Kermit Scott (musician) Kermit Scott (musician) Kermit "Scotty" Scott (died February 2, 2002) was a jazz tenor saxophonist. Dizzy Gillespie considered Scott “one of the founders of our music” [bop]. Born in Beaumont, Texas, Scott's first professional work was with Bunk Johnson's band before touring with other jazz bands and minstrel shows, eventually arriving in New York in 1936. In 1940 he played in two different line-ups backing Billie Holiday at recording sessions in New York for Columbia. The first, on February 29, featured Roy Eldridge on trumpet, Carl Frye and Jimmy Powell on alto saxophones, Scott on tenor saxophone, Sonny White on
John Lee (musician) Mouzon, Claudio Roditi, Jon Faddis, Slide Hampton, Roy Hargrove, and Roberta Gambarini. Lee was also a founding member of The Fantasy Band 1993-1996 with Chuck Loeb, Marion Meadows, and Dave Samuels. In 1996, at the bequest of Dizzy's wife Lorraine Gillespie and the Dizzy Gillespie Estate, Lee became the director and bassist of the "Dizzy Gillespie™Alumni All-Stars" as well as the "Dizzy Gillespie™All-Star Big Band", and the "Dizzy Gillespie™Afro-Cuban Experience". They have recorded five albums and toured extensively around the world. www.dizzygillespie.org In 2009 John Lee co-founded the jazz recording label JLP (Jazz Legacy Productions), with partner Lisa Broderick. www.jazzlegacyproductions.com