The Honeysuckle Breeze

Before he developed into a star composer and arranger, Tom Scott was an ambitious 19 year-old saxophonist looking for his big break in 1967. The opportunity came when legendary jazz label Impulse paired Scott with 9-piece vocal group The California Dreamers and allowed the young musician to take the helm as a band leader, with The Honeysuckle Breeze as the spectacular result. Out of print on vinyl since last reissued in 2018, the album features Scott leading a stellar lineup of sessions players-Bill Plummer (sitar), Glen Campbell (guitar) and Carol Kaye (bass) among them- through warm, smooth versions of songs by The Beatles (She’s Leaving Home), Donovan (Mellow Yellow), Joan Baez (North) and Jefferson Airplane (Today), which many will recognize from its sampling in the Pete Rock & CL Smooth classic T.R.O.Y.