Jazz Overnight

About Jimmy Scott

Along with the late, legendary pianist/composer Tadd Dameron and current saxophone star Joe Lovano, vocalist Jimmy Scott is one of Cleveland's most important gifts to the world of jazz. His voice is totally unique among jazz singers, so high pitched that it is sometimes mistaken for the voice of a woman. It is also a voice that carries great feeling. It's not just the voice itself though, it's the artistic and soulful way he uses it. Jimmy Scott delivers the lyrics of each song the way a great method actor delivers his lines, making each word count. Although Scott is known all over the world, his art is not universally loved or understood. Those who don't "get it" find his voice and his phrasing just too unusual to warm up to, while Scott's fans hear in him an interpreter of song whose best work is rivaled only by the recordings of Billie Holiday for the depth of its heartbreaking emotional power.

Born in Cleveland in 1925, James Victor Scott overcame some serious hardships to get to where he is today. Scott was born with a hereditary health condition known as Kallman's Syndrome, which, during the time he grew up, was untreatable. The primary symptom of Kallman's Syndrome is that boys afflicted with it do not undergo the usual changes that normally take place during puberty. So Scott's body, including his voice, was in a perpetual state of pre- adolescence. In his early twenties, Scott was still just four-foot- eleven, his physical features remained rather delicate and his voice had not deepened (he didn't stop growing until he was in his middle thirties, by which time he had attained a height of nearly six feet).

Jimmy Scott expressed musical aptitude from an early age, singing in church to his mother Justine's piano accompaniment. One of his early influences, Paul Robeson, came to Scott through radio broadcasts the family would listen to. Unfortunately, Scott's mother died in an accident though when he was just 13, and afterwards his large family was split up amongst various foster homes throughout Cleveland. Along with the church music he was raised on, Scott developed a love of jazz, taking in everything that the bustling Cleveland scene of the early '40s had to offer. In 1945, Scott helped organize the "Summer Music Festival," an event at Cleveland's Palace Theatre which helped to establish his name with the public.

Another important element of Scott's early show-biz experience took place during the '40s when he toured the South as part of a traveling show headed by a contortionist named Estelle "Caldonia" Young. By the late '40s, Scott was regularly travelling throughout Ohio as a star nightclub attraction. As 1950 neared, he was brought to the attention of bandleader Lionel Hampton, who gave Scott what amounted to an onstage tryout with the orchestra. He was later asked to join the Hampton organization. It was during his tenure with Hampton in 1950 that Scott (billed in those days as "Little" Jimmy Scott) recorded the song that would make his voice known across the country, "Everybody's Somebody's Fool."

Scott's run with the Hampton band was brief though, and he was soon working as a single, sometimes teaming up with the likes of New Orleans pianist/bandleader Paul Gayten and saxophonist Lucky Thompson for live dates and recordings. He recorded roughly three dozen singles during the '50s, working for a variety of labels, including Decca, Roost, King and Savoy. His association with Savoy would bring him some attention but ultimately serve to cripple his career. Savoy's somewhat notorious boss Herman Lubinsky had signed Jimmy up to the sort of one-sided contract all too typical of the era. When Scott recorded what he hoped would be a new breakthrough album for Ray Charles' just hatched Tangerine label in 1962, Lubinsky claimed he still had Scott under contract and had the album removed from the market.

Scott would have to wait until 1969 to get another shot in the studio, this time with Atlantic Records. Once again, Lubinsky was there to squash the deal, claiming he still had Scott under contract. A 1972 session for Atlantic was left unissued. Somehow, Savoy ended up getting Jimmy back into the studio in 1975 for an album which just didn't measure up to the level of quality that he had enjoyed on other sessions. Meanwhile, the years were passing by and it seemed as if Jimmy Scott's career as a singer was all in the past. He moved between Cleveland and the Newark, New Jersey/New York metro area, often working as a waiter, or in some other non- performing capacity, to make ends meet.

The nightclub gigs Scott began performing with increasing regularity in Newark and Harlem in the mid-'80s weren't drawing large crowds, but there were people noticing, including director David Lynch, who called on Scott to sing in an episode of his television series "Twin Peaks." Scott's close friend, songwriter Doc Pomus, frequently brought musicians and artists of all stripes out to see his performances, but the big break didn't come until Pomus died and Scott was called on to sing at the funeral. It was there at the funeral that the head of Sire Records heard Scott sing and was so moved that he immediately signed Scott to a recording contract.

Shop 90.3 WCPN® Public Store You can order Holding Back The Years, All the Way, and other Jimmy Scott recordings by visiting the Jazz Overnight section of the 90.3 WCPN® Public Store. Every order supports 90.3 WCPN®.

Home | About 90.3 WCPN® | Program Schedules | Listen Live | The Spotlight
90.3 WCPN® Public Store | Financial Support | Public Square | Events Calendar
Talk to Us | Search | Site Map
Terms of Use

Copyright © 2002 90.3 WCPN® All rights reserved.