Scott Colley is an American jazz

Jazz

Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...

 bassist

Double bass

The double bass, also called the string bass, upright bass, standup bass or contrabass, is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra, with strings usually tuned to E1, A1, D2 and G2...

 and Composer

Composer

A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...

.
Scott has performed extensively in bands led by: Herbie Hancock

Herbie Hancock

Herbert Jeffrey "Herbie" Hancock is an American pianist, bandleader and composer. As part of Miles Davis's "second great quintet," Hancock helped to redefine the role of a jazz rhythm section and was one of the primary architects of the "post-bop" sound...

, Jim Hall

Jim Hall (musician)

James Stanley Hall is an American jazz guitarist.-Biography:Educated at the Cleveland Institute of Music, Hall moved to Los Angeles where he began to attract national, and then international, attention in the late 1950s...

, Andrew Hill

Andrew Hill

Andrew Hill was an American jazz pianist and composer.Hill is recognized as one of the most important innovators of jazz piano in the 1960s...

, Michael Brecker

Michael Brecker

Michael Leonard Brecker was an American jazz saxophonist and composer. Acknowledged as "a quiet, gentle musician widely regarded as the most influential tenor saxophonist since John Coltrane," he has been awarded 15 Grammy Awards as both performer and composer and was inducted into Down Beat Jazz...

, Chris Potter

Chris Potter (jazz saxophonist)

Chris Potter is an American jazz saxophonist, composer, and multi-instrumentalist.-Biography:Born in Chicago, Illinois, Potter spent most of his childhood in Columbia, South Carolina where his mother taught psychology at the University of South Carolina...

, Pat Metheny

Pat Metheny

Patrick Bruce "Pat" Metheny is an American jazz guitarist and composer.One of the most successful and critically acclaimed jazz musicians to come to prominence in the 1970s and '80s, he is the leader of the Pat Metheny Group and is also involved in duets, solo works and other side projects...

, Carmen McRae

Carmen McRae

Carmen Mercedes McRae was an American jazz singer, composer, pianist, and actress. Considered one of the most influential jazz vocalists of the 20th century, it was her behind-the-beat phrasing and her ironic interpretations of song lyrics that made her memorable...

, Edward Simon, Adam Rogers, Brian Blade

Brian Blade

Brian Blade in Shreveport, Louisiana is an American jazz drummer, composer, session musician, and singer-songwriter.-Early years:...

, David Binney

David Binney

David Binney is an American alto saxophonist and composer living in New York City.-Biography:David was born in Miami, Florida and raised in Southern California. His parents were jazz fans, and introduced Binney to jazz musicians such as John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Bobby Hutcherson and Wayne Shorter...

, Antonio Sanchez, Kenny Werner

Kenny Werner

Kenny Werner is an American jazz pianist.-Biography:Kenny Werner is a world-class pianist and composer. His prolific output of compositions, recordings and publications continue to impact audiences around the world....

. He has appeared on over 200 recordings to date and has also toured and recorded as leader.

Background

Born on November 24, 1963, Scott began studying bass at age 11. At 13, he began studying with bassist Monty Budwig. He attended Eagle Rock High School in Los Angeles, where he studied under John Rinaldo, renowned director of music at the school. After graduating high school he was granted a full scholarship to the California Institute for the Arts, where he focused on composition and jazz studies while also studying privately with Charlie Haden

Charlie Haden

Charles Edward Haden is an American jazz musician. He is a double bassist, probably best known for his long association with saxophonist Ornette Coleman...

 and classical bassist Fred Tinsley (of the Los Angeles Philharmonic). In 1986, he began touring and recording with jazz vocal legend Carmen McRae

Carmen McRae

Carmen Mercedes McRae was an American jazz singer, composer, pianist, and actress. Considered one of the most influential jazz vocalists of the 20th century, it was her behind-the-beat phrasing and her ironic interpretations of song lyrics that made her memorable...

. He graduated Cal Arts with a Bachelor of Music degree in 1988 and soon after moved to New York City.

Scott is currently living in New York.

Performance history and highlights

• 1988 to 1989: He performed in U.S. and European tours with Carmen McRae
  Carmen McRae
  Carmen Mercedes McRae was an American jazz singer, composer, pianist, and actress. Considered one of the most influential jazz vocalists of the 20th century, it was her behind-the-beat phrasing and her ironic interpretations of song lyrics that made her memorable...
  
  ; Dizzy Gillespie
  Dizzy Gillespie
  John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie was an American jazz trumpet player, bandleader, singer, and composer dubbed "the sound of surprise".Together with Charlie Parker, he was a major figure in the development of bebop and modern jazz...
  
