Meet Donna Scott of Majic Dragon Multimedia in South

Today we’d like to introduce you to Donna Scott.

Donna, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
When I was in kindergarten at Rudyard Kipling Elementary in Chicago, my teacher Ms. Imala, a beautiful, golden-brown woman with a kind smile and an angelic voice taught us this song:

“Go tell Aunt Rhody, go tell Aunt Rhody, go tell Aunt Rhody, the old gray goose is dead.”

I was crestfallen at the plight of these poor little geese. In that classroom, our teacher was cultivating not only a love for music but also a sense of empathy; we were learning to put ourselves in another’s’ shoes. Ms. Brooks, with her coke bottle glasses and upswept hairdo would be next to water and nurture the seeds Ms. Imala had planted. Whether we were singing “Champenacas,” or “I’ve been working on the Railroad,” she did it all. When we graduated, we marched into the auditorium to “War March of the Priests.” Ms. Brooks taught us that it’s ok to be different. My family couldn’t afford a piano, let alone lessons, so my buddy and next door neighbor Kim, who did take lessons and had a Wurlitzer Spinet piano, would sometimes teach me the songs she was learning, like “Little David Play on Your Harp.” Beatrice and Stephanie, two other neighbors, also let me switch up practicing at their homes. It wasn’t much, but it fed my soul and made me goofy happy. 

My dad was an incredible tenor. To this day, I’ve heard only a few tenors with a voice like his. It was just gorgeous. I got about ‘fifty to sixty percent of his voice, but not the whole ‘kit and kaboodle’ as he would say. I did get however, 100% of his rich timbre. As an adult, some folks have assumed my voice got lower with age. Well, not that much. When I answered the phone as a teen, folks would confidently say, “Hello sir!” That would ‘frost my cookies’ so much! Now it doesn’t bother me. My dad would always sing. I would follow him to choir practice to hear them sing spirituals, like “I Want to Be Ready.” Hearing those songs deepened my love for harmony. Dad was a gifted interior decorator who put himself through school at the Chicago Art Institute after serving in the Navy as a cook. He always yearned to be a professional singer, but injustices that he was dealt and his own demons blocked that dream. I always wished that I could have sung with him before he passed away.

While music was something I dearly loved, my road to become the CEO and President of an independent record label in Houston was also heavily impacted by a few other things, like my Texas roots. I have so many fond memories of summers spent on my grand-parents single acre of land in Daingerfield, Texas. As five years old, I would race their Scottish terrier, “Inky” on the big front yard that seemed to go on forever. As a teen, at 4:00 am, it was time to get up and pick butter beans or peas from their endless garden that I secretly believed was a farm. 1:00 pm, we were feeding cattle, hollering, “suuga, suga, suga, suga, suga, suga, wheee-oooohh . . . weee-ooooh.” My favorite part was churning cream on the ‘old fashioned’ ice cream maker to put on homemade peach cobbler. Yummy! Dinner was at noon and supper at 6:00 pm except on Sundays, because there was BTU (Baptist Training Union). My aunt Ardelle was a music teacher who accompanied and oversaw the church choir. My cousin Dennis also sang in the choir. My cousin Patti would spend time teaching me the “Spinning Song,” as well as a few other classical pieces she was learning on her baby grand. All of them had beautiful voices and I loved listening to them sing. Even though we lived in Chicago, spending time with my aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents and great grandparents in Texas, fostered the pull that would bring me back to Texas decades later.

