Tom Scott - saxophone, clarinet; Ron Aston - drums; Russ Ferrante - keyboards; Jim Haslip - bass; Steve Khan - guitar
This show, the last of three recorded at New York's Bottom Line club for the King Biscuit Flower Hour, showcases this extraordinary saxophonist and his all-star band which was made up of some of L.A.'s finest session players.
This performance came a few years after Scott enjoyed his biggest commercial success with Tom Scott & the LA Express. That band, which also featured the elite of L.A. session players, was best known for backing Joni Mitchell during her platinum Court & Spark period. Most of the material came from his then-new Intimate Strangers album, a combination of live and studio recordings.
Scott was born in L.A. in 1948, the son of a popular band leader and TV composer, Nat Scott. (Nat Scott is best known for composing the theme song for the Dragnet TV series). While in his teens, Scott led his own jazz group, and by the time he had finished college, he was an in-demand studio session player. Being based in L.A. and gaining a great reputation as the "go to guy" for sax solos and horn arrangements, Scott soon found himself working with a myriad of A list music celebrities, among them the Grateful Dead, Paul McCartney, the Carpenters, Whitney Houston, Barbra Streisand, Joni Mitchell, George Harrison, Blondie, Eddie Money, Steely Dan, Pink Floyd, Quincy Jones, and Frank Sinatra.
In the late-'60s and early-'70s, he started recording upbeat jazz albums under his own name, and in 1973 he formed the LA Express with Joni Mitchell's boyfriend, drummer John Guerin. The affiliation led to a long-term backing gig with Mitchell, with Scott as the musical director for her platinum selling CDs, Court & Spark and Miles of Aisles.
Scott was an original member of the Blues Brothers band with John Belushi and Dan Akroyd. He was also the musical director for the Academy Awards and the Emmy Awards for several telecasts in the 1990s, and was musical director for both The Pat Sajak Show and The Chevy Chase Show. Today, Scott works both as a solo jazz artist and as a guest conductor for over 30 U.S. symphonies.