At JazzWax, book news, WSJ links to my celebrity interviews this week, amazing video of Rhoda Scott and more https://t.co/R0YnetgHMP pic.twitter.com/1NZ4GhR8FJ— Marc Myers (@JazzWax) 5 de novembro de 2016
Sunday, November 6, 2016
At JazzWax, #RhodaScott
Posted by jazzofilo at Sunday, November 06, 2016 0 comments
Labels: Rhoda Scott
Monday, October 17, 2011
Interview: Rhoda Scott
Used with permission by Marc Myers
Rhoda Scott is easily the finest Hammond B3 organist around today. Name unfamiliar to you? That's probably because Rhoda moved to Paris in 1968 and has lived there ever since. Over the past 43 years, Rhoda has become a jazz celebrity on the European jazz concert and club circuit. Over here, not so much. Nevertheless, organ buffs revere her albums, many of which were recorded in Paris and have a terrific relaxed feel.
Rhoda Scott: I was born in Dorothy, N.J. My family lived
JW: Tough when you’re a kid.
RS: Yes, but such abrupt change renders you flexible to different environments. But you’re right, it was a challenge losing friends all the time. There were seven children in my family—four girls and three boys. I was the oldest girl, but I had a brother who was older than me. Every time we got to a new town, we liked to see who would get to the top of the social scene first. We knew we didn’t have much time before moving again.
JW: What did your mother do?
RS: She played piano in my father’s church. But she died young—at age 38. I was little when she died. As a result, we
JW: How was he able to cover the family’s costs as a minister?
RS: He was a minister on the weekends, which provided us with housing. During the week he had to work. He had a job as a janitor at DuPont in Deepwater, N.J. He loved DuPont. He used to keep us wide-eyed with descriptions of what he had seen and what the company was doing.
JW: Did your father commute?
RS: Depending on where we were stationed, he would either sleep down by his job or come home on the
JW: How did you wind up playing the organ?
RS: I started on the piano tickling the keys at home or in
JW: And the organ?
RS: I discovered the organ around age 7. It was in our church and available to me. I used to walk up and down the organ’s pedalboards to see what those notes sounded like.
JW: Did you have a teacher?
RS: No, I picked up the organ on my own. I was in the
JW: Did you listen to records?
RS: We didn’t have any records. We had the radio. I’d listen
JW: When did you start playing professionally?
RS: Around 1955. A guy in my church choir asked me to fill in for the piano player in his band. I told him that I didn’t know how to play that kind of music. He said it didn’t matter, he just needed someone.
JW: What happened?
RS: I went on the gig. They played blues, a lot of standards
JW: What was the group’s name?
RS: Originally, we were Lee Smith’s Satellites, which he soon changed to Lee Smith’s Hi-Larks. It was quartet. After the name change, he added singer Larry O'Neill.
JW: How did you wind up on the Hammond organ?
RS: On the first night, there was a piano. I told him I played organ. So he bought a small organ with a speaker. He was no fool. Since I played bass with my feet on the pedals, Smith didn’t need to hire a bass player.
JW: How did you wind up fronting your own group?
RS: Lee Smith played gigs only on the weekends. During
JW: How quickly did you catch on in local clubs?
RS: Pretty fast. Two well-known and well-respected
JW: What kind of music were you playing?
RS: We were copying a lot of things that were popular then. Also, R&B funk. Every member of the trio had to bring in a tune. Joe Thomas was and is a fantastic arranger. He brought in a lot of big band things. Some he wrote himself. We played almost the entire Basie book then, like Shiny Stockings.
JW: Did Basie ever hear you?
RS: Yes. In Newark we used to play during intermission at dances. At one of them, Count Basie was the headliner, and he heard us.
JW: What did he say?
RS: He asked me if we would come and play his lounge in Harlem. It was very impressive. Clark Monroe was the emcee.
JW: What did you say?
RS: I know this sounds crazy, but I wanted to finish my studies. So I stopped playing in the group. I enrolled at the Manhattan School of Music and played as a single act so I could finance my studies. I don't know why I turned down Griff and Lockjaw. Maybe there was something about me that didn't want to succeed [laughs].
JW: Was education always important in your house growing up?
RS: My father was so bent on our schooling. All of my
JW: In 1967 you moved to France. Why?
RS: I went to study with Nadia Boulanger, who had taught Quincy Jones, Philip Glass and many other musicians. The head of my department at the Manhattan School of Music suggested it.
JW: What was Boulanger like?
RS: She was a bit rigid and formal. We came from such different backgrounds. To me, she was like from another
JW: Did you return to the U.S. after your studies in Paris?
RS: Yes, in September 1967. But I was so impressed with France and the culture there, I told myself that I had to go
JW: You recorded quite a bit for the French Barclay records.
RS: My husband was a big friend of Eddie Barclay, the label’s owner. Eddie let me have total control over my records. I could record when I wanted and what I wanted. I also began playing all over Europe.
JW: How did you wind up recording with the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Big Band?
