Jazz Monthly.com Interview with Marilyn Scott

“Jazz Monthly Feature Interview” Marilyn Scott
Interview by Baldwin "Smitty" Smith

Jazz Monthly: My next guest just happens to be one of my favorite singers in the world. Her voice is one of eternal beauty, with the essence of elegance, character and wisdom. She’s just about to release another great new project. It’s called Innocent of Nothing. Please give a warm welcome for the incredible Prana recording artist Marilyn Scott. Marilyn, how ya doin’?

Marilyn Scott (MS): Excellent today, thank you. Thank you very much for that nice intro.

Jazz Monthly: You’re so welcome, and well deserved, I might add. Well, you’re just struttin’ about here. You’ve got this great new CD. You have reason to be very excited. I love this. It’s a great mix of music and you’ve got a great supporting cast of musicians. It’s just an incredible project.

MS: I’m glad you’re feeling that. It’s was a fun thing to do. After you get done with it, it takes a few months….several months for it to get close to where it’s gonna come out and you kind of walk away from it, and then when you get close to when it’s coming out, you go wow, it’s time to get excited again because you feel like you’re sort of in a corral waiting to be let go.

Jazz Monthly: Yes, this is a follow-up to your last couple of projects, not to mention the others, but wow, Nightcap and Handpicked and just when we thought you were out of breath, look at you. This is incredible.

MS: Well, I’m glad I made an impact on you because sometimes you think, oh my gosh, is that gonna transcend? But there’s been so much to do out there and there’s so much to write about that it’s refreshing to be able to have a chance to play it and bring it to the people.

Jazz Monthly: Yes. And speaking of Nightcap and Handpicked, you accomplished something that has never been done before.

MS: True.

Jazz Monthly: You had a traditional and a contemporary jazz project on the charts together for 14 weeks. Wow!

MS: It’s really interesting, because you’d feel that there’s a lot more that’s done that, so I’m glad I was able to do that, and we did put out the collection then not long after Nightcap, and I think that’s a good collection for people who aren’t familiar with my work, and there’s a lot of folks out there that don’t know about my work, so I thought that was a good thing to bring out, and bring out the different performances of a lot of the artists that they already know about.

Jazz Monthly: Yes. That was an excellent time to do it too, I think, because, like you mentioned, perhaps some people may not have known about your music, but, man, do they know now.

MS: Oh, that’s sweet. Thanks.

Jazz Monthly: Yes, and you always have such interesting things to….and I say “talk about” in your music, but it’s like a nice discussion about things that are on the minds of everybody. I think that’s just a beautiful thing to do because you don’t see that or hear that every day.

MS: I can’t stop writing and thinking about things like that. I kinda damn myself a lot of the time thinking that I should be much more wholesome and reachable as far as what people are listening to, but I tend to keep going back to issues that are important that I guess that I see around me and I just keep trying to figure out how I’m gonna write that out and make it interesting to listen to. And when you kinda put that thought with someone that you want to write with and you also feel that they feel the same way, usually it comes out to some interesting music. And that’s what you hope for.

Jazz Monthly: Yes. Speaking of that, not only what you have to say in your music is thought provoking and just a mind-bending thing for us to really dwell on and think about, but it could evoke some solutions and not to mention the nice melodies and grooves that come with it. It’s like being in a think tank and now you have these challenges in front of you and the music sort of puts you in the mode of “Well, how do we deal with this?”

MS: I am in jazz music and usually jazz is an improvisational type of arena. That’s what most of the artists do. But when it comes to vocalists, if you don’t scat sing, and I’ve never felt myself as a scat singer, so trying to find a really interesting melody, one that a great player would go after, a great keyboard player, a great trumpet player, a great sax player…people who really try to bring a great melody to the piece that they’re writing. That’s what I’m trying to do because it’s another way of improvising, and you feel a strictness when you listen to it, but when you can see it live, then it’s a lot freer, it’s a lot more fun to listen to as a vocalist, I think.

