’Blues For An African Friend’ by Tony Scott, Bill Evans, Scott LaFaro, Paul Motian

from the 1959 album Unsung Heroes. Tony Scott (clarinet and not piano as erroneously stated on the video), Bill Evans (p), Scott LaFaro (b), Paul Motian (d) * * * Tony Scott once made a record called Sung Heroes, but alas, that has not been his fate. Instead he is absolutely perfect for this column: Unsung in the extreme, and a Hero beyond the stature of most. Now 79, he has played with Billie Holiday, Bill Evans, Milt Hinton, Clark Terry, Sahib Shihab, Jimmy Garrison and Pete LaRoca - a veritable Jazz Hall of Fame of big names. He appeared at the Newport Jazz Festival on a breathtaking roster of talent: Coltrane, Miles Davis, Monk, Duke Ellington, Basie, on and on. He deserved to be in that company. He deserves today to be recognized among them as a great jazz innovator. But for whatever reason, he is not. This is a terrible omission! Go and find any Tony Scott recording, and you’ll see why immediately. Why should Tony Scott be mentioned in the same breath with Trane, Miles, and Duke? Becau