One of Boston’s leading bearers of the standard of bebop and straight-ahead jazz.

Personnel:
Rusty Scott — piano
Tim Mayer — saxophone
Keala Kaumehiewa — bass
Luther Grey — drums

Founded in 1995, the Rusty Scott Quartet presents standards, jazz and bebop classics, and original compositions and arrangements with impeccable musicianship and style. Drawing on the legacies left by Bud Powell, Red Garland,Cedar Walton, Hank Jones, Barry Harris, Tommy Flanangan, Dexter Gordon, Sonny Rollins, Johnny Griffin, Ron Carter, and many others, this group has distilled the values and standards held by each.

Synthesizing a style characterized by solid swinging groove, blazing uptempos, rich harmonies that flow, twist and turn, they are able to create improvisations filled with lyricism and humor that unearth unexpected truths and characters that inhabit the depths of each tune.

External website: RustyJazz.com

* * *

The Rusty Scott Organ Group

Personnel:
Rusty Scott — organ
Tim Mayer — saxophone
Mike Mele — guitar
Dave Brophy — drums

The result of an impulse buy inspired by seeing Jimmy Smith in person, this group features the sounds of the Hammond B-3 organ, guitar, saxophone, and drums.

The 60’s saw an explosion of popularity and expasion of the organ in jazz, as the Hammond B-3, infinitely more portable than pipe organs, and even pianos, was brought into jazz clubs everywhere. Many clubs replaced their pianos with B-3’s, which were cheaper to maintain and obviated the need to hire a bassist, as the organist takes that role with the left hand and left foot.

Jimmy Smith, Don Patterson, Groove Holmes, Brother Jack McDuff, are some of the artists who have contributed to the legacy of the instrument and set the bar for sound and style, which is followed by the Rusty Scott Organ Group.

Of course, there are original compositions which preserve the integrity of the style while leaving Rusty’s fingerprint on the genre.

External website: Rusty Scott Organ Group on Myspace