On the eve of the Dubai Jazz Festival from November to February, American singer Scottie Wright performed on the piano in the Intercontinental's Palm Grill restaurant.
He became known to his fans after the festival in the city of Monterrey. The first album, Too Much Fun, was released in 1988. The second, Rhythm reason and Rhythm, was recorded in 1995. It can be purchased at Palm Grill along with the third, released in 1998 by the Hong Kong studio Treasure Island.
Scotty Wright considers himself a follower of the classical tradition, and calls his teachers such musicians as Duke Ellington, Telonj Monk, Miles Davis, Bill Evans and Horace Silver. In the vocal area, this is primarily Louis Armstrong; Behind him are Billy Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald and Sarah Vaughan. Then Billy Carter, Dina Washington, Nat Cole and Ray Charles, as well as Dave Brabek, with whom the singer once performed together.
“I only play that music,” says Scotty Wright, “which matches my definition of jazz. You won’t hear from me the things Celine Dion, Asher or Whitney Houston.”
The singer is especially critical of contemporary pop singers who call themselves jazz musicians. The objects of his ridicule have repeatedly become Rod Stewart, Curly Simon, Michael Bubble, Linda Ronstadt and Norah Jones, who received a Grammy in the jazz nomination, although her style, according to the singer, is more like country pop.
At a meeting with Scotty Wright, we inquired about his views on Dubai, the city where he first met the Middle East. His previous tours in Asia were limited to Japan, China, Korea, Malaysia and Thailand.
- Where in Dubai can you hear real jazz?
- I think that "Dubai jazz" as a cultural phenomenon has not yet been born. The only place remotely resembling a normal venue is JamBase at Mina A Salaam. But there, alas, the groove bands playing the funk of the 1970s (Cantaloupe Island, Blue Bossa, Mr. Magic, Just The Two Of Us, etc.) set the tone, as well as singers with piano and / or computer accompaniment, performing "classics" like Misty or Girl From Ipanema. Not to mention the Dubai Jazz Festival, whose program for some reason included figures such as Randy Crawford, groups Kool and the Gang or Supertramp. Instead of gradually accustoming the audience to real jazz, impatient organizers decided to make a profit immediately.
- Surely the festival has its positive aspects ...
- Among others, Chico and Hilton will play here. I heard each of them before - Chico as part of The Leaders, and Hilton along with bassist Ray Drumond, my first jazz teacher. But I still could not see their joint performance.
- What are your plans for the near future?
- From March to May I will perform in Tokyo, in the New York bar of the Park Hyatt hotel. Then, from September to November, I will be touring at the Beijing Centro Kerry Center Hotel, where I will play a quartet of pianist Matthew Clark, saxophonist James Mahoney and bassist Paul Dwyer.
Interviewed by Ivan Sheiko-Little
photo: Vladimir Zolotukhin
