Ask Jimmy Scott why Duke Ellington holds such significance for him and his answers reveal why we're so drawn to the legendary but hugely underappreciated singer.
Mood Indigo, which features Scott's deeply-felt readings of some of the works by the man often called America's greatest composer, arrives in stores Tuesday. Hands down, this after-hours delight is one of the year's most stylish, captivating and soulful vocal discs.
"A lot of sophistication, baby," the 75-year-old Scott says from his Euclid, Ohio, home when asked what he hears in the Duke's music.
"You enjoyed his music because you understood his intention in his presentation," he continues, adding he was always drawn to Ellington's "storytelling songs.
"He began to study himself and others and he knew how to relate to people musically," Scott says. "That's a gift, to be able to create music and relate it to our lives and times."
Which is what people credit Scott with doing, I remind him.
"Thank you," Scott says. "I hope that I am able to give something positive."
Such modesty!
Allow yourself to get lost in this sweet man's music and the profound tributes from artists like Lou Reed, Ray Charles and jazz chanteuse Nancy Wilson make complete sense.
"With Jimmy, it's not about the notes," Todd Barkan, who produced Mood Indigo, writes in the album's liner notes. "It's about the way he writes his name in our hearts."
Scott began singing with the Lionel Hampton Orchestra in 1949 and quickly earned a reputation as the best balladeer in the business. His behind-the-beat phrasing and voice -- which is often mistaken for a woman's -- made him a sensation.
"I have always sung that way," he explains. "My timing has always been the same. I didn't realize for the longest time that it had created a style for me."
Incidentally, Scott's height (4-foot-11) and voice are a result of Kallman's syndrome, a hormonal deficiency that causes sustained pre-adolescence.
No thanks to shady record companies, we were cheated out of hearing from Scott for nearly 20 years.
Through this blue period he remained positive, drawing strength from life lessons taught by his mother.
'Get up, fight back'
"When we were kids, and you know how kids are, one would beat up the other and she would always say, 'Get up, fight back,' " Scott says. "I loved her attitude and it helped me to dampen the hatred and hurt."
He'll also tell you that "if you look at life as it really is, you feel lucky to have the chance to give something that might be good."
Calling Barkan the best producer he's worked with is no ordinary compliment, given Scott's treatment at the hands of dictatorial producers.
"He gives you the freedom to express and release what you've created within yourself. That relationship is so important," Scott says.
"It's important they're on the same wavelength of expression because then they sense together the value of the songs."
Through the experience, Scott adds he learned "the beauty of knowing a great man, and knowing that there are great men who are sincerely in love with the work.
"That has a whole lot of bearing, babe."
BLUE NOTE: Also worth adding to your collection is Everybody's Somebody's Fool. The recently released, 15-song compilation features four songs Jimmy Scott recorded with the Lionel Hampton Orchestra 50 years ago.
