Fusion 45 on Tom Scott And The L.A. Express
Posted by: Fusion 45 in Props and Missives, tags: tom scott
David Sanborn got the attention and Tower of Power got the ink, but Tom Scott And The L.A. Express were, at one time, as hot and nasty as any of them.
Scott was seemingly born to be a musician. His father, Nathan Scott, was a band leader who composed the famed theme from Dragnet, so it’s no wonder young Tom was playing as a pro by the time he was a teenager and was a first-call session player soon after.
Among other things, he’s
- won thirteen Grammy awards
- played with the likes of 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
- composed music for a number of TV shows, including Starsky And Hutch
- appeared as a member of the band in The Blues Brothers Movie, and
- recorded 27 albums, including a new one as recently as this past year.
I have his first album (from 1973), Blow It Out and Street Beat on vinyl and, yesterday, picked up a copy of Tom Cat in digits. Here are the first 4 cuts…BLOW IT OUT, baby!
Tom Scott And The L.A. Express - Tom Cat
Tom Scott And The L.A. Express - Rock Island Rocket
Tom Scott And The L.A. Express - Day Way
Tom Scott And L.A. Express - Keep Doin’ It
Buy the rest of the disc at Amazon
Entries (RSS)
Cool ! I haven’t heard old Tom Scott in years..Use to have the vinyl..
Just another CD I need to buy..So many..
Let’s see..John Klemmer(Touch),I have that CD,thankfully..
Spyro Gyra..Have 1..
Grover Washington Jr..
Weather Report..
McCoy Tyner..
Tony Williams-Lifetime..Have that..
Alan Holdsworth..etc..
As always thanks & keep up the good work !
Nice to hear from you, Michael. With most of those guys, I prefer the earlier work. With Spyrogyra, I definitely like the pre-GRP (i.e., Amherst/MCA) years. Other than Winelight, I say the same about Grover (i.e., go with the CTI years). I don’t think you can go wrong anywhere with Weather Report (though Heavy Weather is an icon) and my favorite McCoy works are definitely his Impulse! stuff. Not so in-tune with the others. Thanks for dropping by…
“I prefer the earlier work”.
You are so right..
Just in case you didn’t know..
Holdsworth,just the best Jazz/Fusion Guitar player alive,IMHO..
Tony Williams,started drumming with Coltrane at about 16 years old..
Holdsworth was in Williams band Lifetime..
On a obscure note..When Holdsworth left Tony Williams band,
one of my best friends in HS older brother filled in for Holdsworth at some gigs..
Michael Hoffmann..An Excellent Guitar player too..
Take care..
Jeebus !
I forgot to add The Brecker Brothers on my first comment..
Sorry,I’ll stop now..
I’ve got a few LA Express albums in vinyl as well. Buried deep down in the basement somewhere.
Tom Cat was my favorite one of the bunch I wore the grooves off it.
God what a band!!
Robben Ford on guitar.
Monster rhythm section with Max Bennett on bass and the late, great John Guerin on drums.
Topped off with Larry Nash on the keys.
I have TS & The LA Express with Larry Carlton on guitars but he left to join up with Joe Sample and the Crusaders. Another steaming hot funk/jazz outfit of session players.
The Crusaders - Those Southern Knights. That’s another album from that time period that moves and grooves.
Thanks for these samples. Brings back some good memories.
I’m going shopping.
Bunky
I haven’t heard these tunes in a long time. I always liked Tom Scott’s work with Joni Mitchell. Thanks for the music!