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I was unaware of the music of Rhoda Scott until I received Les Orgues de Noël. But what an introduction! This CD shines in every way possible.

My friend Suzanne Antley makes a big deal out of how virtuosity on organ can be measured by the ability of the organist to enliven "the most mechanical of instruments". And Suzanne should know: she was a distinguished player by the time she reached junior high and continues to play to this day. I have tapped Suzanne's advice and knowledge whenever I've been tasked with reviewing work that exists on a plane higher than the one I typically inhabit.

Strictly speaking, Suzanne's remark was originally meant in regard to pipe organs, but it applies here just as well. Listening to Rhoda Scott's lively Hammond reminded me over and over of Suzanne's words; Ms. Scott and her Hammond are one--she brings life to her Hammond organ. Her mighty instrumental performance makes Les Orgues de Noël a special holiday recording.

I'm having trouble writing this up, not because the well of superlatives has run dry (nay, nay, my little Christmas pardners), but because Rhoda Scott is just so darned good. (And also because it is a bother to write up the liner notes using the French language script, with all those cute little accents and umlauts that exist nowhere on my American qwerty keyboard.)

The CD begins in a folksy, old-fashioned style. Her traditional rendition of"Jingle Bells" is followed by several French songs: "Petit Papa Noël", "Douce Nuit, Sainte Nuit", and "Minuit Chrétiens!". These are followed by "The Little Drummer Boy" and "There Is a Balm In Gilead", a showstopping spiritual with a vocal performance by Ms. Scott that brought tears the first time I heard it.

Moving from classical through roots gospel, blues, and even some "big church" hymns, Scott eventually reaches her home turf, jazz music, where she performs some of the most magnificent organ jazz I've ever heard. Lord mommy, she's good! Her serving of "I Wonder As I Wander" is an R&B/jazz fusion delight.

Then, onward to "Ave Maria" and more french stuff. Then, a playful "Let It Snow", followed by the second emotional high point of my Christmas season, another gospel song, a hymn I can imagine her playing in the church where she grew up. "Every Time I Feel the Spirit" is the kind of song an unscrupulous person might put on a mix tape and play over and over 'til the cows come home. It's that powerful. Suddenly, I'm thinking about becoming an unscrupulous person. This song, for me, is the climax of the record. But fear not, for after "Every Time I Feel The Spirit" there are another five songs no less beautifully played.

Oh la la!

--Richard Banks
(Reviewed in 2004)

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From the liner notes:

Titres 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 14, 16
Rhoda Scott, orgue Hammond, Bill Elliott, batterie, percussion
Enregistré le 3 octobre 1977 à Paris.

Titres 1, 15, 17
Rhoda Scott, orgue Hammond, Bill Elliott, batterie, percussion
Enregistré le 4 octobre 1977 à Paris.

Titres 6, 13
Rhoda Scott, orgue Hammond voix, Houston Person, saxophone ténor, Steve Phillips, batterie
Enregistré le 11 & 12 Juillet 1993 à Paris.

Rhoda Scott is an American living in Paris. She studied at the Manhattan School of Music in New York. Les Orgues de Noël was later released by Sunnyside Records under the title The Hammond Organ of Christmas, available at Amazon and elsewhere.

Rhoda Scott

Les Orgues de Noël

Artist link

Track List