Rhoda Scott Explained

Rhoda Scott
Birth Name:Rhoda Scott
Alias:The Barefoot Lady
Birth Date:3 July 1938
Birth Place:Dorothy neighborhood of Weymouth Township, New Jersey
Genre:soul jazz
Occupation:Musician
Organist
Singer
Instruments:Organ
Years Active:1955 - Present

Rhoda Scott (born July 3, 1938) is an American soul jazz organist and singer. She is nicknamed "The Barefoot Lady".

Biography and musical career

Scott was born and raised in the Dorothy neighborhood of Weymouth Township, New Jersey, the first child to a Black travelling minister father and a white mother.[1] She has six siblings.[2]

Her parents were themselves musicians, playing piano and organ, and singing as well. As a minister, her father moved frequently to different small churches and he would take her along with him to where he worked, where she heard her first gospel and spirituals.[3]

Scott was first attracted to the organ in her father's church at age seven. "It's really the most beautiful instrument in the world", she stated in a 2002 interview. "The first thing I did was take my shoes off and work the pedals."[4] From then on she always played her church organ in her bare feet, a practice she continued for decades.[5] As a nine-year-old, she took over as the church organist when her predecessor called in sick.[6]

Around 12 or 13, Scott served as a piano tutor at her boarding school, work she continued into high school at the New Jersey Manual Training School in Bordentown, New Jersey.[7] [8] She enrolled at Westminster Choir College at age 16, and there discovered Bach. She remained at Westminster for two years, before financial concerns led to her leaving for a job as a bookkeeper at a fashion designer. She later studied music theory at the Manhattan School of Music.[9] [10]

At 20 years old, Scott begain to play the organ in an R&B group. She soon founded her own groups, gigging around metro New York, eventually opening for Count Basie in Newark, where he invited her to play his Harlem club. In 1963, she recorded her first album, Live! at the Key Club (Tru-Sound/Prestige TSLP-15014). She also met Eddie Barclay, who paid $75 to acquire one of her songs, Hey Hey Hey that became a big hit.

Little by little, Scott toured in every state in America, but tired of her group:

In 1967, Scott moved to France, where she has since spent most of her career.

As well as making a career in jazz, Scott has also continued playing the organ in church: For forty years, she was the organist at her parish church in Perche, France.

Personal life

Scott married a Frenchman, actor-singer Raoul Saint-Yves in 1968 after which he became her manager. They had two children, both adopted, who were born in Haiti.[11]

Discography

Compilations

External links

Notes and References

  1. News: Dutilh . Alex . L'actualité du jazz : Rhoda Scott, Lady Quartet et autres princesses . France Musique . 6 March 2023 . fr . 8 January 2017.
  2. Ollivier . Stéphane . December 2021 . 744 . Rhoda Scott, Hammond & merveilles . Rhoda Scott, Hammond & Their Wonders . fr . Jazz Magazine . 20–26.
  3. News: fr . Alex . Dutilh . Rhoda Scott, roulements de blues . Rhoda Scott, Movin' Blues . 29 January 2020 . France Musique . 22 December 2021. .
  4. News: The Death and Rebirth of the Hammond B-3. Wall Street Journal . January 8, 2002.
  5. http://www.luxury-heritage.com/home/artists/rhoda-scott/rhoda-scott-press.html luxury-heritage.com
  6. Wilson, John S. "Jazz Organist Glad She is Home Again", The New York Times, January 27, 1974. Accessed March 7, 2023. "'I was the oldest of seven children and, when I was little, we were constantly moving because my father was a minister and his church changed from year to year.'... Miss Scott was born in 1938 in Dorothy, N. J., in Atlantic County. She became the organist in her father's church at the age of 9, when she volunteered to replace the regular organist, who was ill."
  7. https://www.newspapers.com/clip/120405758/rhoda-scott-of-the-bordentown-school/ "A Cappella Choir, Dance Croup Give Interesting Program At Eastside High"
  8. http://blogforallensworth.blogspot.com/2010/05/place-out-of-time-bordentown-school.html "A Place Out Of Time – The Bordentown School"
  9. Wilkins, Tim. "Master musician Rhoda Scott is back in Jersey, and back in school", NJ Advance Media for NJ.com / The Star-Ledger, December 2, 2011. Accessed March 7, 2023. "Scott has a gift for understatement. The Atlantic County native — she grew up in the Dorothy section of Weymouth Township — has lived in Paris for 43 years, and since she is one of her instrument’s greatest players, it’s big news that she is back.... She studied at Westminster Choir College in Princeton but dropped out to work as a bookkeeper."
  10. https://www.newspapers.com/clip/120361869/jazz-artist-rhoda-scott/ "Organist, Guitarist Booked For Jazz Concert in PHS"
  11. https://www.jazzwax.com/2011/10/interview-rhoda-scott.html Interview with Rhoda Scott

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