Tony Scott (born Anthony Joseph Sciacca June 17, 1921 – March 28, 2007) was an American jazz clarinetist and arranger with an interest in
folk music
Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has ...
around the world. For most of his career he was held in high esteem in
new-age music
New-age is a genre of music intended to create artistic inspiration, relaxation, and optimism. It is used by listeners for yoga, massage, meditation, and reading as a method of stress management to bring about a state of ecstasy rather than ...
circles because of his involvement in music linked to Asian cultures and to meditation.
Biography
Born in
Morristown, New Jersey
Morristown () is a town and the county seat of Morris County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Scott attended
Juilliard School
The Juilliard School ( ) is a Private university, private performing arts music school, conservatory in New York City. Established in 1905, the school trains about 850 undergraduate and graduate students in dance, drama, and music. It is widely ...
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'', March 31, 2007. Accessed July 23, 2012. "Anthony Joseph Sciacca — his family name is pronounced "Shaka" — was born on June 17, 1921, in Morristown, N.J., to parents who had come from Sicily." In the 1950s he worked with
Sarah Vaughan
Sarah Lois Vaughan (March 27, 1924 – April 3, 1990) was an American jazz singer.
Nicknamed "Sassy" and " The Divine One", she won two Grammy Awards, including the Lifetime Achievement Award, and was nominated for a total of nine Grammy Award ...
and
Billie Holiday
Billie Holiday (born Eleanora Fagan; April 7, 1915 – July 17, 1959) was an American jazz and swing music singer. Nicknamed "Lady Day" by her friend and music partner, Lester Young, Holiday had an innovative influence on jazz music and pop s ...
. He also had a young
Bill Evans
William John Evans (August 16, 1929 – September 15, 1980) was an American jazz pianist and composer who worked primarily as the leader of his trio. His use of impressionist harmony, interpretation of traditional jazz repertoire, block ch ...
and Paul Motian as side-men on several albums released between 1957 and 1959. In the late 1950s, he won on four occasions the ''
DownBeat
' (styled in all caps) is an American music magazine devoted to "jazz, blues and beyond", the last word indicating its expansion beyond the jazz realm which it covered exclusively in previous years. The publication was established in 1934 in Ch ...
'' critics poll for clarinetist in 1955, 1957, 1958 and 1959. He was known for a more " cool" style on the instrument than his peer
Buddy DeFranco
Boniface Ferdinand Leonard "Buddy" DeFranco (February 17, 1923 – December 24, 2014) was an Italian-American jazz clarinetist. In addition to his work as a bandleader, DeFranco led the Glenn Miller Orchestra for almost a decade in the 1960s and ...
who often played a more aggressive bebop style.
Despite this, he remained relatively little-known as the
clarinet
The clarinet is a musical instrument in the woodwind family. The instrument has a nearly cylindrical bore and a flared bell, and uses a single reed to produce sound.
Clarinets comprise a family of instruments of differing sizes and pitch ...
had been in eclipse in jazz since the emergence of
bebop
Bebop or bop is a style of jazz developed in the early-to-mid-1940s in the United States. The style features compositions characterized by a fast tempo, complex chord progressions with rapid chord changes and numerous changes of key, instrumen ...
. In 1959, he left New York City, where he had been based, and abandoned the United States for a time. In the 1960s, he toured South, East, and Southeast Asia. This led to his playing in a Hindu temple, spending time in
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the n ...
Verve Records
Verve Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group (UMG). Founded in 1956 by Norman Granz, the label is home to the world's largest jazz catalogue, which includes recordings by artists such as Ella Fitzgerald, Nina Simon ...
. In 1960 a ''DownBeat'' poll for Japan saw readers there name him best clarinetist while the United States preferred
Buddy DeFranco
Boniface Ferdinand Leonard "Buddy" DeFranco (February 17, 1923 – December 24, 2014) was an Italian-American jazz clarinetist. In addition to his work as a bandleader, DeFranco led the Glenn Miller Orchestra for almost a decade in the 1960s and ...
