis (b. 1949), Eurydice V. Osterman (b. 1950), and Regina Harris Baiocchi (b. 1956). As this discourse reveals the struggles and history of women composers in general, it also gives hope to the future of exploration in this field. With easier exposure to this music and continued advancements in culture and technology, research will continue into black music history, and especially into the music of African American women.
One misconception about African American classical music works is that they are only based on Negro Spiritual themes and folk songs.2 While it is true that many of them are from this source, other works of African American composers are a reflection of social changes in black history. In addition, African American composers were not only influenced by their culture. They were also affected by the changing styles and periods represented in music history as a whole. These musicians and their music were shaped by the African American experience. The struggle for justice, equality, integration, and acceptance in the large mainstream culture have led to the renewal of pride in African heritage and its incorporation into the European American milieu of art, literature, and music.
“The works of African-Americans, particularly those writing for the organ, are based upon a rich and diverse set of influences that include not only spirituals but plainchant, general Protestant hymnody, German chorale tunes, themes of African origin, and original themes.”3 African American elements can also be heard in works by composers of European descent. “Dvorak, Ravel, Gershwin and Bernstein are noted for their inclusion of elements that are considered African-American.”4 There is not one absolute definition of “black music” that pertains to every piece written by an African American composer. As stated by Mickey Thomas Terry:
As with most other ethnic groups,
African-Americans are heterogeneous by nature and, therefore, cannot
always be said to approach all issues from the same point of view. As
this is the case, one encounters not only the diversity of compositional
styles but philosophical differences as well. One issue about which
there has been a long-standing difference of opinion among black
composers pertains to what constitutes ‘black music.’ 5
As Eileen Southern has written: “Though rarely discussed in the literature, black women composers of church music have played an important role in the development of the genre ever since the first independent black churches in the United States were founded in the 1790s.”9 The first known black woman church organist was Ann Appo (1809-28), who was given the position when St. Thomas Episcopal Church in Philadelphia purchased an organ in 1828. Notably, The African Methodist Episcopal (AME) and the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church (AMEZ) published their own hymnals. Generally, in other denominations, the hymnals of the affiliated white churches were used.
The following is a chronological list of African American women composers for the organ compiled in research for this article: Florence Price (1888-1953); Loretta Manggrum (1896-1992); Undine Smith Moore (1905-1989); Zenobia Powell Perry (1908-2004); Evelyn Pittman (1910-1992); Julia Perry (1924-1979); Ruth Norman (b. 1927); Betty Jackson King (1928-1994); Shirley Scott (1934-2002); Charlene Moore Cooper (b. 1938); Judith Baity (b. 1944); Dr. Sharon J. Willis, (b. Cleveland, 1949); Eurydice V. Osterman, (b. Atlanta, 1950); Evelyn Simpson-Curenton, (b. Philadelphia, 1953); and Regina Harris Baiocchi, (b. Chicago, 1956). These composers were found in journals, books, music, and music periodicals at the beginning of the 21st century. There are undoubtedly more African American women composers, but these were the ones named and written about in the sources referenced. Without making this article overtly lengthy, nine of these composers and their works are highlighted in this discussion.
It was not until the last decade of the 19th century that women composers emerged into the classical music scene in America as well as in Europe. Therefore, black women composers were also late to be recognized. “It was not until the white composer Mrs. H.H.A. Beach (1867-1944) wrote her Mass in E-flat Major, Gaelic Symphony, and Piano Concerto in C-Sharp Minor during the last decade of the 19th century that American women composers began to claim their place alongside their male colleagues. Performances of Beach’s music would have been heard by the black composer Florence Price while she studied in Boston, and may have inspired her own ambitions.”10
Shirley Scott (1934-2002)
Jazz organist Shirley Scott was born and died in Philadelphia. She started out playing the piano and trumpet. In the mid-1950s, she was playing the piano in night clubs. “A club owner needed her to fill in on organ one night and the young Shirley took to it immediately, crafting a swinging, signature sound unlike anyone else almost from the get go.”66 She recorded for Prestige Records with Eddie “Lockjaw” Davis (1922-86). She was married to Stanley Turrentine (1961-71), a tenor saxophone player, and they played and recorded music together. She performed on electronic organs (ex. Hammond B-3). “Her playing consistently possessed one of the most graceful and lyrical touches applied to the bulky B-3. But it was her deeply-felt understanding of blues and gospel that made her playing most remarkable.”67 “Her reputation was cemented during the 1960s on several superb, soulful organ/soul-jazz dates where she demonstrated an aggressive, highly rhythmic attack blending intricate bebop harmonies with bluesy melodies and a gospel influence.”68 In popular music circles, Scott has been labeled the “Queen of the Organ.”
