Janice Scroggins

Janice Scroggins (July 17, 1955 – May 27, 2014) was a jazz pianist and instructor in Portland, Oregon.

Early life Scroggins was born in 1955 in Idabel, Oklahoma, to Henry and Mary Scroggins. Scroggins first began playing the piano at the age of three. She attended high school and college in Oakland, California,

Musical career Scroggins performed with Portland area musicians including Linda Hornbuckle, Thara Memory, Curtis Salgado, Mel Brown and was featured regularly with New Orleans saxophonist Reggie Houston. She also played with the Norman Sylvester Blues Band and was a session musician for several other artists.

Scroggins was the music director for the Portland Interfaith Gospel Choir.

Her music was influenced by gospel, or church music, as well as African rhythms and country. Oregon Arts Watch writer Bob Hicks described her music as having "a little bit of Oklahoma and a little bit of Oakland and a little bit of gospel and a whole river of American musical history in it". Scroggins was 58 years old at the time.

Tributes In 1992, Scroggins was inducted into the Cascade Blues Association Hall of Fame. She was inducted into the Oregon Music Hall of Fame in 2013.

On August 9, 2014, Scroggins was honored with a free festival by Portland blues artists Norman Sylvester, the Linda Hornbuckle Band, the Strange Tones, and others.

Discography Janice Scroggins Plays Scott Joplin, Flying Heart Records (1987) Piano Love, MAH Records (2014)