Shirley Scott

Shirley Scott was born in 1934 in Philadelphia and was raised in a musical family.  As a schoolchild she played both trumpet and the piano.  She began playing jazz professionally on the then-robust and creative Philadelphia jazz scene.  Upon embarking in earnest in her professional career, in the mid 1950's Shirley turned to the Hammond B-3 Organ and established herself as one of the primary figures in our jazz organ canon.

 

Her first major professional association, and what a great one it was, was in the dynamic combos of saxophonist Eddie “Lockjaw” Davis, performing around the country and creating classic albums such as the Cookbooks.  By the early 1960's, Scott became one of the foremost jazz organists.  In this fertile and prominent period of her career, Shirley led her own groups, appeared as an accompanist to her then-husband Stanley Turrentine, and also used Stanley as her “sideman” – she produced prolific recording outputs in all these formats.

 

Scott stepped aside from her touring career in her later years, and focused on education in her native Pennsylvania, establishing a jazz music program at Cheney State University.  She continued to perform, mainly on piano, and she remained an important figure and mentor in Philadelphia, and on the national jazz scene, as well.

 

Shirley developed health problems in her sixties after taking the dietary supplement fen-phen, and she died of heart disease in 2002.  As a legal footnote to her life story, Shirley won a significant lawsuit against the makers of the drug shortly before her demise.

 

originally broadcast April 14, 2019