Helen Walker-Hill has listed a collection of organ solos written by Scott entitled Great Scott, published by Bradley Music in New York, 1977. This includes (1) Basie in mind; (2) Big George; (3) Blues everywhere; (4) Cherokee; (5) Little girl blues; (6) Merv’s theme; (7) My romance; (8) What is there to say?; and (9) What makes Harold sing? This collection can be found at the Library of Congress in the Music Division, Washington, DC. See Appendix for a listing of Scott's organ solos.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shirley_Scott
Shirley Scott
Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Scott studied trumpet and piano in school. As a performer in the 1950s, she played the Hammond B-3 organ. Her recordings with Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis included the hit "In the Kitchen". Influenced by gospel and blues, she played soul jazz in the 1960s with Stanley Turrentine, who became her husband during the same decade; the couple divorced in 1971.[1]
Although organ trios declined in popularity during the 1970s, they resurged in the 1980s and she recorded again. In the 1990s, she recorded as pianist in a trio and performed at venues in Philadelphia.[2] She was also a jazz educator.
Scott won an $8 million settlement in 2000 against American Home Products, the manufacturers of the diet drug fen-phen. She died of heart failure in 2002.[2][3]
Discography
As leader
- 1958: Great Scott! (Prestige)
- 1958: Scottie (Prestige)
- 1959: Scottie Plays the Duke (Prestige)
- 1959: Soul Searching (Prestige)
- 1958–60: Shirley's Sounds (Prestige) - released 1961
- 1958–60: The Shirley Scott Trio (Moodsville)
- 1960: Soul Sister (Prestige) - with Lem Winchester; released 1966
- 1960: Mucho, Mucho (Prestige) - with The Latin Jazz Quintet
- 1960: Like Cozy (Moodsville) - released 1962
- 1961: Satin Doll (Prestige) - released 1963
- 1958–61: Workin' (Prestige) - released 1967
- 1960–61: Stompin' (Prestige) - released 1967
- 1961: Hip Soul (Prestige) - with Stanley Turrentine
- 1961: Blue Seven (Prestige) - with Oliver Nelson, Joe Newman; released 1966
- 1961: Hip Twist (Prestige) - with Stanley Turrentine
- 1961: Shirley Scott Plays Horace Silver (Prestige)
- 1962: Happy Talk (Prestige) - also released as Sweet Soul in 1965.
- 1963: The Soul Is Willing (Prestige) - with Stanley Turrentine
- 1963: Drag 'em Out (Prestige)
- 1963: For Members Only (Impulse!) - with Oliver Nelson
- 1963: Soul Shoutin' (Prestige) - with Stanley Turrentine
- 1964: Travelin' Light (Prestige) - with Kenny Burrell
- 1958–64: Now's the Time (Prestige) - released 1967
- 1964: Blue Flames (Prestige) - with Stanley Turrentine
- 1964: Great Scott!! (Impulse!) - with Oliver Nelson
- 1964: Everybody Loves a Lover (Impulse!) - with Stanley Turrentine
- 1964: Queen of the Organ [live] (Impulse!) - with Stanley Turrentine
- 1965: Latin Shadows (Impulse!) - with Gary McFarland
- 1966: On a Clear Day (Impulse!)
