Shirley Scott

The "Queen of the Organ," pianist and Hammond B-3 specialist Shirley Scott helped to define the sound of small-group soul-jazz. Scott initially came to prominence in the 1950s alongside saxophonist Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis, with whom she recorded a string of seminal albums for Prestige, spawning the 1958 hit "In the Kitchen" and proving a lasting template for the organ-trio-and -sax sound. She debuted as a leader with 1958's Great Scott!, and with (then-husband) tenor saxophonist Stanley Turrentine collaborated on albums like 1963's Never Let Me Go and 1968's Common Touch, that again proved highly influential in soul-jazz's development. Scott later recorded for Cadet and Strata East, putting her organically funky spin on pop and R&B hits. She rode a wave of resurgent interest in organ jazz into the '90s and even revisited the piano on record, as on 1991's Blues Everywhere, before her death in 2002.