Another thing that put me on my current path oddly enough is my first career in broadcasting, film and advertising. I have a BS and MA in Communications. My concentration was Radio-TV-Film. I’ve always loved tinkering and being behind the scenes. As a middle child (the fourth of seven children and the second of three girls), I learned at an early age how to negotiate and see a lot of different perspectives. Later, whether I was dealing with issues as a producer of a commercial, film or an ad campaign, I was comfortable seeing the project from each persons’ viewpoint—“what does the accountant, the art director, the writer, the cinematographer, the line producer or the client think?” I loved hearing all the viewpoints and then bringing them together as a cohesive whole. Another thing that helped me tremendously and set me up for what I do now is working every position in television; grip, cameraperson, audio engineer, video editor, technical director and director. Even sitting in the control room doing chyron and computer graphics, you learned for example, that ‘three seconds’ to a camera person seems like an eternity to the director. It’s why I am now hard wired to not make clients wait too long for an answer. Working in both commercial radio, television and the news also gave me an appreciation for time and details. Selling radio air time landed me a barter deal for piano lessons. I eagerly saved up and bought a used white Wurlitzer spinet, on which I would practice for hours on end. I was in hog heaven!

I was a bit of a tomboy growing up, climbing fences and trees, just like my four brothers. When I watched sports with them, I’d sometimes fantasize about running the camera at the Super bowl on the fifty yard line, or capturing the game winning shot from the paint in an NBA finals game. That adventuresome spirit never left years later, as I would nimbly skip up 30 foot ladders to adjust television studio lights, or get ready to go up in the second wave to run the ABC Network cameras during the LIVE telecast of the ABQ International Balloon Festival. After work, I would frequently stay and pore over manuals for all the machines, mixers, boards and computers. I didn’t do it for the attention, it was total fascination! Nonetheless, my dedication caught the attention of the chain smoking, salty tongued station manager, who promoted me to the position of commercial director shortly thereafter. My trajectory continued when I joined the local Univision station as a senior producer.

Three years later, wanting to be closer to Chicago, my husband and I relocated to Detroit, and I began working as a senior copywriter/producer for J. Walter Thompson USA (JWT), one of the worlds’ leading ad agencies. Because it was their nickel, I could hire the best creative personnel, with respect to the nuts and bolts of an ad campaign, be it print, broadcast or film. JWT even provided a ‘creative black book’  used to select vendors from. That experience helped me see how things were really done, what were the best practices if money were no object. It also prepared me for the digital age because our vendors were all over the world. It was terribly exciting but after our son Chris was born, I wanted to resign. My boss convinced JWT to create a part-time position to try to keep me, but it was still too much. The job required my being out of town for weeks at a time and my son was growing so fast. I didn’t want to miss much more. When he reached two, I resigned.

At this point, I started getting freelance work. I could be a creative director, but with my own hours. I had the same mindset that I had at JWT– be professional, be killer in your execution, the client is always right and k.i.s.s. (keep it simple sistah). What’s more, I could do cutting edge campaigns for a fraction of the cost. Working with JWT, ABC and the local Univision station also taught me something else. Famous people put their pants on one leg at a time like everyone else. I recall talk show host Geraldo Rivera seeing me on a live shoot; camera on one shoulder, battery belt on my waist. I was packing up. He walked over and began picking up some of the cables for me. It normalized how I was around anyone famous to this day.

The last factor that pulled me toward Houston was a plea by the Detroit Public Schools (DPS). DPS encouraged school districts to partner with outside organizations e.g., churches. One Sunday, an elementary school principal visited my church asking for help to start a Glee Club. No one volunteered, including myself. That would change in a few months. One December day, Ron, my worship team leader asked me to sing carols at this same school. It was 7 degrees outside! I wanted to scream “Nooo.” But ‘any’ and ‘every’ time I needed something musically, Ron was always there. I reluctantly went. Over 400 kids were sitting on a gymnasium floor and you could see the puddles of melted snow around. We started caroling. When Melissa, another church member, hit that high note near the end of “Oh Holy Night,” and Ron ‘followed up with his energetic glissandos, the kids eyes got wide as saucers. That’s when I got an idea. Even though I could not do a Glee Club, I could help them put on a musical. We did “We Haz Jazz.” (My sons’ school had done this musical earlier and I loved the story line). I was the producer, Melissa the Vocal Coach, Ron the Music Director and Margo, one of the English teachers, was the acting coach. I hired a choreographer, videotaped the dance steps and taught them to the kids myself.