- 1966: Roll 'Em: Shirley Scott Plays the Big Bands (Impulse!) - with Oliver Nelson
- 1966: Soul Duo (Impulse!) - with Clark Terry
- 1967: Girl Talk (Impulse!)
- 1968: Soul Song (Atlantic) - with Stanley Turrentine
- 1969: Shirley Scott & the Soul Saxes (Atlantic) - with King Curtis, Hank Crawford, David "Fathead" Newman
- 1970: Something (Atlantic)
- 1971: Mystical Lady (Cadet)
- 1972: Lean on Me (Cadet)
- 1973: Superstition (Cadet) - with Richard Evans
- 1974: One for Me (Stata East) - with Harold Vick, Billy Higgins
- 1978: The Great Live Sessions (ABC/Impulse!) [2LP] - with Stanley Turrentine; recorded 1964
- 1989: Oasis (Muse)
- 1991: Great Scott! (Muse)
- 1991: Blues Everywhere (Candid)
- 1991: Skylark (Candid)
- 1992: A Walkin' Thing (Candid) - with Terell Stafford, Tim Warfield [4]
As sidewoman
With Stanley Turrentine
- 1961: Dearly Beloved (Blue Note)
- 1963: Never Let Me Go (Blue Note)
- 1963: A Chip Off the Old Block (Blue Note)
- 1964: Hustlin' (Blue Note)
- 1966: Let It Go (Impulse!)
- 1968: Common Touch (Blue Note)
- 1960: Person to Person (Bluesville)
- 1956–57: Jazz With A Beat (King)
- 1957: Count Basie Presents Eddie Davis Trio + Joe Newman (Roulette)
- 1958: Eddie Davis Trio Featuring Shirley Scott, Organ (Roulette)
- 1958: The Eddie Davis Trio Featuring Shirley Scott, Organ (Roost)
- 1958: The Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis Cookbook, Vol. 1 (Prestige)
- 1958: Jaws (Prestige)
- 1958: The Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis Cookbook, Vol. 2 (Prestige)
- 1959: Very Saxy (Prestige) - with Buddy Tate, Coleman Hawkins, Arnett Cobb
- 1959: Jaws in Orbit (Prestige)
- 1959: Bacalao (Prestige)
- 1960: Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis with Shirley Scott (Moodsville)
- 1961: The Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis Cookbook Volume 3 (Prestige) - recorded 1958
- 1963: Misty (Moodsville) - recorded 1959–60
- 1964: Smokin' (Prestige) - recorded 1958
- 1978: Heart of the Forrest (Palo Alto)
- 1977: Al Grey Jazz All Stars: Travelers Lounge Live (Travelers)
- 1979: Al Grey/Jimmy Forrest Quintet: Live at Rick's (Aviva)
- 1958: Soft Swingin' Jazz (Coral)
- 1959: Hear My Blues (Bluesville)
References
- "Stanley Turrentine". The Daily Telegraph. September 25, 2000. Retrieved September 26, 2018.
- Henderson, Alex. "Shirley Scott". AllMusic. Retrieved 24 August 2018.
- 'Organ queen' Shirley Scott dies". March 13, 2002. New Pittsburgh Courier.
- "Shirley Scott | Album Discography | AllMusic". AllMusic. Retrieved 24 August 2018.
- All Music discography
- Shirley Scott discography by Doug Payne
- Shirley Scott discography at Jazzlists
- Shirley Scott's last filmed public performance on YouTube, playing with Joey DeFrancesco at an organ summit in her honor in 1999.
