Mood Indigo

Jimmy Scott | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (June 6, 2000)
• Original Release Date: June 6, 2000
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Milestone
• ASIN: B00004TRTX
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #92,997 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Do not pass go, go directly to the Grammy awards. This is one of the most emotionally gripping, deeply satisfying vocal recitals in a month of Sundays. Jimmy Scott's roots in classic jazz and R&B give him a lifetime of experience to call upon, and now with Mood Indigo, producer Todd Barkan has placed Little Jimmy in the type of context his talent deserves. Barkan has surrounded the vocalist with a prime selection of mature modern jazzmen, self-assured in their own mastery and dedicated to the goal of creating an open, swinging canvas on which Scott can portray his genius for storytelling and emotional inflection. On "Imagination," Scott evokes a chilling sense of longing and resignation, as saxophone legend Hank Crawford and harmonica player Grégorie Maret offer spare, impeccably crafted solo ripostes, which only deepen the impact of Scott's fragile, lived-in instrument. Even more engrossing is Scott's convocation with pianist Cyrus Chestnut, bassist George Mraz, and drummer Grady Tate on the title tune, one of the most harrowing readings of the standard on record. Each tune is a little gem, bejeweled with elegant details only master jazzmen can provide, as with Joe Beck's sinuous alto guitar on "Without a Song." Scott's ability to immerse listeners in the emotional subtext of a song, with nothing more than that eggshell falsetto, broad vibrato, and halting phrasing, is miraculous. He is the closest thing extant to the Billie Holiday of Lady in Satin, and that's saying a mouthful. --Chip Stern

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars What a guy!, December 31, 2000

By 

jfpessoa (NYC/Portugal/Cyprus) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mood Indigo (Audio CD)

I would never have imagined that Jimmy Scott could have bettered the performances he gave on his last album "Holding Back the Years," but he's done exactly that. I thoroughly enjoyed the previous album, but I think what may have moved Jimmy to surpass it are the very fine jazz instrumentalists that he's singing with. This is an album that you want to put on, and then lie down on the couch and really listen too. This is a very satisfying jazz performance, and considering Jimmy's age it is an even greater accomplishment. If you like Jimmy Scott, you'll surely be very pleased with "Mood Indigo," and if you're not familiar with his work this album is a very special introduction.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Jimmy Scott as he should have been recorded 50 years ago, June 24, 2000

By 

William Noel (Sapporo, Japan) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mood Indigo (Audio CD)

Finally Jimmy Scott is getting recorded often, with musicians sensitive to his style and singing, and with the freedom to stretch out on ballads. Compare his version of Imagination recorded for Savoy back in the 50s and the one on this CD. The earlier recording was timed at less than 3 minutes while the song recorded this year took almost 7 minutes. (Some of that time is given to the instrumentalists for solos but Scott takes the song at a slower pace too.) The earlier version seemed too fast, especially for a singer like Jimmy Scott who is legendary for his phrasing, extending individual words, pronouncing every syllable and pausing for full effect. The two and three minute songs released in the 50s really do not do him justice simply because he was forced to sing faster than he normally would have sung in a nightclub date for instance. Although many of those songs are great too, I can always imagine what he would have done if free to sing as he wanted to sing. On this recording of Imagination I no longer have to imagine. The musicians on this album seem well suited to Scott's music. On three tracks he works with his own road band, the Jazz Expressions, while on most of the other tracks we hear Hank Crawford on alto sax, Cyrus Chestnut on piano, George Mraz on bass, and Grady Tate on drums. Gregoire Maret adds his Toots Thielemans-like harmonica effectively to Imagination, Without A Song, How Deep Is the Ocean?, and Blue Skies. Also Joe Beck's guitar, featured on There Will Never Be Another You and one of two renditions of the title cut Mood Indigo is particularly impressive. The guitar that he uses, called an alto guitar, is tuned a fifth lower than a usual guitar and has a haunting, full, almost ringing quality on the two ballads. Jimmy Scott's vocals make the songs doubly haunting, especially on Mood Indigo. The whole CD is extremely good but check out the 2 quite different versions of Mood Indigo, Time After Time with Scott and piano accompaniment alone, Without A Song,How Deep Is The Ocean?, Imagination, and There Will Never Be Another You. Overall this is an album to be compared with the singer's recent successes, All The Way, Dream and Holding Back The Years. As Lou Reed put it: "I hope he keeps singing until there isn't another song to sing."

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hooked the Very First Time Hearing Jimmy Scott's Mood Indigo, June 21, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Mood Indigo (Audio CD)

This was a situation where while browsing in the record store, I heard the most arresting voice accompanied by incredible jazz instrumentals. When I asked the store clerk who was playing, even he didn't know who it was but he was just as interested as I in finding out. Jimmy Scott. I had never heard of him before but just listening to the emotion and feeling of his distinctive voice along with the terrific musicianship of the artists accompanying him made me buy the album that day. I have listened to it everyday, always enjoying the experience. Especially noteworthy is the classic, "There Will Never Be Another You." Hearing Jimmy Scott sing it, I start to believe it myself. A wonderful CD. I'm glad I had the good fortune to be in the right place at the right time to discover for myself such a talent. Highly recommended.