December 2001 Feature Story

Isaac Scott

by Mark Dalton

Isaac Scott, a beloved fixture of the Seattle music scene, has passed on, laid low by a silent killer, diabetes. Isaac struggled bravely with this relentless disease for many years, losing parts of both legs in the process. Throughout his struggle, his work and growth as a musician, and as one of our nation's premier blues guitarists, continued until the end. Isaac's passing leaves a void that cannot be filled-he was simply a unique, creative musical force in our community for more than a quarter century, and we will not see his like again.

Photo by Phil Chesnut

1945-2001

Indeed, many elements of our culture that nurtured the development of the Blues over the the last century are vanishing fast. Isaac came up at a time when many members of the early generations of men and women who created and refined Black American Blues and Gospel music were still with us, and available as examples, role models, and mentors for gifted young musicians. The continuing movement of African-Americans from the rural south to a very different life in the urban areas of the north and west coast was reflected in Isaac's own journey-his parents moved their young family from Arkansas to Portland at the end of World War Two. The "little old wooden church," and the music and culture it carried and nurtured in the community, as well as the nostalgia of the older folks around him for a simpler, if no less threatening, life in the rural south, were integral parts of Isaac's makeup, as was the refuge and healing in the powerful music he made his own.

One of my favorite Isaac Scott tunes comes from his Big Time Bluesman album, and it is a gospel tune - "Feast Goin' On." I have turned to this song for help during some of the darkest moments of my life, and when I listen to it now it feels as though Isaac is reaching back across that great divide, offering his strength and hope through the grief of our loss...
"Come on, people, there's a feast going on We're gonna drink, from the fountain
That never, never runs dry...
'Cause I know that the feast, of the Lord,
Just keeps going on
Why don't you come on over?
The feast of my Lord is still going on" *

There is a part of me that wants to believe Isaac is at that table, even now - out of our sight, but not out of our hearts. The jam starts after dinner!
*Isaac Scott, Copright 1982, ASCAP

For more information regarding Isaac's legacy and future memorials pleas visit this site in his honor.

Also, below is Isaac's obituary from the Chicago Tribune.