- The Scotsman obituary, accessed July 4, 2012
External links
https://www.npr.org/artists/101338676/shirley-scott
Shirley Scott
Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
Shirley Scott was born in Philadelphia in 1934. Famous for her impeccable sense of swing and leadership within soul jazz, she developed her reputation on the Hammond B3 organ. While she was growing up, her father ran a jazz club in the family basement where prestigious musicians performed, including pianist Red Garland, drummer Philly Joe Jones and tenor saxophonist Al Steele. Scott herself began playing music when her brother T.L. needed accompaniment for his tenor sax. She took up the piano and quickly developed a thirst for solos. In high school, she briefly played the trumpet, but finally settled with the B3 after hearing a Jackie Davis recording.
Scott's breakthrough came in 1953, when the tenor saxophonist Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis heard her while searching for an organist. Together, Scott and Davis were prolific artists, releasing the popular series of Cookbook albums for Prestige Records. In 1958, Scott released her first solo recording, Great Scott, and went on to record more than 50 solo albums throughout her career. She also performed and recorded with her husband, tenor player Stanley Turrentine.
https://www.sfjazz.org/onthecorner/look-back-shirley-scotts-great-scott/
by Rusty Aceves
San Francisco Jazz.org
Aptly named “Queen of the Organ,” Shirley Scott
(1934-2002) enjoyed a four-decade career that produced over 40 albums
running the gamut from intimate trio dates to big bands, exploring
bebop, soul jazz, hard bop, and Latin jazz. Like fellow Hammond organ
giants Jimmy Smith and Trudy Pitts, Scott was a Philadelphia native, and
rose to prominence as part of saxophone luminary Eddie “Lockjaw” Davis’
late 50s bands, contributing to nearly a dozen of his Prestige,
Moodsville and Roulette sessions into the early 60s.
The organist’s deft musicianship and elevated profile led to her own recording deal with Prestige, who released her debut, Great Scott!,
In 1958 – an auspicious first statement made with a trio comprised of
Davis bandmates George Duvivier on bass and drummer Arthur Edgehill. The
album (not to be confused with Scott’s similarly named 1964 Impulse!
release) boasts a soulful mix of blues, Latin tunes, uptempo burners and
ballads, with highlights including signature versions of Ray Noble’s
“Cherokee” and Miles Davis’ “Four.” Unusual for the organ trio format
and unlike her live performance preference, Scott chose to employ
Duvivier and not a typical melodic instrument like guitar or saxophone
for Great Scott!, a move that freed the organist to explore
without the added duty of holding down the bass foundation with bass
pedals or the left hand, while placing most of the soloing and heavy
melodic lifting on Scott herself. Enough material was recorded during
the May 23, 1958 session at Rudy Van Gelder’s Hackensack studio for two
full LPs, and the remainder of the Great Scott! tracks appear on 1961’s Shirley’s Sounds.
The uphill battle faced by Scott and all other women in jazz to be taken seriously as musicians and equals can be seen in the liner notes for the original release, which are a typical product of their time and express the era’s prejudicial mindset, including such unfortunate declarations as: “Shirley Scott is a girl. At the organ she does a man-sized job.”
For the first few years of Scott’s career as a bandleader she continued to perform and record with Davis, and upon leaving his employ, Scott’s fiery melodicism can be heard on six superb 1960s records led by saxophonist (and then husband) Stanley Turrentine, including the Blue Note classics Dearly Beloved, Never Let Me Go, and Hustlin’. Scott performed and recorded steadily in to the late 1970s, when she began a second career as an educator, and returned to recording in the early 90s, releasing her final album, A Walkin’ Thing, on Candid in 1992. She performed at the 14th Annual San Francisco Jazz Festival in November 1996, and died of congestive heart failure in 2002 at age 67.
Shirley Scott performing at the 14th Annual San Francisco Jazz Festival, Bimbo's 365 Club, November 3, 1996:
A LOOK BACK AT
SHIRLEY SCOTT’S GREAT SCOTT!
