- The Andrew Scott Trio with Bernie Senensky and Neil Swainson at the Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre.
About me:
Professional Biography:
Dr. Andrew Scott’s professional work has impacted nearly every aspect of the music industry. As a guitarist/arranger and composer, Andrew’s most recent recording, Strange Music, featuring Randy Napoleon, Neil Swainson and Archie Alleyne is available through Cellar Live recordings. Prior to this, Andrew released three internationally recognized CDs for Sackville Records (This One’s for Barney; Blue Mercer; Nostalgia); two CDs with the award-winning Clayton/Scott Group (August; So Nice) and three CDs with 1990s “acid jazz” group One Step Beyond (One Step Beyond; Life Out There; Live in Montreal).
Additionally, Andrew has amassed a considerable discography as a side musician (Gene DiNovi, Jim Clayton, Frank D’Angelo, Loverboy’s Mike Reno, Cynthia Ballesteros, The Show) and, as a performer, Andrew has played with a diverse roster of groups/players that includes Four80East, Harry Allen, Jackie Richardson, David Sanborn, Jay and Shawne Jackson, Kellylee Evans, Larry Carlton, Grant Stewart, Tony Monaco, Bob James, Merl Saunders, Earl Klugh, Carol Welsman and Marc Jordan. For his work, Andrew has won a Toronto Independent Music Award, a Canadian Urban Music Award, four Canadian “Smooth” Jazz Awards and has two National Jazz Award nominations.
As composer, Andrew has contributed tracks to Michael Dunston’s recording My Love, Joel Haynes’s Transitions (featuring Seamus Blake), the Rochester-based saxophonist Jack Prybylski’s Out of the Box and, along with Archie Alleyne, Andrew co-composed the twice-mounted musical Syncopation: Life in the Key of Black that premiered at Toronto’s J.C.C. Andrew and Alleyne’s next musical, Syncopation II: And the Journey Continues is currently in production. In compliment to these activities, Andrew often acts in the capacity of music director: Canadian Smooth Jazz Awards (2004-2011), Syncopation I and II and The Evolution of Jazz Ensemble.
Andrew has composed extensively for film and television over the years including his work on James Genn’s 2012 Canadian Film Centre feature Old Stock; Pop Switch; Mothers and Daughters; CBC’s The Border; Douglas Coupland’s Everything’s Gone Green; Big Girl; Don MacKellar’s Childstar; Burning Dogs, Hand, John Woo’s Like a Thief and Textuality, staring Eric McCormack.
As a scholar, Andrew has lectured at universities and for conferences across North America in the areas of business, education and music. He has been published on the subjects of jazz and popular music in a number of books (including the New Grove Dictionary of Jazz) and in such refereed academic journals as Current Research in Jazz; Interdisciplinary Literary Studies: A Journal of Criticism and Theory; Soundscapes: Online Journal on Media Culture; Music Research Forum; the Journal of Popular Music Studies and the Canadian University Music Society Review.
As a journalist, Andrew was the Managing Editor of Coda magazine (2007/2008), has written for Downbeat and is a longtime contributor to Wax Poetics, for whom he has written features on Donny Hathaway, The Black Rock Coalition, John Klemmer, PM Records, Johnny Lytle, the Philadelphia jazz scene, George Benson and The Jazz Crusaders.
As a culmination of these diverse interests and experiences, Andrew is an education and new media/music business/music marketing public speaker, author, educator and frequent commentator. He is a Professor of Music at
Humber’s School of Creative and Performing Arts where he oversees the Music Business and Music Marketing areas and acts in the capacity of Humber Music’s head academic advisor.
Andrew is the editor of Take Note (Humber Music’s alumni and recruitment publication) and is the creator and moderator of SCAPA’s ArtAbled initiative, a learning portal that teaches business and leadership skills through mentorship, workshop and advocacy. ArtsAbled, the radio show, hosted by Andrew, airs on Humber Radio (96.9 FM) Friday nights at 10 p.m. and is podcast archived on SCAPA’s website. The show draws attention to the rich culture of excellence and achievement that occurs with regularity by students and faculty alike at Humber’s School of Creative and Performing Arts.
Andrew has been repeatedly recognized for excellence in teaching.
