Scott has toured/recorded/performed with the following jazz luminaries: Joe Lovano, Dizzy Gillespie, Dave Liebman, Richie Cole, Jimmy Heath, Billy Hart, Terry Gibbs, John Clayton, Steve Turre, Marcus Belgrave, and Jon Hendricks, for whom Scott was three year music director.

As a composer/arranger, Scott has written over 400 works, from solo piano, big band, symphony orchestra, to marching band. He has received awards/recognition from Downbeat Magazine, International Association of Jazz Educators, and Detroit Music Awards, who have granted him 11 awards over the past 10 years. Scott writes for his 16-piece big band, “The Scott Gwinnell Jazz Orchestra”, and the 10 piece, “The Scott Gwinnell Dectet.” Both have held residency at Cliff Bells, one of Detroit’s famous jazz clubs.

As an educator, Scott’s credentials and reputation have led him to full and part time collegiate professorships at: University of Toledo, Bowling Green State University, Wayne County Community College, and Oakland University, where he presently serves as a lecturer, instructor of jazz piano, theory, arranging and director of the Oakland University Jazz Singers. Scott is also the director for Music Hall’s Jazz Vocal Education Program. He has given clinics and adjudicated at schools and festivals around the country, and holds a private studio for a select group of talented pianists, composers, and arrangers.

The Fraser high school band will open for Scott’s Jazz Orchestra.

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As a performer, Scott has played on over 20 professionally released recordings including 5 under his own name. Basement Vibes (2002), Scott Gwinnell Trio (2006), the award-winning Brush Fire (2008), Cass Corridor Story (2011- Detroit Music Factory) and Mulgrew-ology (2018- Detroit Music Factory). Scott has toured/recorded/performed with the following jazz luminaries: Joe Lovano, Dizzy Gillespie, Dave Liebman, Richie Cole, Jimmy Heath, Billy Hart, Terry Gibbs, John Clayton, Steve Turre, Marcus Belgrave, and Jon Hendricks, for whom Scott was three year music director.

As a composer/arranger, Scott has written over 400 works, from solo piano, big band, symphony orchestra, to marching band. He has received awards/recognition from Downbeat Magazine, International Association of Jazz Educators, and Detroit Music Awards, who have granted him 11 awards over the past 10 years. Scott writes for his 16-piece big band, “The Scott Gwinnell Jazz Orchestra”, and the 10 piece, “The Scott Gwinnell Dectet”. Both have held residency at Cliff Bells, one of Detroit’s famous jazz clubs.

As an educator, Scott’s credentials and reputation have led him to full and part time collegiate professorships at: University of Toledo, Bowling Green State University, Wayne County Community College, and Oakland University, where he presently serves as a lecturer, instructor of jazz piano, theory, arranging and director of the Oakland University Jazz Singers. Scott is also the director for Music Hall’s Jazz Vocal Education Program. He has given clinics and adjudicated at schools and festivals around the country, and holds a private studio for a select group of talented pianists, composers, and arrangers.

The Grosse Pointe North high school band will open for Scott’s Jazz Orchestra.

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The most recent project has been a recording of the music of Mulgrew Miller. Arranged by Scott, it puts a new spin on some of the pianist’s well and lesser known works as well as my original music.

A student band starts the show at 7 pm, with Scott’s band coming on around 8 pm.

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Some of the frequent musicians involved with the Cliff Bells SGJO group are: Keith Kaminski, James Hughes, Steve Wood, Carl Cafagna, and Mark Berger on saxes. Dave Jensen, Terry Kimura, Tony Buccilli, and Stefan Stolarchuk on trombone. Trumpets are Bob Jensen, Paul Finkbeiner, John Douglas, and Justin Walter. Jordan Schug plays bass and Scott Kretzer plays the drums.
The most recent project has been a recording of the music of Mulgrew Miller (Detroit Music Factory label).

A High School Jazz Band will open at 7 pm.

https://www.wscottjazz.com/orchestra-groups/

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Miller could accompany anybody, whether it was a vocalist or a horn player, he fit in every kind of setting. He was the guy you wanted on your album. But what perhaps even fewer people are aware of is that Miller was more than just a remarkable piano player, he was also a prolific and talented composer and arranger.

Mulgrew-­ology, the second Detroit Music Factory recording by Detroit-­based jazz pianist, composer and arranger Scott Gwinnell, explores this lesser-­spotlighted side of Miller.

Gwinnell intersperses Miller’s compositional ideas throughout a body of arrangements that include songs penned by Miller as well as other artists’ compositions for which he was famous for playing in his certain way—because even when Miller played someone else’s tune, it was a markedly Mulgrew Miller version.

“There are certain albums where the work is about you and you want to shine through your own work,” says Gwinnell. “But this record is more about Mulgrew than about me.”

Just as the inflections, the words, the idiosyncrasies that make up a person’s manner of speaking sum up into one’s personality, Miller’s compositions and playing have a definitive voice. Gwinnell mined for those nuances, the subtle licks and chord progressions, choices like the melodic sequence that Miller plays over a diminished harmony, the stuff that tells you you’re listening to Mulgrew Miller.

According to jazz musician and producer Tony Ruda, who wrote the album’s liner notes: “In [Miller’s] recordings, you hear a pianist steeped in the hard bop tradition whose style could just as soon catch you off guard with the most wonderfully lyrical phrase. His style was never flashy, because a true professional doesn’t need to be – why go for the cheap trick on the keys when you can turn a beautiful melodic line that will leave a captive audience breathless?”

Although Mulgrew-­ology is a deep-­dive into the essence of Miller’s compositional skills, Gwinnell takes what Miller did in his compositions and uses that imprint in different ways throughout his arrangements. The 17-­piece orchestral arrangements help provide Gwinnell a blank canvas with which to bring the album to life, and listeners who are not new to Miller will appreciate the uncharacteristic choice.

“[Mulgrew-­ology’s] title track is exemplary of [Gwinnell’s] strong compositional style, giving us a tune that swings hard and sets the tone for the rest of the album,” writes Ruda. “Jazz veterans James Hughes on saxophone and Paul Finkbeiner on trumpet both treat us to some terrific soloing in turn, as the conversation between the rhythm and brass sections draws us into Gwinnell’s high-­spirited arrangement.”

To jazz fans for whom Mulgrew-­ology is an introduction to Mulgrew Miller, here’s the thing: when you hear Miller-­esque tunes, they sound familiar, they make sense. It’s not a standard, not a Great American Songbook tune, but it goes beyond that. According to Gwinnell, it’s still rooted in “sensible listening.” The music is so catchy, so beautiful, it doesn’t matter that the name Mulgrew Miller is unfamiliar. What matters is how enjoyable you’re likely to find Mulgrew-­ology.

A student band will start at 7 pm with Scott’s band starting around 8 pm.

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