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Tom Scott: Bluestreak

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Tom Scott: Bluestreak
Tom ' Tom Cat ' Scott started his career serving his Hollywood studio masters and became one of the most sought after musical score composers. In 1967 he left USC school of music and recorded his first album ' Spirit feel ' with Roger Kellaway. In 1977 he was placed in four categories in the Down Beat poll for soprano, tenor, alto sax and lyricon, an instrument which he designed.

Tom worked as a studio arranger and performer on some 300 albums and well known TV scores such as ' Cannon, Barnaby Jones, The Streets of San Francisco and Baretta '.

His recent offering ' Bluestreak ' with his old band ' The L.A. Express ' with Joe Sample, Robben Ford, Ralph MacDonald and Steve Gadd is classic Scotty and features a selection of his classic seventies sound which in many ways I prefer as they are all instrumentals. This set opens up with a TV theme type track entitled ' Tom Cat ' with Robben Ford on acoustic guitar and the vamp piano of Joe Sample with Tom playing the lyricon to a predominant bossa sounding rhythm courtesy of Steve Gadd and Ralph McDonald.

Tom plays flute on a version of Marvin's ' Gotta give it up ' and the classic ' Midtown rush ' is a return to Tom's Hollywood roots and would not be out of place heard in a Starsky and Hutch episode. ' Love poem ' and ' Only you ' are the classic sultry Scotty sound with the soprano sax melting with a Fender Rhodes and Robben Ford's distinctive guitar solos. The interplay with all of the musicians on these tracks are similar to the more traditional jazz sound when everyone gets to perform their party piece.

' Bluestreak ' is an album for those of us who are trueblue Tom Scott fans and may not win too many new converts to this seventies style of playing. The musicians on show blend with his sophisticated riffs and harmonies and will appeal to the collectors of Tom Scott albums who, like me, may have his older material on vinyl.

Personnel

Tom Scott
saxophone, tenor

Album information

Title: Bluestreak | Year Released: 1996 | Record Label: GRP Records

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