Tom Scott

Tom Scott (born May 19, 1948) is an American saxophonist, composer, arranger, conductor and bandleader of the west coast jazz/jazz fusion ensemble The L.A. Express.

Biography
Scott was born in Los Angeles, California. He is the son of prolific film and television composer Nathan Scott, who had more than 850 television credits and more than 100 film credits as a composer, orchestrator and conductor, including the theme songs for Dragnet and Lassie.

Tom Scott's best-known works are the theme songs for TV series from the 1970s and 1980s — Starsky and Hutch (a track entitled "Gotcha!") and The Streets of San Francisco, and his soprano sax solo and fills on the 1975 No. 1 hit single "Listen to What the Man Said" for Wings. In 1982, Scott collaborated with Johnny Mathis to write and record two versions – lyrical and instrumental – of "Without Us", the theme to the 80's sitcom Family Ties. His version of "Today" (a Jefferson Airplane original) was sampled in the Pete Rock & CL Smooth 1992 hit "They Reminisce Over You (T.R.O.Y.)".

Scott's professional career began as a teenager, as leader of a jazz ensemble Neoteric Trio, and then as a "first-call" session musician. He has dozens of solo recordings for which he collected thirteen Grammy nominations (three of which he won). He also has numerous film and television scoring credits, including composing and conducting the score for the movie Conquest of the Planet of the Apes, and appeared on records by such diverse artists as George Harrison, the Beach Boys, Grateful Dead, Paul McCartney, Steppenwolf, Whitney Houston, Barbra Streisand, Joni Mitchell, Blondie, Eddie Money, Steely Dan, Pink Floyd, Quincy Jones, Carole King, Olivia Newton-John and Frank Sinatra.

He produced two albums for tenor vocalist Daniel Rodriguez, formerly ‘The Singing Policeman’, the first of which, The Spirit of America, has sold over 400,000 copies to date. Scott is also a member of the Les Deux Love Orchestra and has conducted over thirty symphony orchestras around the U.S. as music director for Rodriguez.

Scott was a founding member of the The Blues Brothers Band, despite his absence in the two films, The Blues Brothers and Blues Brothers 2000. According to Bob Woodward's account in John Belushi's biography, Wired, Scott left the band after their 1980 tour over a salary dispute. However, he reunited with Dan Aykroyd in 1988 to record a few tracks for The Great Outdoors. Scott was also the leader of the house band on two short-lived late night talk shows: CBS' The Pat Sajak Show and Fox's The Chevy Chase Show and the Musical Director of the 68th Academy Awards in 1996, several Emmy Awards telecasts from 1996 to 2007, Ebony's 50th Birthday Celebration, and the People's Choice Awards telecasts.

Guitarist Robben Ford credits Tom Scott and Roger Kellaway, whom he met while playing for Joni Mitchell, as a major influence on his musical development.

As leader

 * The Honeysuckle Breeze (Impulse!, 1967)
 * Rural Still Life (Impulse!, 1969)
 * Hair to Jazz, 1970
 * Paint Your Wagon, 1971
 * Great Scott, 1972
 * New York Connection, 1975
 * Blow It Out, 1977
 * Intimate Strangers (partially live), 1978
 * Street Beat, 1979
 * Apple Juice (live), 1981
 * Desire, 1982
 * Target, 1983
 * One Night – One Day, 1985
 * Streamlines, 1987
 * Flashpoint, 1988
 * Them Changes (with The Pat Sajak Show house band), 1990
 * Keep This Love Alive, 1991
 * Born Again, 1992
 * Reed My Lips, 1994
 * Night Creatures, 1995
 * Toy Story 2, 1999
 * New Found Freedom, 2002
 * Bebop United (live), 2006
 * Cannon Reloaded, 2008

With the L.A. Express

 * Tom Scott and The L.A. Express (Ode, 1973)
 * Tom Cat (Ode, 1974)
 * L.A. Express, 1976
 * Shadow Play, 1976
 * Bluestreak, 1997
 * Smokin' Section (Windham Hill Jazz, 1999)

With The Blues Brothers

 * Briefcase Full of Blues, 1978
 * Made in America, 1980
 * Best of the Blues Brothers, 1981
 * Dancin' Wid Da Blues Brothers, 1983
 * Everybody Needs the Blues Brothers, 1988
 * The Definitive Collection, 1992
 * The Very Best of The Blues Brothers, 1995
 * The Blues Brothers Complete, 2000
 * The Essentials, 2003

As sideman
With Don Ellis With Richard "Groove" Holmes With Alphonse Mouzon With Oliver Nelson With Bill Plummer With Howard Roberts With Lalo Schifrin With Gábor Szabó With Bob Thiele Emergency With Carole King
 * Don Ellis Orchestra 'Live' at Monterey! (Pacific Jazz, 1966)
 * Live in 3⅔/4 Time (Pacific Jazz, 1967)
 * Pieces of 8 (rec'd 1967, released 2006)
 * Welcome Home (World Pacific Jazz, 1968)
 * The Man Incognito (1975)
 * Live from Los Angeles (Impulse!, 1967)
 * Soulful Brass with Steve Allen (Impulse!, 1968)
 * Cosmic Brotherhood (1968)
 * The Magic Band - Live at Dontes (1968, released 1998)
 * The Magic Band - Vol 2 (1968, released 1998)
 * Che! (soundtrack) (Tetragrammaton, 1969)
 * Rock Requiem (Verve, 1971)
 * Light My Fire with Bob Thiele (Impulse!, 1967)
 * Macho (Salvation, 1975)
 * Head Start (Flying Dutchman Records, 1969)
 * Jazzman (Jazzman Records, 1974)