Personal Bio:
I grew up in Toronto, Canada and have been involved in music my whole life. I sang in the Canadian Children’s Opera Chorus as a youngster, played French horn in junior high school and took up the guitar at Leaside High School. My first teachers were my mother (a great piano player) and Andy Baracus at Leaside. I got interested in jazz mainly through my mom and dad’s Oscar Peterson, Junior Mance and Dave Brubeck records. My first jazz teachers were Brian Hughes and Joey Goldstein, all of who gave me a good musical foundation and pointed me in the right direction. I attended Humber College of Applied Arts and Sciences in the music department. Here, I had the good fortune to work with some great teachers (Charles Tolliver, Don Thompson, Pat LaBarbera, Peter Harris, Ted Quinlan, Michael Farquason) and meet some amazing musicians who were masquerading as students. Around this time, I also helped start a really nice band called One Step Beyond. We were on a few compilation records, put out two albums on our own and got to tour extensively throughout North America (occasionally as the backup band for organist Merl Saunders). I also went to Arosa, Switzerland around this time and played in The Hotel Eden for four months.
In 1998, I moved to Boston and attended the New England Conservatory of Music. I earned a Masters in Historical Musicology while getting to play jazz with some great musicians. NEC was the dream school for someone with diverse interests. The scholarship was high–thanks to Greg Smith, Helen Greenwald, Peter Row, Anne Hallmark–and the music was rich and varied; I studied under such wonderful musicians as John McNeil and Gene Bertonncinni.
I would have loved to stay in Boston–it is an amazing city–but I got accepted into the PhD. program of Musicology/Ethnomusicology at York University to study with Rob Bowman.
In the spring of 2006 I successfully defended my dissertation/thesis “The Life, Music and Improvisational Style of Herbert Lawrence ‘Sonny’ Greenwich.”
Additionally, I’ve put out two albums with Jim Clayton in a band called The Clayton/Scott Group. The band, which mainly features David French, Jake Wilkinson, Will Jarvis and Steve Heathcote (although other great musicians have worked with us) gets a lot of radio play on Max Trax, Wave 94.7 FM, The Breeze in Calgary and a number of other “Contemporary” jazz radio stations. We have also been recognized for our efforts with two “Group of the Year” wins at the Canadian Smooth Jazz Awards (2005 and 2006) and a National Jazz Award Nomination for “Electric Group of the Year.”
We were lucky to work with two wonderful producers–Tony Grace and Rob DeBoer of Four 80East–a group with whom I now play–for our 2nd album “So Nice.”
In addition, I married a wonderful woman, have two sons and a daughter, got a dog, bought a house, played just about every jazz festival in Ontario and have written for a host of good academic journals and magazines–including CODA Magazine where I worked as the Managing Editor (see my CV).
I’ve put out a number of recordings as well (see discography), but am particularly proud of a few mentioned here.
The first, featuring some “swingin’” playing by Harry Allen , Jake Wilkinson, Bernie Senensky, Louis Simao and Joel Haynes is called “This One’s for Barney,” and was released as a tribute to the late guitarist Barney Kessel, whose music I love and whom I feel was influential on my playing style. It was released on Sackville Records in late 2004.
My 2nd recording–”Blue Mercer”–is a program of mainly Johnny Mercer music. I am thrilled that New York trumpeter Randy Sandke, tenor saxophonist Mike Murley, pianist Bernie Senensky, bassist Louis Simao and drummer Joel Haynes agreed to record with me. John Norris at Sackville Records has again put out this record and I’m happy to report that the liner notes have been written by pianist/composer/Mercer collaborater Gene DiNovi, whose composition “Have a Heart” I recorded for this album. His notes can be found in the press section of this website.
Speaking of DiNovi, I’m also pleased to report I recorded two “Generations” CDs with Gene DiNovi and Dave Young (July 2007). The first (“The Three Optimists at the Old Mill”) is available on Sackville Records in the fall of 2008. The second was produced by famed jazz producer Mitsuo Johfu for his Marshmallow record company. Here is a link to the label’s website (Japanese only, however).
In the summer of 2009, I recorded a third CD as leader for Sackville Records. The recording, Nostalgia features tunes (or rather melodies/heads) that are based upon standard American songbook compositions: so, for example, we play Fats Navarro’s “Nostalgia” which is based upon “Out of Nowhere” and Barney Kessel’s “Vicky’s Dream” which is based upon “All the Things You Are” etc. The record features both Dan Block (on tenor and clarinet) and Jon-Erik Kellso on trumpet (and a variety of mutes) on the front line and the swinging rhythm section of pianist Mark Eisenman, bassist Pat Collins and drummer Joel Haynes.
And in the summer of 2012, I recorded “Strange Music” (available through Cellar Live) with fellow guitarist Randy Napoleon, bassist Neil Swainson and drummer Archie Alleyne. The two guitar format is a lot of fun in which to play and I think the recording came out well.
In addition to all of this, I work and teach at Humber College of Music (see professional bio above).
Drop me a line to say hello.
Thanks,
Andy