RS: When Mel Lewis came to Paris, he visited the Bilboquet Club, where I was playing. He sat in and loved the
JW: What did you think?
RS: I brushed it off. I said, “No way, I’m not going back to New York to do it.” But my husband thought it was a terrific idea and we rolled forward.
JW: Are you still married to your husband today?
RS: Unfortunately, my husband Raoul passed away a little over two years ago. We loved each other very much.
JW: I'm so sorry. Let me ask you, why do you think European audiences love the Hammond organ so much?
RS: They take the organ very seriously there. The organ comes from the church, so they respect it. In the U.S., the organ is most associated with the black church and gospel.
JW: What's the appeal of the organ?
RS: It replaced the big band, since it could mimic all of the instruments at once. In fact, the musicians’ union said organists had to be paid double because that person was handling the bass player’s role as well.
JW: How are you perceived in Europe today?
RS: It’s hard to say from my perspective. I guess in some countries I’m perceived as a little star. In
JW: How about in France?
RS: I’ve had a really good career there and in Belgium and the Netherlands. In each country there’s a nursery of great organists coming up all the time. The tradition gets passed from generation to generation.
JW: Who are your personal organ heroes?
RS: Jimmy Smith—he’s the man. And Richard “Groove”
JW: Who are you listening to now?
RS: Fats Waller. I love listening to him play organ. All organists listen to other organists. You have to. As a result, there’s a constant stream of knowledge that’s passed between us. As instrumentalists, we’re more attached to each other.
JW: And now you’re returning to college?
RS: I love education. I love studying. I just started at Rutgers a month ago, I'm working toward a Masters of Arts
JW: Will you be performing before returning to Europe in late December?
RS: Yes. An "Organ Jam" in Newark on December 3 (go here).
JW: Tell me about appearing on vocalist David Linx’s new album, Rock My Boat.
RS: I met David in Belgium at a jazz festival. We did
JW: A good fit?
RS: Yes, we all blended together well. It was recorded outside of Paris. The studio had a Hammond B3, but I
JW: Still playing barefoot?
RS: Always.
- Take a Ladder (1968)
- Live at the Olympia (1971)
- In New York with Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Big Band (1976)
- Rhoda Scott and Kenny Clarke (1977)
Here's a taste of Hit the Road Jack...
Oh, one more. Moanin' from the early '70s...
Used with permission by Marc Myers, http://www.jazzwax.com/2011/10/interview-rhoda-scott.html
Posted by jazzofilo at Monday, October 17, 2011 0 comments
Labels: Rhoda Scott
Friday, October 23, 2009
Moanin' - Rhoda Scott 1972
Rhoda Scott live on the Hammond C3 B3 jazz organ with one speed 22H Leslie + drummer Cees Kranenburg jr. From the full TV show 1972 and 1974 45-45min.
She have great homepage: www.rhodascott.com
Posted by jazzofilo at Friday, October 23, 2009 0 comments
Labels: Rhoda Scott
Rhoda Scott
The number of jazz musicians having adopted the organ are rather few in number, compared to other instruments used in jazz:: Fats Waller, Jimmy Smith, Bill Doggett, "Wild" Bill Davis, Lou Bennet, Jimmy McGriff, and naturally Rhoda Scott. The latter achieves an original synthesis in her productions and in her music and she allows herself with grace and joy to combine themes which are typically jazz, other religious, but also themes from classical music played in jazz.This is wat she demonstrates in her music. Thus it is not surprising to discover, other than her original compositions, wel-known jazz tunes, classical music themes or French airs at the same time as certain Gospels or Negro Spirituals.
All of this comes from the essence of her personality and the unique characteristics of the Hammond organ, so original on the level of jazz music.
Posted by jazzofilo at Friday, October 23, 2009 0 comments
Labels: Rhoda Scott
Monday, November 24, 2008
Barbara Dennerlein & Rhoda Scott on Hammond B3 Organ
Can you handle this much organ? We are used to guitarists like Duane Allman and Dickey Betts, or Derek Trucks and Warren Haynes mixing it up, but Rhoda Scott and Barbara Dennerlein prove that instrumental music isn't just a man's world.
This impromptu performance took place in Switzerland in 2002 at the Bern Jazz Festival, bringing together two legends of the Hammond B3 Organ - the 5 time Downbeat Critics Poll Winner Barbara Dennerlein and the great Soul Jazz artist Rhoda Scott, a.k.a. "Barefoot Lady" - called a very great virtuoso by Arthur Rubinstein.
For Dennerlein fans this is a bit unusual, because Barbara isn't playing pedal bass. This number "Nova" was composed by Rhoda, an accomplished pedal bass player herself, so she provides the bass lines.
Not only are they smoking hot soloists, but check out the great interplay, harmonics, and accompaniment.
Categoria: Música
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ra4kYAYCdeI&NR=1
Posted by jazzofilo at Monday, November 24, 2008 0 comments
Labels: Barbara Dennerlein, Rhoda Scott