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promise and devastating disappointment--including a legendary Ray Charles-produced album in 1962 that had to be withdrawn because of a contractual dispute.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