Scott heard from Brian Wilson that their mutual friend, the famed drummer / comedian Hal Blaine (the most recorded musician in history) was turning 80 and there was a surprise birthday party planned for him in LA at the Baked Potato club. Scott and Brian made plans to meet up and surprise Hal. Well, Scott showed up having flown down from San Francisco and blew Hal away. As for Brian, well, let's just say you get used to it after a while that plans change . . . great party for an incredible contributor to modern music.
Speaking of Beach Boys, Scott worked with Al Jardine on some fun and rare live shows. Al Jardine possesses the same voice he had when he first sang "Help Me Rhonda". Just incredible how perfect his voice still is. As rockers lower keys to songs over time to be able to reach the high notes on stage, Al is like Roy Orbison used to be, you could raise the keys and he would nail the parts almost effortlessly. Scott says, "The Beach Boys never got their signature vocal blend without their secret weapon and that was Al Jardine’s voice. That's where the classic blend comes from. He was the glue."
England's own, the might mighty Zadita Smith arrived late this month to begin the first of two full length projects with Scott. Deemed as an acoustic, 'unplugged' approach, Zadita was downright electric in her style and performance. Expectations of a sparse production style slowly gave way to a more elaborate yet subtle outcome as the music morphed magically through the course of the three weeks Zadita was at TikiTown. Zadita Smith is the real deal!