Our church bought the rehearsal booklets and tapes. Because we had a bigger stage, the performance was at our church. We also provided an after-performance banquet for the parents, because they were coming from work. There were 90 students in the production and it was stellar. I wish I had time to tell you all the stories of how their lives and ours, were touched and changed. Several other schools heard of what our team had done and asked me could we do the same for them. We did. Later, while in NY filming a documentary, I got a call from a suburban Michigan school wanting a part-time music teacher. I took the job and soon created a performing arts program that met all the state benchmarks.

In 2009, with our son attending Bowling Green State University, my husbands’ job with the department of Defense transferred him to Houston to work with Galveston’s Army Core of Engineers. Prior to relocating, I had been in a program at Mary Grove College in Detroit, which recruited college graduates from all disciplines to become certified teachers. My principal saw my love for teaching and recommended I apply. Deep down, I wasn’t sure if I had what it took. A drive back from Chicago, listening to a CD from my moms’ church, changed my mind. The Sanctuary Choir was performing “I’m in Love with Jesus.” The music was so beautiful it brought tears to my eyes. My moms’ pastor routinely had so many jazz greats visit the church. That man could make an organ jump up and spin around so to speak, he would break out and sing Luther Van Dross to make a sermon point; he was once Navy bunkmates with Nancy Wilsons’ drummer and had a Ph.D. in music. He truly understood the balance and importance of music to worship. Here on a dusky road on 1-94, I benefitted from that wisdom.

I let go of my fears, applied, was accepted and began to officially pursue my lifelong passion for music. In this program, I would receive both my BMUS and my MA in Music. I had finished most of my core education requirements when we moved to Houston. I enrolled in Texas Southern (TSU), a university with a long, positive history in my family. My uncle and cousin graduated from the pharmacy school, my brother and niece graduated from Thurgood Marshall School of Law. My uncle John Crump, who also graduated from Thurgood, was the longtime Executive Director of the National Bar Association and was honored by TSU for his service in the legal profession. My aunt, graduated with a degree in government. So, of course I would follow in the family footsteps to attend. Being a teacher was first and foremost on my mind when I enrolled until I heard the Big Band playing “Little Darlings.” I immediately called my mom and put her on speaker. I felt I was in the right place. Jazz was something that was constantly playing on my moms’ radio while I was growing up.

At Texas Southern, I chose the same mantra that my sons’ college told incoming freshman: “don’t let the institution use you, you use the institution,” meaning, get every single drop you can out of the experience. In the classical ensemble orchestra and the jazz big band, I played trombone; in the Latin Jazz ensemble and combos I played piano, flute and trombone. I also sang in the vocal jazz ensemble and was a featured singer in the big band for several seasons. That hunger to learn and to be better helped me land a spot in the Joe Sample Jazz Orchestra, playing bass trombone under the co-direction of one of my idols, the late jazz pianist Dr. Joe Sample. My main instrument was classical piano and I had the good fortune to study under Dr. Jane Perkyns from Julliard. On May 10, 2014, I graduated from TSU, valedictorian, 4.0, summa cum laude. After teaching general music and choir for a few years, I was awarded a scholarship to attend the University of Denvers’ Lamont School of Music to study jazz voice.

Denver’s jazz scene is on steroids. Not only did I do a two years residency the last Friday of each month at a popular jazz venue, I played and headlined jazz festivals as well. I performed at many other hot jazz venues such as Dazzle or Motif. I graduated in 2018 with a Master of Music (MM) in Vocal Jazz Performance and returned to Houston to VIGOUROUSLY run my independent record label, increase my private studio (I’ve got several students but can take a few more), perform here and there, enjoy the sunshine and, NOT having to shovel snow, anymore.

