A top rhythm banjoist who was prized for his advanced harmonies and occasionally took basic solos, Bud Scott performed with the who's-who of New Orleans jazz throughout his career. Early on he learned guitar and violin and was a professional musician before he was a teenager. Scott was a New Orleans pioneer, claiming years later to have worked with Buddy Bolden. He definitely played with John Robichaux's Orchestra as early as 1904, Freddie Keppard's Olympia Orchestra, and others. In 1913 he went on the road as a violinist with the Billy King Traveling Show, working in Mobile and Washington before moving to New York in 1915. Scott performed with theater orchestras, played banjo with Bob Young in Baltimore (1917), and also worked as a singer. He was with Will Marion Cook's Orchestra in 1921, moved to Chicago, worked for three months with King Oliver's Creole Jazz Band in 1923, spent time playing with Kid Ory in California, had second stints with both Oliver and Ory, and also played with Curtis Mosby's Blue Blowers in Los Angeles. After a third period with Oliver in 1926, Scott performed with the bands of Erskine Tate, Dave Peyton, and then in 1928 with Jimmie Noone's Apex Club Orchestra. He recorded extensively with Jelly Roll Morton and worked with Fess Williams and Peyton again before the banjoist settled in Los Angeles in September 1929. In L.A., Scott played with Leon Herriford, Mutt Carey's Jeffersonians and with his own trio. Scott gained some prominence when he worked with Kid Ory during 1944-1948 before ill health forced his retirement. He appeared with Louis Armstrong in the 1946 film New Orleans and had a chance to record with Satch. In addition to Morton, Armstrong, and Ory, Scott recorded with King Oliver, Johnny Dodds, and Jimmie Noone, among others. ~ Scott Yanow