Rhoda Scott | |
|---|---|
 Rhoda Scott in 2006 | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Rhoda Scott |
| Also known as | The Barefoot Lady |
| Born | 3 July 1938 Dorothy neighborhood of Weymouth Township, New Jersey |
| Genres | soul jazz |
| Occupation(s) | Musician Organist Singer |
| Instruments | Organ |
| Years active | 1955 - Present |
Rhoda Scott (born July 3, 1938) is an American soul jazz organist and singer. She is nicknamed "The Barefoot Lady".
Scott was born and raised in the Dorothy neighborhood of Weymouth Township, New Jersey, the first child to a Black travelling minister father and a white mother. [1] She has six siblings. [2]
Her parents were themselves musicians, playing piano and organ, and singing as well. [2] : 20 As a minister, her father moved frequently to different small churches and he would take her along with him to where he worked, where she heard her first gospels and spirituals. [3] [4]
Scott was first attracted to the organ in her father's church at age seven. "It's really the most beautiful instrument in the world", she stated in a 2002 interview. "The first thing I did was take my shoes off and work the pedals." [5] From then on she always played her church organ in her bare feet, a practice she continued for decades. [6] As a nine-year-old, she took over as the church organist when her predecessor called in sick. [4]
Around 12 or 13, Scott served as a piano tutor at her boarding school, work she continued into high school at the New Jersey Manual Training School in Bordentown, New Jersey. [7] [8] She enrolled at Westminster Choir College at age 16, and there discovered Bach. She remained at Westminster for two years, before financial concerns led to her leaving for a job as a bookkeeper at a fashion designer. [2] : 22 She later studied music theory at the Manhattan School of Music. [9] [10]
At 20 years old, Scott begain to play the organ in an R&B group. [2] : 22 She soon founded her own groups, gigging around metro New York, eventually opening for Count Basie in Newark, where he invited her to play his Harlem club. [2] : 23 In 1963, she recorded her first album, Live! at the Key Club (Tru-Sound/Prestige TSLP-15014). She also met Eddie Barclay, who paid $75 to acquire one of her songs, Hey Hey Hey [2] : 24 that became a big hit.
Little by little, Scott toured in every state in America, but tired of her group:
In general, my 2 bandmates were very attracted to sequins . . . and the longer we went on, the more they wanted me to dress sexier, with slit dresses, high heels, makeup, and I felt less and less comfortable in the situation, as if I didn't belong to myself.
In 1967, Scott moved to France, where she has since spent most of her career.
As well as making a career in jazz, Scott has also continued playing the organ in church: For forty years, she was the organist at her parish church in Perche, France. [3]
Scott married a Frenchman, actor-singer Raoul Saint-Yves in 1968 after which he became her manager. They had two children, both adopted, who were born in Haiti. [11]
Jean-Baptiste Illinois Jacquet was an American jazz tenor saxophonist, best remembered for his solo on "Flying Home", critically recognized as the first R&B saxophone solo. He is also known as one of the writers of the jazz standard "Don'cha Go 'Way Mad."
Barbara Dennerlein is a German jazz organist. She has achieved particular critical acclaim for using the bass pedalboard on a Hammond organ and for integrating synthesizer sounds onto the instrument, and was described by critic Ron Wynn as "the most interesting jazz organist to emerge during the 1980s".
Houston Person is an American jazz tenor saxophonist and record producer. Although he has performed in the hard bop and swing genres, he is most experienced in and best known for his work in soul jazz. He received the "Eubie Blake Jazz Award" in 1982.
James Witherspoon was an American jump blues singer.
James Oscar Smith was an American jazz musician who helped popularize the Hammond B-3 organ, creating a link between jazz and 1960s soul music.
Shirley Valerie Horn was an American jazz singer and pianist. She collaborated with many jazz musicians including Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie, Toots Thielemans, Ron Carter, Carmen McRae, Wynton Marsalis and others. She was most noted for her ability to accompany herself with nearly incomparable independence and ability on the piano while singing, something described by arranger Johnny Mandel as "like having two heads", and for her rich, lush voice, a smoky contralto, which was described by noted producer and arranger Quincy Jones as "like clothing, as she seduces you with her voice".
James Robert Forrest Jr. was an American jazz musician who played tenor saxophone throughout his career.
Wild Bill Davis was the stage name of American jazz pianist, organist, and arranger William Strethen Davis. He is best known for his pioneering jazz electric organ recordings and for his tenure with the Tympany Five, the backing group for Louis Jordan. Prior to the emergence of Jimmy Smith in 1956, Davis was the pacesetter among organists.
Lawrence Sam "Larry" Goldings is an American jazz keyboardist and composer. His music has explored elements of funk, blues, and fusion. Goldings has a comedic alter ego known as Hans Groiner.
Eugene McDuffy, known professionally as "Brother" Jack McDuff or "Captain" Jack McDuff, was an American jazz organist and organ trio bandleader. He was most prominent during the hard bop and soul jazz era of the 1960s, often performing with an organ trio. He is also credited with giving guitarist George Benson his first break.
Rolande Roberte Ginabat-Falcinelli was a French organist, pianist, composer, and music educator.
Shirley Scott was an American jazz organist. Her music was noted for its mixture of bebop, blues, and gospel elements. She was known by the nickname "Queen of the Organ".
Reuben Wilson was an American jazz organist in the soul jazz tradition. Widely sampled and influential among acid jazz musicians, he is best known for his album Got to Get Your Own.
Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra With Rhoda Scott is a 1976 big band jazz album recorded by jazz organist Rhoda Scott with the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Jazz Orchestra and released on the Barclay (France) record label.
Don Patterson was an American jazz organist.
The Bordentown School was a residential high school for African-American students in Bordentown in Burlington County, New Jersey, United States. Operated for most of the time as a publicly financed co-ed boarding school for African-American children, it was known as the "Tuskegee of the North" for its adoption of many of the educational practices first developed at the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama. The school closed down in 1955.
Francis Vidil, is a French classical musician, performer and music professor. Vidil is best known for his long-time affiliation with Versailles Conservatoire, where he became a Tenure Professor in 1996, as well as his numerous performances around the world. Currently lives in the city of Versailles. Vidil is one of the few performers in the world being able to play the organ and the trumpet simultaneously.
Ron Levy is an American electric blues musician and composer.
Éditions Hortus is an independent French disk label, offering largely unknown songs and works for the organ in addition to contemporary compositions. Specialised in organ and choir music, it has in particular presented disks recorded at the Notre Dame de Paris and of its choir 'Les Éléments', as well as of the young harpsichordist Benjamin Alard.
Joseph Samuel Thomas was an American jazz flutist and occasional saxophonist.
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Artists | |
| People | |
| Other | |
