Tommy Scott - Future Positive
Tommy Scott's debut album future positive
“Yeah, but have you heard Tommy Scott?” has been the catchphrase amongst the jazz cognoscenti for the last decade. “There’s this little kid that travels round to all the jazz sessions, sits down at the piano and just beats everybody up - he’s a monster!
Having an abundance of technique, the jazz police naturally fell into the trap of comparing his performances with those of artists ten years his senior, such as Robert Mitchell, or Andrew McCormack, both of who he would have been exposed to at an earlier age than most, due to the diligence of his father, Bass Player Paul K Scott, in carting his son around to gigs and jam sessions the length and breadth of the UK.
I myself wondered what would happen when the obviously prodigious talent of the precocious, introspective 11 year had travelled beyond with the inexorable, inevitable wormhole of modern teenage life. Would Tommy’s music be able to offer informed discussion of love, life, people and places, and still maintain it’s youthful exuberance?
The answer is a resounding yes, and the album title says it all. Future Positive. Having bumped into Paul and Tommy at the Brecon festival a week ago (arriving late for Tommy’s solo performance by minutes!) I feel that Paul must surely feel vindicated in investing his weekends and spare time into his son’s development. Tommy retains his boyish visage, which will no doubt endear him to jazz promoters and educators around the world who wish to cash in on the “young sensation” phenomenon, but make no mistake, this is an astonishing debut from a 25 year old who has absorbed life’s lessons well, and continues to do so.
On the track “The Mission”, Scott shows his use of space in the production, incorporating keyboard synths as when as acoustic piano in order to construct an atmospheric platform from which to introduce the main themes of the music.
On Opportunities ( a track which is exclusive to www.tommyscottmusic.co.uk and not on the official release ) we get a sense of Tommy’s incredible technique, but not at the expense of the music; he is at pains to construct quite delicate suggestions of Malian kora, as well as centering on something a lot cooler and closer to Debussy toward the end.
Lateral Thinking, as you would expect goes “out there”. It’s funky yet angular, it grooves throughout, but still offers that sense of “every man for himself” which as a listener keeps your heart in your mouth “how can they resolve that? You wonder to yourself, and a moment later, bassist Paul K Scott and drummer Shane Young conspire to provide a musical sanctuary that is, in retrospect, inevitable.
Here Again is again funky, but with more of a fusion element to it, so that the dynamic is constantly expanding. I can hear Tommy having fun, and yet making space and time for ideas to come through, and for his band to interpret them. I sense that the decision to book him as a solo performer may be one of those promoter’s cheapskate ways of avoiding paying for the drummer and bassplayer that Tommy’s compositions so richly merit. This particular composition is catchy enough to make a crossover into indie pop music, and I wonder if there are already lyrics penned.
This is an arresting debut for a person of any age, and I am glad that Tommy has taken time to make this opening statement. It extols the virtues of investing our dreams into our children, who, given the chance, will arrive at maturity without the cynicism of their elders or their peers. Their future is positive indeed.
Recommended if you like: Jason Rebello, Onaje Allan Gumbs, Robert Mitchell
More info on Tommy Scott at
http://www.tommyscottmusic.com/
Future Positive is available for purchase at:
http://cdbaby.com/cd/futurepositive