All the Way

All the Way

Jimmy Scott is beyond category, an interpreter of ballads at tempos so languorous they seem practically motionless, hovering atmospherically in the air like the smoke in a barroom. All but forgotten when he recorded this album in 1992 at the age of 66, it stands as his finest achievement, the capstone of a career marked by extraordinary promise and devastating disappointment--including a legendary Ray Charles-produced album in 1962 that had to be withdrawn because of a contractual dispute. Scott's voice is uniquely androgynous and capable of marvelous subtlety; the closer you listen, the more it seems to blur (and transcend) characteristics of sex and age. That quality has made him a favorite of folks like director David Lynch, but his musicianship makes all other concerns superfluous. Here he's accompanied by first-class jazz musicians: Kenny Barron (piano), Ron Carter (bass), Grady Tate (drums), John Pisano (guitar), and David "Fathead" Newman (sax). And the songs are world-class as well: "Embraceable You," "Angel Eyes," "Every Time We Say Goodbye," and of course the title tune. But perhaps the greatest of all is "My Foolish Heart." Never was there a voice more suited sing these words: "There's a fine line between love and infatuation/That's hard to see on a night such as this." Like I said: beyond category. --Jim Emerson

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