Jay Carrington Scott (1953–2009) was a saxophone player whose solos were featured on many gold and platinum records of the late 1970s and early 1980s.
He was born on March 13, 1952, in Durham, North Carolina, and in 1958, the family moved to East Point, Georgia, where his father worked a government job and moonlighted as an upright bass player.
His sister Linda, who was living in New York City at the time, remembers when Scott performed at the famous East Village club, The Bottom Line, backing Alicia Bridges.
She explained that Scott had also struggled with Bells Palsy throughout his life and had learned how to play through muscle weakness on one side of his face.
Scott featured this technique during The Bottom Line show, and according to Linda, the New York City audience leapt to their feet, cheering.
After Scott’s success with Alicia Bridges, he soon garnered the attention of other music producers and recorded the featured sax solo on various gold and platinum records at this time: Melissa Manchester’s “Whenever I Call You Friend” (1979); Dione Warwick’s “Easy Love” (1980); Paul Davis’ “He Sang Our Love Songs” (1980); and Kansas.
Scott was featured on their two RCA Victor albums: 1) the title track, “I’m Callin,” on Beaverteeth (1977) and “Stop that River in Your Eye” on Dam It (1978).
In the 1980s, Scott decided to move to Panama City Beach, permanently and continued to play for more than two decades on the Emerald Coast.