  ; and Clifford Jordan
  Clifford Jordan
  Clifford Laconia Jordan was a jazz saxophone player. While in Chicago, he performed with Max Roach, Sonny Stitt, and some rhythm and blues groups. He moved to New York City in 1957, after which he recorded three albums for Blue Note. He also recorded with Horace Silver, J.J. Johnson, Kenny...
  
  .
• 1990 to 1995: Bands included Jim Hall
  Jim Hall (musician)
  James Stanley Hall is an American jazz guitarist.-Biography:Educated at the Cleveland Institute of Music, Hall moved to Los Angeles where he began to attract national, and then international, attention in the late 1950s...
  
  , John Scofield
  John Scofield
  John Scofield , often referred to as "Sco," is an American jazz guitarist and composer, who has played and collaborated with Miles Davis, Dave Liebman, Joe Henderson, Charles Mingus, Joey Defrancesco, Herbie Hancock, Pat Metheny, Bill Frisell, Pat Martino, Mavis Staples, Phil Lesh, Billy Cobham,...
  
  , Joe Henderson
  Joe Henderson
  Joe Henderson was an American jazz tenor saxophonist. In a career spanning more than forty years Henderson played with many of the leading American players of his day and recorded for several prominent labels, including Blue Note.-Early life:From a very large family with five sisters and nine...
  
   and Art Farmer
  Art Farmer
  Arthur Stewart "Art" Farmer was an American jazz trumpeter and flugelhorn player. He also played flumpet, a trumpet/flugelhorn combination designed for him by David Monette. His identical twin brother, Addison Farmer Arthur Stewart "Art" Farmer (August 21, 1928, Council Bluffs, Iowa –...
  
  .
• 1996 to 1998: His work included touring with a group led by Joe Lovano
  Joe Lovano
  Joseph Salvatore "Joe" Lovano is a post bop jazz saxophonist, alto clarinetist, flautist, and drummer. Since the late 1980s, Lovano has been one of the world's premiere tenor saxophone players, earning a Grammy award and several nods on Down Beat magazine's critics' and readers' polls...
  
   and Jim Hall, Tours with Toots Thielemans
  Toots Thielemans
  Jean-Baptiste Frédéric Isidor, Baron Thielemans , known as Toots Thielemans, is a Belgian jazz musician well known for his guitar and harmonica playing as well as his whistling. Thielemans is credited as one of the greatest harmonica players of the 20th century...
  
  ; Bobby Hutcherson
  Bobby Hutcherson
  Bobby Hutcherson is a jazz vibraphone and marimba player. His vibraphone playing is suggestive of the style of Milt Jackson in its free-flowing melodicism, but his sense of harmony and group interaction is thoroughly modern...
  
  ; and Bob Berg
  Bob Berg
  Bob Berg was a jazz saxophonist originally from Brooklyn, New York City. He started his musical education at the age of six when he began studying classical piano. He began playing the saxophone at the age of thirteen. Bob Berg was a Juilliard graduate influenced heavily by the late 1964–67 period...
  
  ; extensive touring with Andrew Hill's "Another Point of Departure" sextet.
• 2000-2004: For five years Colley toured extensively as a member of Herbie Hancock’s working trio and two separate quartets (one featuring saxophonist Gary Thomas, the other featuring vibist Bobby Hutcherson) at concerts around the world. Hancock’s trio has also performed in concert engagements with symphonic orchestras throughout the United States. During that time he also tour extensively with the Andrew Hill trio and sextet, and the Chris Potter Quartet.
• 2005-2007: Extensive touring with “Directions in Music”, a collaboration with Michael Brecker, Herbie Hancock, Roy Hargrove and Terri Lyne Carrington; Trio concerts with Pat Metheny; Tours with Jim Hall; Teaching residencies at The Banff Center, Virginia Commonwealth University, and Vallekilde Denmark, European and U.S. tours with Chris Potter’s Quartet; concerts with Chris Potter and Antonio Sanchez; U.S and European tours with his own trio and quartet.
• 2006-07: Extensive touring with his own quartet and trio. Recordings include projects with Chris Potter; Luciana Souza; Abbey Lincoln; Adam Rogers; Donny McCaslin; 2 recordings with Kenny Werner; and his own release Architect of the Silent Moment(featuring: Ralph Alessi, David Binney, Craig Taborn, Jason Moran, Adam Rogers, Gregoire Maret, and Antonio Sanchez.)
• 2008-2010: During the last few years he is touring with his quartet and trio in the US, Europe and South America. Also touring with Edward Simon and Brian Blade; Chris Potter’s Underground; The Antonio Sanchez Quartet; Magic Circle(a trio with Dave Douglas and Mark Feldman); The David Binney Quartet(with Craig Taborn and Brian Blade); The Kenny Werner Quintet. Teaching residencies in the U.S. and Europe. He has worked on numerous recordings in the last two years including his seventh CD as a leader, entitled “Empire,” which will be made up entirely of original compositions. It is due to be released on the CAM Jazz label during the summer of 2010 and will feature Bill Frisell
  Bill Frisell
  William Richard "Bill" Frisell is an American guitarist and composer.One of the leading guitarists in jazz since the late 1980s, Frisell's eclectic music touches on progressive folk, classical music, country music, noise and more...
  