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Sitting on my patio recently, listening to my second album “Carnival” I was reminded that even in the struggle, something beautiful emerges. All the images of how much fun it was to do that album flooded my mind. I was so grateful. During that recording, there were some toughie times and yet, I honestly can’t recall them now, because what remains, is something I’m really proud of, that received national recognition and even got on the official GRAMMY ballot for consideration. So, even though being a label owner, performer and educator has had peaks and valleys, there’s been more peaks than valleys. That said, I’m multi-tasking as an entrepreneur with several ventures under the umbrella of Majic Dragon. The labels growth has been so phenomenal that I need to hire a part-time secretary and several interns for our multi-platform PR campaigns and our marketing department. I pay attention to social media daily and watch the changes, so I need a team of folks for each artist because they are all different. It takes time to develop a team who understands the US music landscape and culture. Caterpillars don’t become butterflies overnight. There’s a struggle and it’s real.

With respect to performing, that is a mixed blessing. I’m getting to perform more at national jazz festivals and am going on tour to Rome in October. I will be in Denver and Detroit before the year ends as well. However, I am pondering the notion of performing much more in Houston. To do that, I have to reintroduce myself to some and present myself to others. Upon finishing Lamont, I did quite a few gigs in Houston, both public and private. Nonetheless, I turned down several opportunities because I still wasn’t sure I had the time needed to establish and develop a few regular, once-a-month gigs in Houston or metro Houston. Subsequent to taking about a year to establish a new routine of being back home, I realized that there are hundreds of thousands of folks here that I’ve never met, who have never heard me. I’m the type of person to say, “Why not?” If Denver can have 90,000 people attend a jazz festival with over 50 acts featuring ONLY jazz, including fusion, Afro-Cuban, contemporary, be-bop, hard-bop, jazz rap, cabaret, gypsy, acid, straight ahead, avante garde, etc., why can’t we? Isn’t everything bigger in Texas? We have killer musicians here. We just need to widen the net a bit to include more folks and their new ideas or approaches. Obstacles are really opportunities. I choose to use my time wisely as a CEO, performer and educator. Even downtime is an opportunity to shed and continue to grow. Joe Sample encouraged us to keep a daily practice regimen to avoid injuries. I took that to heart. So that’s it. I brought my entire history to Houston. I brought my Chicago roots, Kansas grad school experiences, New Mexico radio and TV experiences, Detroit, ad and creative director experiences, and now my experiences from Denver. I brought me.

So, as you know, we’re impressed with Majic Dragon Multimedia – tell our readers more, for example what you’re most proud of and what sets you apart from others.
Majic Dragon Multimedia was birthed after I graduated from TSU. I was ready to drop my first album, “Somehow I Knew.” Before its release however, I needed to name the label it was produced under. Instead of putting it under my former business name in Michigan, I chose to go to the Houston Secretary of State and incorporate Majic Dragon Multimedia, as a Texas corporation. When my second CD, “Carnival” dropped, I decided to take on new artists. My criteria was that the artist has to be quite developed musically and mature enough to go to the next level. The industry has really changed. More things are accessible. In recent years, indie record labels have accounted for 85% of the GRAMMY awards. The stellar jazz label Mack Avenue Records for example, was started in a Grosse Pointe home, about 10 minutes from where I lived in Michigan. In order to maximize our global impact, we are members of several professional groups that provide support and professional development for label owners, including advocacy, education and connection building.

Majic Dragon Multimedia specializes in quality music. We provide everything needed to produce, distribute and promote the artistry of our clients. We plan album launching, pre and post preparation for an album release in terms of three, two and one month tasks to make as much “noise and squeeze as much attention as possible for the release. We aim to make our clients as commercially successful as possible. Presently, we have six artists representing several genres; jazz, Americana, folk, classical, R&B, pop, rap/hip hop. While at JWT, I was known for producing engaging yet stellar commercials. I have that same approach at Majic Dragon. I value my client’s investment in me and their trust, including bringing them to Houston to record at times. 

