Customer Reviews

Mood Indigo

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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.

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."

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.

This is Scott's most satisfying album since "All the Way," thanks to the judicious selection of material (not a weak song in the collection) and the supporting cast. Seeing Scott perform at a Milwaukee club not long ago, I experienced visually the quality that I had sensed on his recordings. He seemed on the verge of falling off the stand at any instant, lending added drama to the performance of each song and a sense of shared triumph at its completion. The combination of risk and vulnerability is reminiscent of late Holiday and Garland, except that Jimmy manages to hang on. One caveat: He's no up-tempo singer, and with less-than-ample breath reserves and with ballads taken this slowly, there are numerous open spaces (imagine Billie's "Lady in Satin" or Shirley Horne's "Here's to Life" without strings). I hope he's paired up with an arranger such as Johnny Mandel for his next recording.

I am a Jimmy Scott fan and I find this to be one of his best. His voice and the production are excellent. This is a must for any Jimmy Scott or jazz aficionado.

I decided to write a recommendation because I think you'll find Little Jimmy Scott to fit every mood. I'm in college as a struggling junior and began to get very stressed with finals...and I was watching the Cosby Show and Bill was listening to "An Evening in Paradise" and I fell in love with the brief clip of Little Jimmy Scott and looked the album and song up on amazon and well, my stressful thoughts evaporated and suddenly the only important things were the simple things again. I wanted to encourage people to listen to any of Little Jimmy Scott's albums to find comforting and uplifting music for any part of your day.

Live or on a cd, Jimmy Scott is absolutely fabulous.

Jimmy Scott has the most unique swinging soul in the universe. He stretches songs into sweet ballads like taffy. I especially like the sensitive accompaniment of his long-time backup band, The Jazz Expressions, who you will hear at Jimmy's live performances, and who have a great self-titled album of their own here on Amazon.

I first became familiar with Jimmy Scott when he performed in the last episode of the TV series Twin Peaks. I have been hooked ever since. All the Way is a favorite, and this one is just as moving. Lou Reed said it best, "he has the voice of an angel and can break your heart."

Well, I'm really not sure what to write, i just remembered that it's possible to review stuff on Amazon so I felt like sharing some of my thoughts on this album with you...I've not been listening to jazz records for a long time, so far I only own three of them. My first jazz record was a Louis Armstrong, then another Armstrong and then one with Jimmy Scott. I had seen him in some jazz documentary, there many people talked about how great he was and so on but from the short clips they played with him singing I couldn't really tell wheter I agreed or not. Well, now I know! :o) He's gotta be the best jazz vocalist ever, nature's given him a great voice but it's really in the way he uses it! This is best shown in "Mood indigo" where he starts singing a bit too slow and then his voice slowly - without letting us notice the change - starts swinging! Well, that's about it... ;o)