. He did a Japanese special on
Buddhism
Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...
and jazz, although he continued to work with American jazz musicians and played at the
Newport Jazz Festival
The Newport Jazz Festival is an annual American multi-day jazz music festival held every summer in Newport, Rhode Island. Elaine Lorillard established the festival in 1954, and she and husband Louis Lorillard financed it for many years. They hir ...
in 1965. In the years following that he worked in Germany, Africa, and at times in South America.
He settled in Italy in the 1970s, working with Italian jazz musicians such as Franco D'Andrea and Romano Mussolini. He also played the part of a Sicilian-American Mafia boss in
Glauber Rocha
Glauber de Andrade Rocha (; 14 March 1939 – 22 August 1981) was a Brazilian film director, actor and screenwriter. He was one of the most influential moviemakers of Brazilian cinema and a key figure of Cinema Novo. His films '' Black God, Whit ...
's film ''Claro'' (1975). In later years he began showing an interest in
electronica
Electronica is both a broad group of electronic-based music styles intended for listening rather than strictly for dancing and a music scene that started in the early 1990s in the United Kingdom. In the United States, the term is mostly used to ...
RCA Victor
RCA Records is an American record label currently owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside RCA's former long-time rival Columbia Records; also A ...
)
*1956: ''Both Sides of Tony Scott'' (
RCA Victor
RCA Records is an American record label currently owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside RCA's former long-time rival Columbia Records; also A ...
)
*1956: ''The Touch of Tony Scott'' (RCA Victor)
*1957: ''The Complete Tony Scott'' (RCA Victor)
*1957: ''The Modern Art of Jazz'' (Seeco)
*1957: ''Free Blown Jazz'' (Carlton)
*1957: " Magic Clarinet / The Jazz Charmer"( Perfect) reissued in 1959 as ''Clarinette enchantée'' (FR) - ''My Kind of Jazz'' (US)
*1957: ''Tony Scott Swinging in Sweden'' (RCA) with Rune Öfwerman trio
*1957: ''Tony Scott in South Africa'' (RCA, Teal, South Africa)
*1957: ''Tony Scott In Concert, with Horst Jankowski trio (in Ljubljana)'' (live recording released in 1990)
*1958: ''South Pacific'' ( ABC Paramount)
*1959: ''Golden Moments'' also as ''I'll Remember'' (
Muse
In ancient Greek religion and mythology, the Muses ( grc, Μοῦσαι, Moûsai, el, Μούσες, Múses) are the inspirational goddesses of literature, science, and the arts. They were considered the source of the knowledge embodied in ...
) (club live recording released in 1985)
*1959: ''Sung Heroes'' ( Sunnyside) (released in 1986)
*1960: ''Gipsy'' (
Signature
A signature (; from la, signare, "to sign") is a Handwriting, handwritten (and often Stylization, stylized) depiction of someone's name, nickname, or even a simple "X" or other mark that a person writes on documents as a proof of identity and ...
Sonet Records
Sonet Records was a jazz, pop and rock record label operating as an imprint of Universal Music Sweden. It was founded in Sweden in 1956.
Sonet Records was established by Sven Lindholm and Gunnar Bergström, who managed the label into the 1980s ...
)
*1977: ''Meditation'' by Tony Scott featuring
Jan Akkerman
Jan Akkerman (born 24 December 1946) is a Dutch guitarist. He first found international commercial success with the band Focus, which he co-founded with Thijs van Leer. After leaving Focus, he continued as a solo musician, adding jazz fusion infl ...
(
Polydor
Polydor Records Ltd. is a German-British record label that operates as part of Universal Music Group. It has a close relationship with Universal's Interscope Geffen A&M Records label, which distributes Polydor's releases in the United State ...
