Amina Scott leads her band of like-minded musicians

By Geraldine Wyckoff
Contributing Writer

“I wanted to play drums but my mom immediately said no,” remembers bassist Amina Scott, who makes her Snug Harbor debut as leader on Thursday, May 31. As a pre-teen, Scott, 23, who arrived in New Orleans to study at Loyola University and who is perhaps best known as a jazz musician working on an upright bass, initially wanted to be in a rock band. She began playing piano though realized she wasn’t that into it and in pursuit of her rock dreams, moved on to guitar. “I was just like, ‘Naw, I’m not doing this.’ So I felt the only other instrument I could play was a bass. I was like, ‘It’s only got four strings compared to (a guitar’s) six – easy. I couldn’t have been any more wrong. My naive 12-year-old thinking was what was going through my head at the time I was choosing an instrument.”

At first, Scott strapped on an electric bass which she will do again for her Snug Harbor show with her group Phyra that includes a strong line-up of, let’s call them another generation of jazz musicians who are really brightening up New Orleans contemporary jazz scene. They include the eldest of the group, drummer Adonis Rose, saxophonist and fellow New Orleans Center for the Creative Arts (NOCCA) graduate Stephen Gladney, who was heard on trumpeter Christian aTunde Adjuah Scott’s latest CD, Emancipation Procrastination, the multi-faceted keyboard player/vocalist Nigel Hall, who also leads his own band, fiery trumpeter Ashlin Parker of Trumpet Mafia fame and 24-year old guitarist Ari Teital.

AMINA SCOTT

The reason Scott is going electric on this gig is she and the band will be focusing on jazz material from the late 1960s to the early 1980s from composers including Herbie Hancock and George Duke. “The reason I chose that specific time period is that’s when I started with when I began playing electric bass. I knew of Herbie Hancock through the Headhunters though I didn’t really know he had played with (trumpeter) Miles Davis until later so I had to backtrack.”

Scott moved to New Orleans right after graduating from a Catholic high school in her hometown of Oakland, California. She came to the city the year before as part of a post-Katrina program to help restore houses damaged by the storm. “I really enjoyed it and I knew wanted to be back as soon as I possibly could,” Scott says, “so I thought the best way to do that was to go to school down there – there’s so much music here. I want to be here. So I made sure that that happened.”

As a “side woman,” Scott has performed with an impressive number of noted artists including saxophonist David Murray, singer Nnenna Freelon, with whom she’s also recorded, trumpeter Nicholas Payton, Christian aTunde Adjuah, Jesse McBride & the Next Generation and banjoist/guit-arist/vocalist Don Vappie and many more. “I learned a lot from playing with Don, Scott acknowledges. “The only reason I know how to play traditional tunes is because of him. He pointed me in the right direction.” Naturally, because of her many connections, Scott often travels back and forth between Florida and New Orleans. Since joining the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra in December 2017, she’s been in town even more often.

When Scott’s mother suggested that she take up the acoustic bass, her daughter didn’t see the need. “I told her, ‘I’m cool with this electric bass.’ She’s like you’ll make more money, you’ll be more diverse, you’ll be playing a lot more. Yeah, my mom was pretty right; I’m glad I listened to her,” declares Scott, who’s making a name for herself in the acoustic jazz world and strapping on the electric for further exploration and fun.

This article originally published in the May 28, 2018 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.