Here’s an example. In November 2018, my sister Sheila sent me a link to listen to an artist named Austin. It took me a few months, but I finally listened and really liked it. Since I had not produced a rap album yet, I asked my friends in the industry, GRAMMY recipient/engineering whiz, Michael (Ashby) and Billboard charting artist Melissa B. for their feedback as this was their wheelhouse. In Feb 2019, they called and said they loved the artist, he did have something special. 

In late March, they flew to Houston, stayed with me. We tracked the album at Circle Music Group, in Spring, TX. I took them around the city to some hip night spots like Cafeza, Whiskey Café in the Bay Brook Lawn and a few other places. We visited both KTSU and Wire Road studios. Ashby had posted items from the session on Instagram and a student from San. Jacinto College told his professors that Ashby was in town. He asked could Ashby come meet the class. Ashby Mix and his engineering methods are becoming in high demand worldwide. While we visited some friends at Sugar Hill Recording Studios, Ashby gave a presentation to eager students at San Jacinto. Later, we talked about having cross projects in NY and Houston. This location is perfect. The weather is perfect, compared to snow. The redesigned Bay Brook Lawn is minutes from my home and its open window cafes remind me of the same open window cafes on Rush Street in Chicago. When clients have a great time here, they leave and go back to their cities with wonderful Houston stories. They know everything is going to be top-notch and we are going to have fun doing it.

There are so many things that I am proud of, beginning with how I use my industry contacts to benefit my clients. For example, when Ashby and Melissa called me in February 2019, I dialed Austin and put him on a four-way. I asked, “How does it feel to be talking with the engineer who tracked Cardi B’s chart topping “Bodack Yellow” on her GRAMMY-winning album, “Invasion of Privacy?” We all started giggling like kids. For an up and coming artist to see his dreams become a reality, that is a beautiful thing.

Moreover, when a clients’ record is dropped and well-received, that’s also rewarding. When we dropped “Falling Leaves,” Julian Kelley’s’ folk single that featured Billy Contreras on fiddle; within 24 hours she received emails from major labels like Universal Music Groups (UMG) affiliate Decca, and Jive Records, making offers. Although I felt she should explore the offer, she wanted to stay with Majic Dragon. For me, it’s about the client. What can I do to best serve him or her, whether they are an emerging artist or a higher profile artist; a private studio client or a venue; I am always going to look out for the clients’ best interest.

I mentioned my second record “Carnival” earlier. I’m so proud of the work that so many Houstonians, who are killer musicians, did on this project. I am also humbled that since Majic Dragons inception, we’ve been able to employ over 100 musicians, technicians, engineers, marketing teams, art directors, publicists, caterers and recording studio personnel. This year we were also able to place ads in top industry trade publications.

I’m super proud when my efforts as a studio teacher take the student to the next step. I had a vocal jazz student, Alexandria Dewalt. She attended HSPVA. Although she was a talented flute player, she had never taken vocal jazz lessons. She wanted to sing. My former jazz studies director, Mr. Horace Alexander Young, encouraged me to take her on. He introduced me to her mom, Monetta and that was that. I was her teacher for almost three years, including my first year at Lamont. The first year we worked together I had her enter the GRAMMY Camp – Jazz Session competition. I wanted her to have a goal. She wasn’t chosen however, until the second time around. The moment she phoned me with the news, I had just finished my finals. We were screaming and I started jumping up and down on my bed with glee. Allie and the choir performed during GRAMMY week all over LA, at Spaghettinis, the awards luncheon for the nominees, and the official GRAMMY after party. They also recorded an album at the historic Capital Recording Studios, where so much jazz has been laid down over the years. They were featured on Entertainment Tonight. Her mom and I helped her apply to 9 elite music schools and Allie was accepted to 8 of the 9. She is now on scholarship at Frost School of Music in Miami. I still talk to her and encourage her whenever I can. She recently played flute on a new single Majic Dragon dropped, “Superstar.” My network is hers and if she needs anything and I can help, I will. I do this for all of my students.

