Stephen Scott

You've got to have serious talent as a young jazzman to attract established veterans as sidemen on your album; Scott does just that, calling on the likes of Ron Carter, Elvin Jones, Victor Lewis and Joe Henderson to help him out. Those are the same people Miles Davis was calling up in the '60s. Not so coincidentally, Scott has an emotional Post Bop style akin to what Davis was doing back then. His piano style can be coloristic and rhythmic or warm and bluesy, exhibiting the versatility and depth of experience Scott has accumulated in his years as a sideman for everyone from Sonny Rollins to Mark Whitfield. In both solo work and pieces backed by a rhythm section, Scott shines with continually evocative solos that build with a veteran's sense of dynamics.