Scott Colley

American top pianist Kenny Werner and Scandinavian star saxophonist Benjamin Koppel have become musical brothers through 15 years of ongoing frequent musical collaboration. Their duo album WALDEN was highly acclaimed, as has their long line of other releases, including COALITION with Lionel Loueke and FREEBOP with David Liebman.

As a quintessential first-call sideman in modern jazz, bassist Scott Colley has played with the very best. Here he gets to show that he can assemble a group of simpatico musicians and write compositions that have originality accented by a timeless quality. Colley is fond of mixing meters and using unconventional time signatures. His usage of harmonica, trumpet, and alto saxophone for a front line works quite well.

Wolfgang Muthspiel and his trio with Scott Colley on bass and Brian Blade on drums reaches a new creative peak on Dance of the Elders – the group’s follow-up up to the much lauded Angular Blues, which The Times called a “quietly impressive album”. Here Wolfgang’s successful stride continues, with his unique compositional signature on the one hand and the particularly vibrant interchanges with his trio colleagues on the other. The guitarist’s writing and approach to jazz is heavily folk-induced but equally inspired by classical music – both aspects are presented clearly throughout the album. Brian’s floating percussive injections and Scott’s nimble counterpoint on bass complement Wolfgang’s acoustic and electric playing in fluid interplay over intricate polyrhythms and adventurous harmonic landscapes.

Ballads have a way of comforting us. When imbued with real emotive powers, they have the capacity to elevate and transport. We become lost in romance or reverie. This second orchestral collaboration between iconic Swiss trumpeter Franco Ambrosetti and two-time, Grammy-winning arranger Alan Broadbent takes us there. The album title is an apt description of Franco's approach to each golden note he plays on flugelhorn. Backed by an all-star group of pianist Broadbent, guitarist John Scofield, bassist Scott Colley and drummer Peter Erskine, along with a 29-piece orchestra arranged and conducted by Broadbent, Ambrosetti pulls heartstrings on a program of four originals and four well-chosen covers.