)
*1978: ''Boomerang'' by Tony Scott & The Traditional Jazz Studio ( Supraphon)
*1981: ''Rozhovory'' by Tony Scott, Jiri Stivin & Rudolf Dasek ( Supraphon)
*1988: ''Astral Meditation: Voyage into a Black Hole - Part 1'' (Core)
*1988: ''Astral Meditation: Voyage into a Black Hole - Part 2 - Astrala'' (Core)
*1988: ''Astral Meditation: Voyage into a Black Hole - Part 3 - Astrobo'' (Core)
*1989: '' Lush Life'' (Core)
*2004: ''Tony Scott & The Mario Rusca Trio - The Old Lion Roars'' (GMG Music by Saar Records)
*2007: ''Talkingmoods''
*2007: ''A Jazz Life''
*2013: ''Love Transfusion''
As sideman
With
Trigger Alpert
Herman "Trigger" Alpert (September 3, 1916 – December 21, 2013) was an American jazz bassist from Indianapolis, Indiana.
Music career
A native of Indianapolis, Alpert attended Indiana University, where he studied music. Soon after, he played ...
John Lewis
John Robert Lewis (February 21, 1940 – July 17, 2020) was an American politician and civil rights activist who served in the United States House of Representatives for from 1987 until his death in 2020. He participated in the 1960 Nashville ...
Norgran
Norgran Records was an American jazz record label in Los Angeles founded by Norman Granz in 1953. It became part of Verve Records, which Granz created in 1956. It is the first letters of Granz's full name.
Discography 10 inch LP series
12 inch L ...
, 1955)
With
Mundell Lowe
James Mundell Lowe (April 21, 1922 – December 2, 2017) was an American jazz guitarist who worked often in radio, television, and film, and as a session musician.
He produced film and TV scores in the 1970s, such as the '' Billy Jack'' soundtra ...
*''
Porgy & Bess
''Porgy and Bess'' () is an English-language opera by American composer George Gershwin, with a libretto written by author DuBose Heyward and lyricist Ira Gershwin. It was adapted from Dorothy Heyward and DuBose Heyward's play '' Porgy'', itse ...
Bethlehem
Bethlehem (; ar, بيت لحم ; he, בֵּית לֶחֶם '' '') is a city in the central West Bank, Palestine, about south of Jerusalem. Its population is approximately 25,000,Amara, 1999p. 18.Brynen, 2000p. 202. and it is the capital ...
, 1954)
With the
Metronome All-Stars
The Metronome All-Stars were a collection of jazz musicians assembled for studio recordings by ''Metronome Magazine'', based on its readers' polls. The studio sessions were held in the years 1939-42, 1946–53, and 1956, and typically consisted of ...
Clef
A clef (from French: 'key') is a musical symbol used to indicate which notes are represented by the lines and spaces on a musical stave. Placing a clef on a stave assigns a particular pitch to one of the five lines, which defines the pitc ...
, 1956)
With
Max Roach
Maxwell Lemuel Roach (January 10, 1924 – August 16, 2007) was an American jazz drummer and composer. A pioneer of bebop, he worked in many other styles of music, and is generally considered one of the most important drummers in history. He work ...
Soul Note
Black Saint and Soul Note are two affiliated Italian independent record labels. Since their conception in the 1970s, they have released albums from a variety of influential jazz musicians, particularly in the genre of free jazz.
History
Black S ...
, 1984)
With
Ben Webster
Benjamin Francis Webster (March 27, 1909 – September 20, 1973) was an American jazz tenor saxophonist.
Career Early life and career
A native of Kansas City, Missouri, he studied violin, learned how to play blues on the piano from ...
* ''
Music for Loving
''Music for Loving'' is an album by American jazz saxophonist Ben Webster with tracks recorded in 1954 and released by Norgran Records, Norgran in 1955. The album was reissued in 1957 by Verve Records, Verve as ''Sophisticated Lady''. In 1996 Verve ...
AllMusic
AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Music ...