Scott led a jazz quartet—with Frank Socolow, Red Kelly, and Kenny Hume—that played at the side of the stage during the Broadway performances of "A Taste of Honey," at the Lyceum Theatre, October 3, 1960, through September 9 1961.[11][12]
Career and Grammy Award
As a bandleader, he did sessions for Verve, ABC-Paramount, Bethlehem, and Musicmasters. As a songwriter, he won a Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Composition for the song "A Taste of Honey".[13] In addition to "A Taste of Honey", Scott also co-wrote the song "He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother".[14] In the 1960s he became a music teacher and studied again under Moritz, but occasionally recorded as well, including a Nat King Cole tribute album released in the 1980s. He also composed film soundtracks, including the scores to Slaves (1969), Joe (1970), and Who Says I Can't Ride a Rainbow! (1971). During the 1980s he composed music for classical guitar, harp, and piano. His arrangements for jazz vocalist Jackie Paris's 1962 "The Song Is Paris" stand up well 60 years later; the album was considered a career high for Paris. Scott worked extensively with Quincy Jones, frequently as pianist on his '60s LPs. In 1961, Scott's arrangements of his suite "The City" was recorded by Larry Elgart's Orchestra, with Elgart as the principal soloist.
Death
Scott died of lung cancer in New York City, at the age of 53.[15]
Discography
As leader
The Compositions of Bobby Scott (Bethlehem, 1955)
Scott Free (ABC-Paramount, 1955)
Bobby Scott and 2 Horns (ABC-Paramount, 1956)
Serenta (Verve, 1957)
Bobby Scott Plays the Music of Leonard Bernstein (Verve, 1959)
The Compleat Musician (Atlantic, 1960)
A Taste of Honey (Atlantic, 1960)
Joyful Noises (Mercury, 1962)
When the Feeling Hits You! (Mercury, 1963)
108 Pounds of Heartache (Mercury, 1963)
I Had a Ball (Mercury, 1964)
My Heart in My Hands (Columbia, 1967)
Star (Columbia, 1969)
Robert William Scott (Warner Bros., 1970)
From Eden to Canaan (Columbia, 1976)
Forecast: Rain with Sunny Skies (Columbia, 1978)
For Sentimental Reasons (MusicMasters, 1990)
Slowly (MusicMasters, 1991)
Bobby Scott Sings the Best of Lerner and Loewe (LPTime, 2010)
^Gold, Don (1962). "'Joyful Noises' liner notes". Internet Archive. "At the age of 25, Bobby Scott promises to be the Leonard Bernstein of jazz. [...] A native of the Bronx, Bobby rarely strays from Manhattan, yet when he does depart the comforting confines of home, he is preceded to his destination by a reputation few artists his age can match."
