It's hard to imagine the name Jimmy Scott without "The Legendary" before it. Now 81 years old, Scott is a survivor and a phenom, and his roller-coaster life is evidenced in his voice. To hear Jimmy Scott sing is to undergo an experience unparalleled in music. His voice is at once angelic and earthbound; his unique phrasing is intuitive and emotional, giving the song lyrics extra potency and passion. As one critic said, "He can carry a vowel into forever." Billie Holiday, Ray Charles, and Marvin Gaye are among the many more famous singers who have praised Scott.

Born third in a family of ten children in Cleveland in 1925, Scott's mother was a seamstress and his father was an asphalt worker. Early on he sang with his siblings, and knew he wanted to be a singer who could tell a story, modeling himself after Paul Robeson. But the heartbreaks began early for Scott with the death of his mother when he was 13, and the onset of Kallman's Syndrome, a hormone deficiency that stopped his body from going through puberty, keeping his voice a haunting high alto.

Although he tasted fame in the 1950s singing with the Lionel Hampton band, and had several R&B hits, including "Everybody's Somebody's Fool," Scott spent the next four and half decades gigging in small clubs. He has probably cleared as many dishes in his stints as a busboy as he has sung songs. He's also worked as an elevator operator, and in shipping and receiving at the former Sheraton Hotel in Cleveland.

His early success failed to launch his career until the 1980s, when he moved to New York, signed with a major record label, released several critically acclaimed albums, and performed with Michael Stipe and Lou Reed. He became a star in Europe, is a phenomenon in Japan, and made appearances in films and TV shows, including David Lynch's "Twin Peaks," where he sang "Sycamore Trees" in an eerie star turn. According to the New York Times Magazine, Scott is "perhaps the most unjustly ignored American singer of the 20^th century."

Scott has been nominated for Grammy award, is the subject of a new documentary film, and has had a recent biography released. It's often said that you cannot be a prophet in your own land, but Cleveland now recognizes and honors this native son, "Little Jimmy Scott," a jazz cat with a few extra lives.

— Amy Sparks
Summer 2006

— —

honors & awards | nominate | become a member | about us | endowment |archive | news & events