JIMMY SCOTT – HEAVEN (Warner Bros.)1996
With a career plagued by bad luck remarkable even for the cutthroat entertainment industry, Jimmy Scott, at age 71 is still an unknown commodity to most of the listening public. Unscrupulous management and unfair recording contracts have resulted in many of his best performances remaining unreleased or virtually impossible to find.
First recording in 1948 as vocalist with Lionel Hampton’s band, he has recorded sporadically ever since, working with such legends as Charles Mingus and Ray Charles. One of the great jazz ballad singers, the few Scott albums to see release are today cherished collector’s items.
Billed as “Little” Jimmy Scott, a diminutive stature and delicate looks led many to assume he was a child. Due to a medical condition Scott never went through puberty. In addition to the more obvious physical ramifications, Scott’s voice has remained high pitched, resulting in a sound that is somewhere between adolescent and a mature saloon singer, as likely to alienate as attract, with an eerie sense that once heard is not easy to forget. Scott often takes numbers at painfully slow tempo, emphasizing the songs’ lyrics, phrasing each word to create an intimate, at times almost otherworldly sound.
In 1992 Scott signed with Sire/Warner Bros., finally securing a fair recording contract. Heaven, the third album for the label, is made up entirely of gospel-based material. While there are a number of traditional numbers, more surprising are those from less obvious sources: songs by Talking Heads, Curtis Mayfield and Bob Dylan mix easily with standards like Just As I Am and Wayfairin’ Stranger. Scott’s treatment on these tune is such that little of the original melody is left intact. Familiar songs transform into entirely new creations: Julie Miller’s All My Tears, already covered by Emmylou Harris on last years’ Wrecking Ball, comes off as a long lost jazz ballad, hardly reminiscent of the original version.
A few years back Scott appeared on an episode of TV’s Twin Peaks as a lounge singer. The role was entirely fitting: an otherworldly singer with chops that appear heaven sent, but with a decidedly bizarre twist. Ethereal lounge. In Heaven we get a very personal glimpse of one individual’s relationship with his Creator.