March 16, 2016 SHIRLEY SCOTT’S GREAT SCOTT!
by Rusty Aceves
San Francisco Jazz.org
The organist’s deft musicianship and elevated profile led to her own recording deal with Prestige, who released her debut, Great Scott!,
In 1958 – an auspicious first statement made with a trio comprised of
Davis bandmates George Duvivier on bass and drummer Arthur Edgehill. The
album (not to be confused with Scott’s similarly named 1964 Impulse!
release) boasts a soulful mix of blues, Latin tunes, uptempo burners and
ballads, with highlights including signature versions of Ray Noble’s
“Cherokee” and Miles Davis’ “Four.” Unusual for the organ trio format
and unlike her live performance preference, Scott chose to employ
Duvivier and not a typical melodic instrument like guitar or saxophone
for Great Scott!, a move that freed the organist to explore
without the added duty of holding down the bass foundation with bass
pedals or the left hand, while placing most of the soloing and heavy
melodic lifting on Scott herself. Enough material was recorded during
the May 23, 1958 session at Rudy Van Gelder’s Hackensack studio for two
full LPs, and the remainder of the Great Scott! tracks appear on 1961’s Shirley’s Sounds.The uphill battle faced by Scott and all other women in jazz to be taken seriously as musicians and equals can be seen in the liner notes for the original release, which are a typical product of their time and express the era’s prejudicial mindset, including such unfortunate declarations as: “Shirley Scott is a girl. At the organ she does a man-sized job.”
For the first few years of Scott’s career as a bandleader she continued to perform and record with Davis, and upon leaving his employ, Scott’s fiery melodicism can be heard on six superb 1960s records led by saxophonist (and then husband) Stanley Turrentine, including the Blue Note classics Dearly Beloved, Never Let Me Go, and Hustlin’. Scott performed and recorded steadily in to the late 1970s, when she began a second career as an educator, and returned to recording in the early 90s, releasing her final album, A Walkin’ Thing, on Candid in 1992. She performed at the 14th Annual San Francisco Jazz Festival in November 1996, and died of congestive heart failure in 2002 at age 67.
Shirley Scott performing at the 14th Annual San Francisco Jazz Festival, Bimbo's 365 Club, November 3, 1996:
Set List
- "Au Privave" (Charlie Parker)
- "Skylark" (Hoagy Carmichael, John Mercer)
- "Embraceable You" (George, Ira Gershwin)
- "In a Sentimental Mood" (Duke Ellington)
- "Lester Leaps In" (Lester Young)
- "These Foolish Things" (Harry Link, Eric Maschwitz, Mitchell Parish)
- "Sophisticated Lady" (Ellington, Mills, Parish)
- "In a Mellow Tone" (Duke Ellington)
https://www.abc.net.au/jazz/features/retro-artist/shirley-scott/10722860
Shirley Scott
Henry Rasmussen
Friday 1 February 2019
Image: Impulse! Records
The 'Queen of the Organ' showcases this month in our Retro Artist series. Take a look back at the life and times of Shirley Scott - one of the foremost Hammond B3 players (and pianists) in jazz.
On ABC Jazz...
- Thursday Night Live: Queen of the Organ
Organs are hard. An expert jazz organist takes on a multitude of roles, doing the work of both the pianist and the bass player, whilst manipulating the instrument's tone colour with the coordination akin to that of a drummer. One of the unsung heroes (or heroines) of this unique instrument is Shirley Scott.
Since the 1950s, organ combos have become a staple of the jazz idiom, and as jazz fans, we oftentimes look to the likes of Jimmy Smith, Larry Young and Jimmy McGriff when discussing the greats of the Hammond B3. Indeed, organ players led the way with the development of Soul jazz - an offshoot of hardbop that expanded on the sub-genre's foundations in the blues, gospel and R&B.
Shirley Scott was at the forefront of the movement, crafting her own unique vocabulary on the instrument. During the late '50s and throughout the 1960s, she was a mainstay for both Prestige and Impulse! Records - with over 40 albums as a leader and many more as a side-woman, all the while going against the grain as a female instrumentalist in a mostly male-dominated scene.
Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (a state where many of the great organists hailed from), Scott grew up learning the piano. She was exposed to jazz at an early age, thanks in part to her father who ran an underground jazz club in their house. Despite taking to the piano, her "school loaded with good pianists," so she reverted to trumpet for a short time. During the '50s, a fellow Pennsylvanian by the name of Jimmy Smith was helping popularise the iconic Hammond B3 organ, and by the middle of the decade, the unique qualities of the amplified instrument had caught her ear.
Some of her first gigs on the organ around Philly were with a group called the Hi-Tones, which for a short period featured John Coltrane on tenor sax. She then struck up a fruitful musical relationship with another sax player - Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis - recording her first sessions with his band. The duo appeared together on over a dozen recordings, including a collaboration with Count Basie and their memorable 'Cookbook' series - which featured originals by the two musicians. Check out this blues-drenched number titled 'The Rev.'
"Eddie "Lockjaw" came to Philly without an organist - and I was the only one in Philadelphia who said they could play the organ, so I got a job... he taught me to listen and he opened up my ears."
Shirley Scott talking with Marian McPartland on NPR, 1992
Through her connection to Davis, Bob Weinstock (the founder Prestige records) brought Scott into the studio for her own sessions with the other members of Davis' rhythm section - George Duvivier (bass) and Arthur Edgehill (drums). These early sessions also gave the organist a chance to show off her own writing.
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Another important saxophonist during Scott's formative years was Stanley Turrentine - who she ended up marrying 1960. Having met on a gig in Panama, the pair would go on to become somewhat of a musical power-couple. Their first album together Hip Soul, which was recorded in '61, continued where Scott and Eddie Davis left off. The focus now was honing her soul jazz sound, although this time she was the leader as opposed to the young side-women whom Davis flaunted on-stage.
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All this time, Prestige Records had been helping showcase her music, but in 1963 - she caught the ear of Impulse! Records' Bob Thiele. The first session he organised for Scott teamed her up with the iconic arranger Oliver Nelson for an album called For Members Only (previously featured on Vinyl Sides). This recording marked Shirley's first major large ensemble session and further demonstrated the B3's ability to blend seamlessly with a big band. Signing with Impulse! also came with added benefits of greater exposure wit the label busy touting their catalogue of modern '60s jazz.
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Throughout the '60s, Scott continued to churn out records, often teaming up with different instrumentalists including the likes of Gary McFarland, Clark Terry and David "Fathead" Newman. Another enduring album from the mid-60s was her collaboration with guitarist Kenny Burrell - himself a rising star at the time. They teamed up for a session entitled Travelin' Light, combining organ and electric guitar for that classic small soul jazz combo sound.
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As the '60s progressed towards the 1970s, Scott was well placed to absorb the emerging jazz-funk movement sweeping across the states. The soulful, bluesy inflections of her organ made way for arrangements with heavy back-beats and fuzzed-up guitar. The organ itself also matched the over-driven amplified aesthetic of funk as she covered tunes by Bill Withers, Stevie Wonder and The Beatles for a trio of albums for the Cadet label.
However as new generations of musicians emerged, her popularity waned - and she didn't record again until 1989 after somewhat of an organ resurgence. By this time, Scott had also reacquainted herself with her first instrument - the piano - and continued to feature of both keyboards throughout the 1990s. Speaking of her prowess behind the piano, here's one of her final albums was captured live at Birdland in 1991, called Blues Everywhere.
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During the late '90s, Scott developed a heart condition after taking a now-banned diet drug. She won an $8 million dollar settlement from the pharmaceutical company after her diagnosis led to her requiring an oxygen tank. Sadly, she passed away from heart failure in 2002, aged 67, forever remembered as the 'queen of the organ.'
THE
MUSIC OF SHIRLEY SCOTT: AN EXTENSIVE VIDEO OVERVIEW, A CROSS SECTION OF
RECORDINGS, MUSICAL ANALYSIS AND COMMENTARY, PLUS VARIOUS INTERVIEWS
WITH SHIRLEY SCOTT:
