Shirley Scott


Shirley Scott was an American jazz organist.
Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Scott studied trumpet and piano in school. As a performer in the 1950s, she played the Hammond B-3 organ. Her recordings with Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis included the hit "In the Kitchen". Influenced by gospel and blues, she played soul jazz in the 1960s with Stanley Turrentine, who became her husband during the same decade; the couple divorced in 1971.
Although organ trios declined in popularity during the 1970s, they resurged in the 1980s and she recorded again. In the 1990s, she recorded as pianist in a trio and performed at venues in Philadelphia. She was also a jazz educator.
Scott won an $8 million settlement in 2000 against American Home Products, the manufacturers of the diet drug fen-phen. She died of heart failure in 2002.
On June 25, 2019, The New York Times Magazine listed Shirley Scott among hundreds of artists whose material was reportedly destroyed in the 2008 Universal fire.

Discography

As leader

With Stanley Turrentine
With Mildred Anderson
  • 1960: Person to Person
With Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis
With Jimmy Forrest
With Al Grey
With Joe Newman
With Jimmy Rushing
With Al Smith