Jazz Monthly: Yeah. I felt that vibe, I know, when I first heard the record and, by the way, I can’t stop playing this one. This is a great record.

MS: Well, that’s nice of you to say.

Jazz Monthly: Yes. And my favorite tune…

MS: Tell me.

Jazz Monthly: “A Change.”

MS: Oh really?

Jazz Monthly: Yeah. I love the melodies with the lyrics. I mean, it just blends and flows, and it really sort of bends the mind to really think about your surroundings. It’s very cool.

MS: I’m glad you like that. I mean, I was trying to write like a bluesier song. And blues evokes to me usually a consciousness about someone’s being and well being, which is usually having not the greatest of moments. That’s what the blues is about. It’s speaking from your soul usually. And I’m glad you like that for that because that’s talking about people that are real to me, I mean my neighborhood.

Jazz Monthly: Yeah.

MS: People I hear talking and it’s the truth and just put that into a kind of a bluesier way that I think that everybody can relate.

Jazz Monthly: I just like that reflective vibe where you can listen to some great music and reflect.

MS: Oh, that’s cool.

Jazz Monthly: I think it’s very cool. Speaking of great players, you don’t go anywhere without George Duke and I don’t blame you.

MS: Hey, you know what? I’m one lucky girl and I’m blessed every time I come over to his house and say “Gosh, George, could you help me on this?” (Both laughing) He’s always got such open arms constantly and his wife Corinne, they have been great motivators to me spiritually and in friendship, and it’s just a wonderful gift that they’ve always given me, whether they could just be friends or they could help me through my musical times.

Jazz Monthly: And it transcends very well in the music. You can feel that, and George’s presence.

MS: I do too. I hear that too.

Jazz Monthly: Yeah. And George has such great presence musically, you know? As a person he’s just a great cat, you know?

MS: You feel it no matter what, exactly, me too.

Jazz Monthly: And Russell (Ferrante) and Jimmy (Haslip) are two of my favorite musicians ever.

MS: Because they’re so good. I’m so blessed to be with them.

Jazz Monthly: Yes.

MS: All these years too, you know?

Jazz Monthly: I know, yeah, you are so blessed because they bring so much to the table as people and musicians.

MS: And we laugh about everything, you know? We did this song called “Icebox” and it’s a serious subject about people, maybe they were dissed in life with a bad love affair or a bad marriage or something like that, and then they take everything they have and they put it way back inside them, you know.

Jazz Monthly: Yeah.

MS: They lock it up, you know? But at the same time we were going “Okay, how do we do this?” and Jimmy goes “Well, there’s like a bass line that’s like, you know, ‘Love Supreme’” and we have fun, it’s just really a lot of fun to write with him.

Jazz Monthly: Yeah. Speaking of that song, it’s got that nice bebop kind of feel.

MS: Exactly.

Jazz Monthly: I try to understand where you’re coming from when I’m listening to your music. You know, I say “Okay, let me think about what she’s saying here,” “How can I apply that to me when I’m listening to your music?” But then I find myself sort of snapping my fingers and sort of dancing around a little bit. It’s like oKAY…

MS: Yeah, okay.

Jazz Monthly: Oh, that is so cool.

MS: Can’t have one without the other.

Jazz Monthly: Exactly, yeah, man oh man. Now, the title.

MS: Yes?

Jazz Monthly: Talk about why this title was chosen because I thought about this title, Innocent of Nothing, and I was just thinking, does this mean that you’re innocent of not sitting back and watching the world go by without talking about it?

MS: Well, it comes from the lyrics in “Moods,” which is a song on this piece, and it’s really about that, I’m innocent of nothing, I’m guilty of everything that I did on here, and I’m happy to do it. And I’m happy to make some choices that maybe some people are gonna say “Well, it kinda goes from one thing to the other,” but I think music is just universal and there’s no reason why a person can’t feel all these things and try to put a thread that puts them all together a little bit, then that becomes who they are no matter what. So I’m guilty of everything that’s on here and if someone is like very questionable about whether it’s good or bad, well, I take responsibility. I’m glad I did it, I’ll probably do it again, and that’s what makes up me and it comes from the lyric “Moods” it’s in the lyric “Moods”….and it’s about sometimes your moods are innocent of nothing, you know.