I am also proud of what I do as a performer. Listen, when a couple comes up to you in-between sets and says, “we just got engaged after you sang ‘Misty;’ when someone undergoing chemo, hears I am in town performing, comes to surprise me and sits in and crushes it, when I get to rehearse with so many fine musicians’ who constantly bring it and who have my back and I theirs; these precious moments remind me of “why” I do this. Whether I’m performing as a headliner at a jazz festival or as a duo at a trendy bistro, it’s an audience of one and I’m going to give people my absolute best.

I’m an active, voting member of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (NARAS). During the awards season, I have the privilege of listening to some of the finest music in the world up for GRAMMY consideration. Hearing all that new and incredible music influences me as a CEO. I pass that along to my clients. Another perk of my membership, is attending the GRAMMY awards, whereby my musical cohorts and I from around the globe come to LA, hang out, network, encourage each other and have a BLAST. That’s also self-care because I come back refreshed, relaxed and reinvigorated. This ‘hang’ pays off when I drop a project and a multi GRAMMY-winning artist sees it and seriously shouts it out on social media. That influences others to listen. Majic Dragon clients get ear-to-the ground industry feedback and a team with experience, education and reach to take artists to the next level.

Is there a characteristic or quality that you feel is essential to success?
How I treat people. I thankfully learned at a young age, 22 in fact, that karma is real. No matter how much success you have or don’t have, people want to know that they matter, that they will be treated right. When I am performing for example, I keep in mind that everyone gets 24 hours in a day. When someone takes time to get dressed and drive to my gig and invest money on entertainment, they’ve chosen to give me 3-4 hours of their time. I don’t take that lightly, just giving the same old thing each time they see me. There is way too much music out there for that. In my capacity as a label owner, clients are trusting me with their creative spirit, they need to see a return on their investment. Do unto others is our commitment. Think about the last time someone didn’t give you what you paid for. That is not a great feeling.

I’ve had the privilege to teach general music for 14 years and I loved it. I loved the wonder of working with students, of helping them reach their potential. There is an art to teaching and I was so fortunate to learn the issue of fairness in classroom management. A student can have NO fairness in his world outside, but when he hits your classroom, you can give him or her that experience, which gives them hope, that things can work out, that life can be fair. I cared how they treated each other. There would be no gossiping, belittling, snobbery. I wasn’t allowing the insecure, jealous back biting of “why did so and so get the part?” to sprout any wings in my classes. By being intentionally inclusive, I counteracted that tendency to gripe. We were going to celebrate each other.

I knew that we were only as strong as our weakest link. I deliberately chose material that included as many students as possible. This is another thing JWT instilled in me. Demographics. Who did we leave out, who is missing, who is not being represented? Conversely, parents often wanted to know how I was using the arts to include their child. Sometimes for example, a student with a beautiful voice had incredible stage fright. I partnered them with someone fearless. Not only did it balance things out, it also paid off. We’d have over 1,000 parents, friends and family members at our concerts.

That inclusiveness and confidence with this performance rubric was just another way of treating folks right. See, we never know where an encounter, however small, will take us. You could assume someone is not worth your time, cut them off in traffic, badmouth them to others, or just be a real jerk. However, that same person you dismissed could be the sibling of the president of the corporation you want to work for. They could be the person who saves your life. The golden rule is real. You can have the voice of an angel, be the most talented improviser, have the A-list artist roster, own many successful businesses, but if you treat folks wrong just because you’re talented, or you have power; all your brilliance and know how is a waste. Just a waste. For me, I want to believe, know and feel that people are better off having worked with me, having known me, or studied with me. That’s my secret sauce.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.majicdragonmultimedia.net
• Phone: (281) 898-3207
• Email: escott1443@gmail.com
• Instagram: iamdonnaescott_jazz_music@instagram.com 
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/donna.scott.121772
• CD Baby: https://donnaescott.hearnow.com
• Other: www.donnaescott.com 

Image Credit:
Superstar cover photo-Pin Lim; Austin (Cookie Butter cover photo) Pin Lim; Personal photo (Pin Lim)

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