FINALLY, AFTER A LIFETIME, JIMMY SCOTT'S VOICE IS FREE.

Byline: Sandra Barrera Staff Writer

SOME LEGENDS have all the luck.

Jimmy Scott had lots of hardships. The man The New York Times called ``the most unjustly ignored American singer of the 20th century'' spent all but the past 10 years of his professional life trying to gain the recognition now being heaped upon him in jazz circles. And it was all triggered by a high-profile gig: singing at songwriter Doc Pomus' funeral.

Since then, Scott has released a number of albums, including the latest, ``But Beautiful.'' He's been the subject of two documentaries, including the forthcoming ``Jimmy Scott: If Only You Knew.'' And Wednesday, he turns 77, and he will mark the occasion by singing at a star-studded concert tribute for the late, great Billie Holiday at the Hollywood Bowl.

``Now she was an innovator,'' Scott says, as if savoring some sweet morsel in his mouth. ``She wasn't only giving you the song, but she was giving you a lesson in the form of the song.

``It was there in the way that she phrased,'' he said. ``It was there in the way that she espoused her singing and the meaning that she put in the styling of the song.''

The same is often said of Scott, whose unique, high-pitched voice has changed little over the course of six decades.

Scott still sings in the same female range he had back in 1949, when he got his big break with Lionel Hampton's big band. His high voice is the result of Kallmann's Syndrome, a rare condition that both stunted his growth and sexual development past the age of 12 as well as prevented his voice from ever deepening with the regular onset of puberty.

It was well into his teens before Scott even learned of this condition, which had also affected one of his brothers. Doctors told his mother, a seamstress who was the sole provider of her 10 children, about experimental treatments. She declined.

Instead, Scott's mother, who was soon after tragically struck down by a car while crossing the street, taught him to love his voice. She even encouraged him during family sing-alongs at Sunday church services. And so Scott developed a love for singing that flowed from his every pore like a mad conductor at his podium. Only, his movements were fluid. He opened his arms. He tilted back his head, faced the heavens.

Still does.

``Jimmy has such a way with interpretation of a lyric or a phrase that he really kind of wrings new life out of an old tune,'' said Matthew Buzzell, who directed ``Jimmy Scott: If You Only Knew,'' the compelling documentary based on Scott's life.

Women swooned the moment Scott stepped up to the microphone. And so they recognized that it was a mistake when the hit record, ``Everybody's Somebody's Fool,'' recorded with Hampton's band, credited the vocalist as Irma Curry when it was in fact Scott. Mistakes like this didn't just occur that once.

The downfall of Scott's career was that he was plagued by bad business dealings and rogue record executives.

Scott had signed to Savoy, which had him locked him into a dismal 20-year contract. In 1963, when he released a solo album produced by Ray Charles, it was pulled from the shelves almost immediately after Savoy threatened suit.

It seemed hopeless. And so Scott went back to Cleveland, where he worked odd jobs and cared for the ailing father who had been absent during much of his early youth.

For his father, Scott had little compassion. It was because of his father that, after his mother's death, Scott and his siblings were separated and placed in foster care.

But near the end, Scott said that his father wept regrettably for the way in which he treated his family. And that offered him some comfort when a month later, his father died.

Scott went back to singing in 1990. Two years later, he was signed and began touring Europe and Japan for the first time in his life.

He was 67.

``You know, when I think of Jimmy Scott, the first thing that comes to mind is 'American original,' '' said Terence Blanchard, the jazz trumpeter/composer/arranger who shares the stage with Scott Wednesday. ``He's a very unique musician and has his own unique style. You look at some of his earlier records when people really didn't know who he was. You can tell how he influenced some of the more popular singers like Nancy Wilson or even an Al Jarreau.

I mean, he's truly an American treasure.''

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2 photos

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(1 -- cover -- color) On his 77th birthday, Jimmy Scott joins other jazz legends for a tribute to the one and only Billie

(2) no caption (Jimmy Scott)