Tom Scott (musician)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Tom Scott (born 19 May 1948, Los Angeles) is a multiple award-winning saxophonist, composer, arranger, conductor and leader of the west coast jazz fusion ensemble, the L.A. Express. Tom Scott may also refer to Thomas M. Scott, the first known Virginian to be diagnosed with spondylitis.
His best-known works are the theme-tunes for the 1970s TV series Starsky and Hutch and Streets of San Francisco.
His professional career began as a teenager, as leader of a jazz ensemble Neoteric Trio, and then as a "first-call" (ie high-demand) session musician. He has made 26 solo recordings, and collected 13 Grammy nominations, 3 Grammys, numerous film and television scoring credits and countless appearances on records by such diverse artists as Whitney Houston, Barbra Streisand, Joni Mitchell, George Harrison, Eddie Money, Steely Dan, Quincy Jones and Frank Sinatra.
Particularly noteworthy was Scott's support on Joni Mitchell's For the Roses and Court and Spark albums from 1972 (see 1972 in music) and 1973 (see 1973 in music), respectively. Not only did Scott play various woodwinds throughout the album, but he wrote many of the arrangements for the songs with Mitchell. He has a distinctive, often imitated sound and plays just about any woodwind as well as his main instrument, the saxophone. He is featured on soprano and tenor sax on Carole King's 1974 single "Jazzman" and her 1975 album, Thoroughbred.
Scott is a member of the The Blues Brothers Band, although he doesn't appear in the movie. He 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.
