Shirley Scott

Known as the "Queen of the Organ," pianist and Hammond B-3 master Shirley Scott shaped the core identity of small-group soul-jazz through a fusion of swinging bebop lines with deep gospel and blues roots. She first rose to prominence in the 1950s as a key member of saxophonist Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis’s ensemble, cutting a run of landmark Prestige sessions that included the 1958 hit single “In the Kitchen” and established an enduring model for the organ-trio-plus-sax format. Among her own early releases were the 1958 album Shirley's Sounds, 1964’s Soul Shoutin', and 1967’s Girl Talk, several of which spotlighted her then-husband, tenor saxophonist Stanley Turrentine. The pair also delivered a sequence of influential Blue Note recordings such as 1963’s Never Let Me Go and 1968’s Common Touch that further solidified the soul-jazz aesthetic. Additional work for Atlantic brought her together with King Curtis, Hank Crawford, and David "Fathead" Newman on the 1969 set Shirley Scott & the Soul Saxes. After parting from Turrentine she continued on Cadet and Strata East, enlisting Harold Vick, George Coleman, and Ron Carter while applying her organically funky approach to contemporary pop and R&B material. Renewed interest in organ jazz sustained her into the 1990s, when she also returned to acoustic piano for a pair of trio recordings highlighted by 1991’s Blues Everywhere; she died in 2002.

Scott entered the world in 1934 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where her father operated a neighborhood jazz club that filled her childhood with live music. She began piano studies at age eight, later switching to trumpet and performing in the all-city high-school band. Following graduation she earned both a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in music from Pennsylvania’s Cheyney University. Drawn to the pioneering Hammond B-3 style of Jimmy Smith, she adopted the organ and cultivated a personal approach that remained melodic while staying rooted in blues and gospel feeling. Greater visibility arrived once she joined the group of tenor saxophonist Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis, resulting in several breakthrough Prestige albums highlighted by 1958’s The Cookbook, Vol. 1 and its hit track “In the Kitchen.”

That same year Scott made her debut as a leader with Great Scott! for Prestige, using bassist George Duvivier and drummer Arthur Edgehill from the Davis band; the companion date Shirley's Sounds emerged from the identical session. Subsequent small-group dates for the label included 1959’s Soul Searching and the two 1960 releases Soul Sister and Like Cozy, most of them employing bass rather than a second chordal instrument at the label’s request to distinguish her from other organists. Tenor saxophonist Stanley Turrentine appeared on several of these projects; the two married in 1960 and went on to record a series of Blue Note albums—among them 1961’s Hip Soul, 1963’s The Soul Is Willing, and 1968’s Soul Song—that left a lasting mark on soul-jazz. Their partnership extended to collaborations with Joe Newman, Kenny Burrell, Clark Terry, and Oliver Nelson. Atlantic sessions closed the decade, including 1969’s Shirley Scott & the Soul Saxes with King Curtis, Hank Crawford, and David "Fathead" Newman, plus 1970’s Something, which recast Beatles and Jackson 5 material through her organ lens.

After the marriage ended in the early 1970s, Scott resumed leading her own groups. Three albums for Cadet—Mystical Lady (1971), Lean on Me (1972), and Superstition (1973)—again found her translating pop and R&B songs into funky jazz settings, supported by saxophonists George Patterson, Pee Wee Ellis, and George Coleman, bassist Ron Carter, and drummer Bobby Durham. She moved to Strata East for 1974’s One for Me, teaming with saxophonist Harold Vick and drummer Billy Higgins. Recording activity dipped during the 1980s, yet a revival of interest in soul-jazz organ brought fresh opportunities. The 1989 Muse release Oasis featured saxophonists Charles Davis and Houston Person, trumpeter Virgil Jones, bassist Harper Jones, and drummer Mickey Roker; the same rhythm section appeared on 1991’s Great Scott! alongside saxophonist Buck Hill. Returning to Cheyney University in the 1990s, she taught piano and jazz history while embracing acoustic piano on the trio album Blues Everywhere and the live recording Skylark, both from 1991. Her final album, 1996’s A Walkin' Thing, presented a quartet with trumpeter Terrell Stafford, saxophonist Timothy Warfield, bassist Arthur Harper, and drummer Aaron Walker. Fen-phen use had damaged her heart by the late 1990s; she received an eight-million-dollar settlement in 2000. Scott died of heart failure on March 10, 2002, at age 67 in Philadelphia’s Presbyterian Hospital.