Jazz Monthly: Yeah, absolutely.

MS: Can’t make excuses.

Jazz Monthly: Yeah, exactly.

MS: You are what you are.

Jazz Monthly: Yes, my friend. You’ve been involved in a lot of great fundraisers, and causes that are very humanitarian to the world, and I can think of one of the latest being your contributions and efforts to what happened with Hurricane Katrina. Talk about how you got involved in that.

MS: Well, we have the Prana Foundation and we used one of the songs, “No Room for Hate,” and contributed its sales and stuff like that and contributed to programs that deal with diversity with little kids who have these school programs that teach them about hate, and in the classroom we have special teachers that come in and teach them about hate, so we wanted to put some money into that….that we collected for Katrina, and get involved in it. I think everybody should be involved. It’s far from being over.

We need to be there every day whether we’re thinking about it or we can once I in a while, you know, throw another $20 out there somehow, and one of the organizations that matters to help do something about rebuilding, helping the musicians…there’s just a variety, not only our foundation, but there’s a variety of people out there and foundations that are working towards helping Katrina.

Jazz Monthly: Yeah. I mean, after all, it’s our country and part of our country is in need, you know?

MS: Dire need.

Jazz Monthly: Yes. So as part of this country, we all should contribute to that effect, and I think you’re right on with that. Very cool. You’re to be congratulated and commended for what you as well as everyone there at Prana Foundation have done. I think it’s a beautiful thing.

MS: Well, we are passionate about it and we want to go forward with many things if we can, but we’re still working on Katrina right now, the people from that and Hurricane Rita which came right after that. So we’re gonna stick around that for a while.

Jazz Monthly: Very cool. Now, street date for the record?

MS: It’s May 30th.

Jazz Monthly: May 30th, yes.

MS: Yeah, I can’t wait. Get it out and hopefully we can do some playing and bring some great music, some musicians. I hope we’ll get out here and play for the people. I’m really gonna enjoy digging into these songs.

Jazz Monthly: Isn’t it wonderful how music has such a healing effect?

MS: I think it is so important, and you know it’s important when people are ill and in the hospital and you go “Well, I’m gonna bring a little cassette player and I’ll bring a little music” and it calms the soul, and whatever that person likes.

Jazz Monthly: I really think so.

MS: Usually it helps them heal faster.

Jazz Monthly: Yeah.

MS: It brings them closer to a kind of a calmness. It can be wild stuff from wild straight ahead or it can be heavy rap, it could be country, classical…so it’s a beautiful thing, music, everywhere.

Jazz Monthly: Yes it is. Now, you’re a great songwriter and vocalist in your own right. Do you feel yourself in a different mood in a different mode when you’re doing, say, jazz standards as opposed to contemporary jazz?

MS: Well, you know, there’s a respect that goes with those standards and there’s sort of rules, I feel.

Jazz Monthly: Oh yeah.

MS: And I feel that when you respect those rules, it is a little bit against the grain because you might write something one way but they wrote it another way, but it got to you. It compels you to want to sing it to relay that melody, that lyric. Something is haunting about it to you that make you want to do it. And I’m not wild about everything for me personally to sing. I may like a lot of it and was raised on it, but I’m not compelled to sing it. It has to really be something I know that I can transcend. So that’s why you don’t see me do a lot of it. I mean, I did the one album, but that’s because everybody….that was everybody’s favorites and everybody said “You need to do this,” you know, so I went after it, but, yeah, I feel there’s a different thing and it’s standards, from whenever the standards was written, to 2006.

Jazz Monthly: Yeah, exactly.

MS: And it’s stuff that’s written 2006 to whenever the new standard is gonna be. So you try to write with respect to how those songs were written and try to do your contribution to it.

Jazz Monthly: Hmm, yeah. Now, does it take you back? Does it take you to a different place in terms of, you know, while you’re doing the song, or is it just….this is Marilyn?

