Clifford Scott (musician)

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Clifford Scott" musician – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (July 2024) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

Clifford Donley Scott (June 21, 1928 – April 19, 1993), born and raised in San Antonio, Texas, was an American saxophonist and flautist who played in jazz, blues, and R&B idioms.

Scott started as a drummer in a family band and also learned to play piano and violin before picking up clarinet as a teenager. He played in a house band led by James Hopkins at San Antonio's Avalon Grill in the late 1940s, then worked with Amos Milburn, Jay McShann, Lionel Hampton, Roy Brown, and Roy Milton. In 1955 he began working with Bill Doggett, and was a prominent soloist on many of Doggett's most famous recordings, including "Honky Tonk". He also recorded as a leader in the late 1950s and early 1960s and worked as a session musician for rock, pop, and R&B recordings. In the 1960s he worked with Sonny Thompson, Jimmy Witherspoon, Gerald Wilson, Onzy Matthews, and Frank Butler, and was a member of Ray Charles's ensemble from 1966 to 1968 and again in 1970. Late in his career he worked primarily locally in San Antonio, playing with George Prado and Jim Cullum, Jr.