If you listen to the sounds of Pioneer Square on any given night you might notice that now something is missing. That something is the music of Seattle blues legend Isaac Scott.

Scott, 56, a fixture in the Seattle blues scene for more than three decades, died of complications from diabetes Friday November 16, 2001. At a memorial service Wednesday at Columbia Funeral Home in the Rainier Valley, a standing room only crowd said goodbye.

"Those who did see him are richer today musically for ever seeing him play," said long-time friend and fellow blues musician Norman Sylvester.

People unfamiliar with the Seattle music scene might not know of Scott's legendary status. Two hundred people, including Sylvester, gathered Wednesday to pay tribute and remind everyone of the musical star Seattle has lost.

"He could take a $5 guitar or a $4,500 guitar and they're gonna sound good," said Sylvester.

Charlene Grant played bass in Scott's last band.

"It was something very special," she said after Wednesday's funeral. "Isaac had a great gift."

Scott never achieved the national prominence of a blues artist like B.B. King, but to the tightly knit Seattle blues community, Isaac Scott was the King with a Northwest kingdom all his own. His legendary 30-minute solos and two-and-a-half hour sets literally helped put several Pioneer Square nightclubs on the map.

"Well, I guess to put it in a word, Isaac was the real thing," said fellow musician Monte Price.

Isaac Scott helped create the first Seattle music scene in the 70's and 80's long before grunge put the Seattle music scene on a national map. And local musicians say his influence will be felt for years to come.

Bruce Ransom is a Seattle blues guitar player and a member of Isaac Scott's last band.

"It was magic really," he said. "As close as we mortals really get to magic."

Friends and fans were to hold a music tribute to the magic of Isaac Scott on Saturday, December 1 at the Tractor Tavern in Ballard from 1 to 7 p.m.

For More Information:

www.isaacscott.com