Tom Scott Revisits Mainstream

Tom Scott is an exhilarating jazz-fusion saxophonist whose career of more than 25 years has been anchored by the nearly 20 solid R&B-based; albums he has under his belt. Wild Cherry’s 1976 hit “Play That Funky Music (White Boy)” could have been written about him.

Now the same Tom Scott is here with “Born Again,” a dazzling mainstream jazz album on GRP. If at first you think that Scott is simply trying to take advantage of the current trend toward recordings that spotlight jazz’s more traditional aspects, history proves otherwise.

The album that really put Scott on the jazz map was “Rural Still Life,” made in 1967 for the Impulse! label. The collection took a funk turn or two--he had already been experimenting with rock rhythms--but it mainly stayed in the straight-ahead mode and is remembered for such pieces as “With Respect to Coltrane” and “Song 1.”

Scott, who plays both funk and mainstream tunes Thursday at the Strand, had planned to revisit that turf for a while, and he received further impetus when he signed with GRP in the late ‘80s. At that time, pianist Dave Grusin, co-owner of the label with Larry Rosen, told Scott how much he liked “Rural Still Life.”

“I kept that comment in the back of my mind, so I guess this album’s been brewing since then,” says Scott.

The “Born Again” project finally came to fruition earlier this year after Scott, who was due to make a new album, took part in the recording of “The GRP All-Star Big Band.” He worked with several musicians he thought would make ideal compatriots on a mainstream session: pianist Kenny Kirkland, trumpeter Randy Brecker, bassist John Patitucci and trombonist George Bohanon. Filling out the lineup are drummer Will Kennedy and the man Scott calls his favorite tenor saxophonist, Pete Christlieb.

The collection includes a dynamic version of Wayne Shorter’s “Children of the Night” and a handful of originals, among these a remake of “Song 1,” a tune that features an eight-voice woodwind choir that Scott produced via overdubbing. “I re-created this one from memory, so it’s a little different than the 1967 version,” says Scott.

Scott says that although he may make another album like “Born Again,” he’s not abandoning the R&B-funk; stuff that has been his bread and butter: “I love that music. It feels great to play. This is just another side of me.”

Rim Shots: Vibes great Milt Jackson has been added to the lineup of the Pasadena Jazz Festival, set for Aug. 8 and 9 at Ambassador Auditorium. Others already scheduled include trumpeter Arturo Sandoval and guitarist Lee Ritenour . . . Saxophonist Frank Morgan plays the Hyatt Newporter in Newport Beach on July 24 and joins Bill Holman’s orchestra at the Hermosa Civic Theatre in Hermosa Beach on July 26. Those dates were incorrectly listed in last week’s column. . . . Switcheroo: Rolling Stones’ drummer Charlie Watts investigates the music of Charlie Parker and others in his L.A. jazz club debut Thursday at the Palace in Hollywood.

In the Bins: “Windows” (Mama Foundation) finds lyrical yet gritty pianist Dave MacKay fronting a bristling trio composed of bassist Andy Simpkins and drummer Ralph Penland. The gents deliver sumptuous takes of “Sometime Ago,” “Django,” “Along Came Betty” and eight others. . . . Steaming saxman Jerry Bergonzi’s “Lineage” (Red Records) features the leader’s quartet, with Mulgrew Miller on piano, taking long looks at five numbers--Joe Henderson’s “Inner Urge” among them.