Outstanding Clarinetists in the History of Jazz – Part 4
Tony Scott – The Clarinetist Who Joined the Outsiders from the Front Line
A series by József Fritz
May 1, 2023
Tony Scott is one of the most interesting figures in the entire history of jazz. Although we know him primarily as a clarinetist, in reality he played almost every woodwind instrument, yet he is remembered more as a jazz personality than simply as a clarinet player. This, of course, invites debate, because in the early 1950s, alongside Buddy DeFranco, he was practically the only musician who was able to elevate the clarinet into the world of modern jazz. But let us look step by step at what the phrase in the title – “from the front line to the outsiders” – really means.
Tony Scott was born in 1921 in the state of New Jersey and followed the path that was almost obligatory at the time: he first studied classical music and later joined various dance orchestras. During the 1940s he spent a great deal of time around 52nd Street, and as a result he grew up together with the development of bebop.
His own recordings were already appearing from the mid-1940s, and it is clear that his playing resembled neither Benny Goodman nor Artie Shaw. Even at that time he already possessed his own voice – one could say his own sound.
In the 1950s he signed contracts with several major record labels (Brunswick, RCA Victor), and even today his outstanding recordings from that period are spoken of only in superlatives. These recordings featured such great musicians as Bill Evans, Sahib Shihab, Jimmy Knepper, and Paul Motian.
An interesting detail is that on bassist Milt Hinton’s first album released under his own name, Tony Scott could not appear under that name due to contractual obligations, so on the cover he is listed under his original Italian birth name, Anthony Sciacca. On this album he plays mainly bass clarinet.
During this period he was also able to establish himself financially, as he published clarinet methods and transcription books based on notated versions of his recordings.
He was also among the first white musicians to regularly perform in bands led by Black bandleaders, such as Billie Holiday or the orchestra of Count Basie.
Several landmark recordings date from this period, including
The Complete Tony Scott,
Tony Scott in Hi-Fi,
A Day in New York,
Quartet with Bill Evans,
and Both Sides of Tony Scott.
In 1959, however, a sudden turning point occurred in his life. In that year two of the musicians he regarded as giants passed away: Billie Holiday and Lester Young.
Whether this alone was enough, or whether the rise of rock and roll and the approaching beat era also played a role, is unknown. According to his own account, he had to flee the United States in order to escape depression. He headed entirely toward the Far Eastern region, and before long his first recordings there were based on Japanese and other Eastern folk music traditions. These recordings can rather be regarded as some of the earliest examples of world music, since they contain virtually no jazz elements at all.
During the 1960s and 1970s he practically became the hermit of the jazz world. He shaved his hair and grew a huge beard. In this appearance he traveled across the world – from Japan to Africa to Europe – like a seeker who wished to contribute something of his own to the traditional music of every country he encountered.
It was in this context that in 1977 he visited Budapest, where he appeared at the Hungarian Radio, before traveling on to the Debrecen Jazz Days. Later he also made several recordings with local dixieland groups such as the Molnár Dixieland Band and the Benkó Dixieland Band, and he even joined a Hungarian gypsy orchestra to play clarinet.
According to various recollections, it also happened that because of his Hungarian girlfriend he spent some time in Szentendre, where people often saw him walking along the banks of the Danube carrying a huge watermelon under each arm.
He was a divisive personality, perhaps best illustrated by the fact that he once declared that no one could perform the song “Lush Life” the way it should be played. As a response he released a double album on which he performs only this piece – on different instruments or singing – in 24 different versions.
In the final years of his life he eventually settled in Rome, where his family originally came from. From this period many recordings can be found on the internet, in which he welcomes visiting American musicians to Italy or joins them as a collaborator, such as Conte Candoli, Frank Rosolino, and Bucky Pizzarelli.
His clarinet playing was recognizable anywhere and at any time, whether on his early recordings or during his later world-traveler period. One of his most distinctive characteristics was a slightly nasal, almost whining tone, yet one that articulated notes very clearly. His technique often resembles glissando, but in reality every single note is fully articulated on the instrument – only at an incredibly fast tempo. This technique can also be observed in motion pictures of his performances.
He passed away in 2007 at his home in Rome, leaving behind the legacy of a true jazz genius – one who created new eras not once, but twice.