|
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
Jimmy Scott: Day One at the Dakota (Concert Review) |
|
|
|
Written by Pamela Espeland
|
|
Tuesday, 11 October 2005 |
 Jimmy Scott © Andrea Canter
Scott and the Jazz Expressions trio—Graves, Greene, and drummer Dwayne Broadnax—are in Minneapolis for a two-day engagement at the Dakota Jazz Club on Monday and Tuesday, October 10–11. The second set on Monday began with an instrumental by the trio, and then Scott came slowly through the curtain. Many members of the audience rose to their feet to greet him.
His first song was “[Take] All of Me” by Gerald Marks and Seymour Simons. We think of it is an old song, a classic, because it is; Frank Sinatra recorded it four times. When it first became a hit in 1931, Jimmy Scott was six years old, a small boy in Cleveland listening to Paul Robeson on the radio. This was followed by “I Got It Bad,” “How Deep Is the Ocean,” and “It Had to Be You.”
Many people have commented that Scott’s voice isn’t what it used to be. In performance, that doesn’t seem to matter. He’s never really been about hitting notes with surgical precision, and he has his own sense of timing. He can still move from a big note to a whisper, and he Jimmy Scott © Andrea Canter
At some point early in the show, after the first song or the second, Scott said, “There’s no business like show business.” It’s evident that after all these decades, he loves to perform. He seemed to grow stronger—his voice, even his posture—as the set progressed. He drew energy from the audience, then turned around and gave it right back to us.
Blues giant B.B. King is also 80; he’s just released a new CD of duets (called “80”) with the likes of Eric Clapton, Van Morrison, John Mayer, and Elton John. King still sounds like he could punch your teeth out. Scott is doing some collaborating of his own. On Saturday, October 13, he’s scheduled to make a special guest appearance with recent Mercury Music Prize winners Antony and the Johnsons at Carnegie Hall. Antony performed at the Woman’s Club in Minneapolis last Thursday, October 6; he is (as Rolling Stone described him) “a ghost-white giant with a voice of singular majesty.” Jimmy Scott is a wisp of a man with a voice of sheer will, spirituality, and passion. I envy those New Yorkers who will see them together. What a show that will be. |
|
 Tuesday, 02 December 2008
|
|
|
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|
|
Home | CD Reviews | Interviews | SF Bay Area | Chicago | Los Angeles | New York | Twin Cities, MN | More Cities | Festivals | FAQ | News | Contact | Video of the Week | 