MS: I think ….well, for me I get lost in the moment, and that’s good. Then you have musicians pushing and pulling you all around, and if you’re successful in the moment, you can really do much more than you think you can do. I think that’s the beauty of it.

Jazz Monthly: Oh yes.

MS: I don’t care what you’re singing, or what you’re playing, whatever type of genre it is, I think that’s a beautiful thing of music. That’s what keeps me in it.

Jazz Monthly: Yeah, absolutely. Now, this is your eleventh album.

MS: Wow.

Jazz Monthly: When I was listening to this album earlier….your latest album, I just kinda had a reflection of some of the past projects and kick some of those in and sorta mixed it up, and what a beautiful thing, so when you talk about doing the compilation or the mix of your songs, it just flows that well, It really does.

MS: Yeah. I’m glad the new project is flowing pretty well. I think it did and it is a little edgier, but that’s the direction I’m going and that’s where I am, and there’s not per se a type of radio station that’s going to play this anymore. They just don’t exist as much anymore, so the rules have changed. In a way, that’s kind of good because you have to really now prove yourself to where you’re going, you’re not so much sitting in a soft spot.

Jazz Monthly: Yeah, it’s the real you, it’s always right there, and I think that’s a beautiful thing when you can identify and the audience can identify.

MS: Well, you only hope so. I mean, you do it and then you go “Wow, I don’t know. Now, did I do this right?” (Both laughing.) “Was this a good decision?” you know.

Jazz Monthly: Yeah.

MS: But thank God, we’re just creative sources here and we do enough analyzing our work as it is because we’re artists. So it’s good to just let it go and move to the next.

Jazz Monthly: Yes indeed.

MS: That’s why I’m not a very good business person.

Jazz Monthly: Oh, well, I tell you what, Marilyn, just please keep making great music.

MS: Oh, you’re sweet. Thank you. I hope to do that and I hope to have some fun with people that can come out and hear us play.

Jazz Monthly: So you’re gonna be doing some touring around hopefully?

MS: Oh yeah, definitely.

Jazz Monthly: Well, I would encourage everyone to get out and hear you sing and hear the band because this is an incredible record. In fact, I highly recommend this record for your CD changer because this is just incredible what you’ve done with Innocent of Nothing. It’s a great project.

MS: Thank you. Thank you very much.

Jazz Monthly: And it’s always a pleasure to talk with you. You know, I remember telling someone….someone asked me in an interview once, some of my favorite people that I’ve interviewed, and I said, you know, “Marilyn Scott,” I said “because she’s always switched on.”

MS: Thank you, Smitty. You’re the best.

Jazz Monthly: You’re welcome, I try hard. We always have such great conversations about things that have such great substance and meaning.

MS: That’s what it’s about, you know?

Jazz Monthly: Yeah.

MS: When you talk about all of that, you wanna feel all that.

Jazz Monthly: Yeah, exactly.

MS: Especially, I mean, it’s a vocalist record, it’s not an all instrumental record, it’s got a vocal to it and so you have to be accountable for what you’re gonna say.

Jazz Monthly: Yes.

MS: I just feel like there’s a few things that could be said, now how are you gonna say it and still be interesting and not too over the top, and it still be a beautiful tune or one that someone goes “God, I feel like that. Yeah, that’s me.” So that’s a tough spot, but I welcome it.

Jazz Monthly: Yes indeed. Well, Marilyn, I certainly look forward to catching you here in this part of the country, and out on the road with this great new project, and please sing some of those other tunes too from the past. (Laughing)

MS: Oh, I always do, I do. I promise to do that for ya.

Jazz Monthly: We’ve been talking with Prana recording artist Marilyn Scott. You’ve got to listen to this great new CD. It’s called Innocent of Nothing. Street date is May 30th. I highly recommend this one. Marilyn, thanks again and look forward to seeing you soon.

MS: Thanks Smitty, take care of yourself.

Baldwin “Smitty” Smith

For More Information Visit www.marilynscott.com.