I Go Back Home – Jimmy Scott tells the story of jazz legend Jimmy Scott, and disillusioned producer and composer Ralf Kemper who took on the journey to produce an album with the almost-forgotten icon.
Jimmy Scott, friend of Billie Holiday, Charlie Parker and one of the last connections to the golden age of jazz, was described as “perhaps the most unjustly ignored American singer of the 20th century,” by the New York Times.
Personally discontented, Kemper becomes obsessed with the idea of bringing attention to his hero, but it takes a tragedy to put his thoughts into action.
By the time Kemper and Scott meet, Scott is 85 years-old and living in obscurity in Las Vegas. Reliant on his wife and reliant on a wheelchair, Kemper is shocked by Jimmy’s surprisingly bad health condition which puts his dream at risk before it even begins. While Ralf’s problems grow, Jimmy’s bloom more and more.
Ralf gathers some of the most important jazz musicians in the studio in tribute for Scott. Together with many of Scott’s old friends like Quincy Jones, Joe Pesci and James Moody, Kemper pursues his dream. He can’t give up. He spares no expense and reaches the limits of what can be done to capture Jimmy’s unique voice in a race against time.
United States
