Musicians: Fred Scott - All Instruments; Except on 'Black Orpheus' which includes John Harrington on bass and Fred Scott Jr. on Drums
Review: Fred Scott has put together his Unknown Soul recording almost entirely on his own. With the exception of John Harrington playing bass on one track, Scott plays all the instruments (piano, bass, drums, bongos) and is the sole vocalist. The music here is either blues, or blues influenced, and his singing is where the talent lies. On a few cuts he incorporates some more jazz or latin flavors, but ends up bringing it around to the blues. Scott hits the mark more squarely when sticking to basics. However, most of the music here is merely confused, and at some points embarrassing and nearly un-listenable.
In any of the styles on Unknown Soul, his playing is that of someone who is just getting started and has passion for the music, but not much facility yet - particularly in relation to his bass and drum playing skills. As for the piano, Scott’s playing is further along but still needs much work. His blues piano soloing has occasional flashes of future chops and ideas, but is mainly amateurish. Only in his singing do we get something approaching a definite musicality. It seems he has internalized some of the feel and sound of Aaron Neville and has the innate sensibility of a Mose Allison. If Scott had a good backing band and some rehearsal, a decent blues/jazz recording could be made.
Tracks: Hobo Stew, Bongo 4, Dobop Blues, Gonna Try, Senor Blues, Every day I have the Blues, Black Orpheus, Candy
JazzReview.com
