LISTEN TO ONE: I-Yi-Yi-Yi
Newark's Key Club was a home base for Rhoda Scott, Joe Thomas and Bill Elliot, who were from Newark and had gotten their start there. Scott was destined to make her home, and her career, and her major reputation far from Newark, when she moved to France in 1969 and began a series of performances that would go on for decades and make her one of the most popular entertainers in Europe. But in 1963 she was still one of the most popular entertainers in Newark, and Newark was still a city with a jazz tradition, and her fans were packing the place, ready for that all-systems-go sound that Scott, Thomas and Elliot always delivered.
 |
Scott and her trio were signed to Tru-Sound, Bob Weinstock's "modern rhythm and blues" label, and they delivered--raucous, jarring, uptempo, not necessarily what you'd think of a jazz and not necessarily what you'd think of as rhythm and blues, but Newark was never known for genteel manners, and this trio delivered a solid home town sound--all the more so for being live. Prestige rarely went into live recordings, but it's not hard to see why this one seemed like a good idea.
The Tru-Sound album was called, of course, Live at the Key Club, and the single from it was "I-Yi-Yi-Yi," parts 1 and 2. Ozzie Cadena produced.
1 comment:
Oh, man, Tad!! Ya totally brought me back to The Key Club, one of my fav hangouts....saw Rhoda several times.....Babs Gonzolez used to come in regularly hawkin his book; author Nathan Hurd....Amiri Baraka.....damn! Across the street The Cadillac Club which became Sparky J's; Jimmy MsGriff's Golden Slipper around the corner on Branford St; the Clique Club around the corner.
Thanx for this, Tad. Wish I had a copy!
Russ
Post a Comment