  , Ralph Alessi
  Ralph Alessi
  Ralph Alessi is a jazz trumpeter and composer originally from San Rafael, California, probably better known for being a member of bands led by saxophonist Steve Coleman...
  
  , Brian Blade
  Brian Blade
  Brian Blade in Shreveport, Louisiana is an American jazz drummer, composer, session musician, and singer-songwriter.-Early years:...
  
   and Craig Taborn
  Craig Taborn
  Craig Taborn is an American keyboardist and composer. Playing piano, organ, and Moog synthesizer, Taborn has worked mostly in jazz, although he also does dark ambient and techno music....
  
  .

Discography

• Portable Universe (Freelance Records, 1997)
• Subliminal (Criss Cross Jazz
  Criss Cross Jazz
  Criss Cross Jazz is a Dutch jazz record label, specializing in American jazz.Criss Cross was founded in 1980 by Gerry Teekens, a drummer and German professor. The label, which releases about 20 albums per year, is noted for its simple, block-color cover art...
  
  , 1998)
• This Place (Steeplechase Records
  SteepleChase Records
  SteepleChase Records is a jazz record label based in Copenhagen, Denmark. SteepleChase was founded in 1972 by Nils Winther, who was a student at Copenhagen University at the time...
  
  , 2000)
• The Magic Line (Arabesque Records
  Arabesque Records
  Arabesque Records is an American classical and jazz record label.Arabesque began as a classical music subsidiary of the Caedmon company. In 1988, Marvin Reiss and Ward Botsford bought the company, turning it into an independent, and continued releasing classical until 1992, when it switched focuses...
  
  , 2000)
• Initial Wisdom (Palmetto Records
  Palmetto Records
  Palmetto Records is an independent American jazz record label founded in 1990 by Matt Balitsaris. -Artists:*Ben Allison*Lili Anel*Matt Wilson*Fred Hersch*Ted Nash*Bill Mays*Larry Goldings*David Berkman*Dr...
  
  , 2003)
• Architect of the Silent Moment (Cam Jazz, 2007)
• Empire (Cam Jazz, 2010)

Selected recordings with Scott Colley

• Song For Anyone - Chris Potter
• Lift - Chris Potter
• Gratitude - Chris Potter
• Vertigo - Chris Potter
• Concentric Circles - Chris Potter
• Lawn Chair Society - Kenny Werner
• Dusk
  Dusk (Andrew Hill album)
  Dusk is a studio album by American jazz pianist Andrew Hill recorded in 1999 and released on the Palmetto label.-Reception:The Allmusic review by David R...
  
  - Andrew Hill
  Andrew Hill
  Andrew Hill was an American jazz pianist and composer.Hill is recognized as one of the most important innovators of jazz piano in the 1960s...
  
  
• A Beautiful Day
  A Beautiful Day
  A Beautiful Day is a live album by American jazz pianist Andrew Hill recorded in 2002 at Birdland in New York City and released on the Palmetto label.-Reception:...
  
  - Andrew Hill
• South - Dave Binney
• Luxury Of Guessing - Dave Binney
• Tangled Up In Blues - Taj Mahal
• Dialogues - Jim Hall
• By Arrangement - Jim Hall
• Jim Hall and Basses - Jim Hall
• Universal Time - Joachim Kuhn
• Lyric - Billy Childs Ensemble
• Falling Up - Geoff Keezer
• Hidden Gardens - Lan Xang
• Lan Xang - Lan Xang
• North And South - Luciana Souza
• Invisible Hand - Greg Osby
• Symbols Of Light - Greg Osby
• The Way Through - Donny McCaslin
• Allegory - Adam Rogers
• The Art Of The Invisible - Adam Rogers
• Forward Motion - Fred Hersch
• Ben Perowski Trio - Ben Perowski
• El Matador - Kevin Hays
• Old School - Peter Epstein
• Transpacifik - Bojan Z
• Les Fleurs Bleues - Stefano Bollani
• Americana - Larry Koonse
• Trio - Brad Shepik
• Any Old Time - Camen McRae
• New York State Of Mind - Camen McRae
• The Maze - Dave Kikowski
• Diamond In The Rough - Roy Hargrove
• Steppin Zone - Alex Sipiagin
• All Sides Now - Pat Martino
• Souvenir - Bill Charlap

External links

• Official website
• Personal Biography by Bill Milkowski
• [ Scott Colley] at Allmusic