Tom Scott

Thomas Wright Scott (born May 19, 1948) is an American saxophonist, composer, and arranger. He was a member of The Blues Brothers and led the jazz fusion group L.A. Express.

Scott was born in Los Angeles, California. He is the son of film and television composer Nathan Scott, who had more than 850 television credits and more than 100 film credits as a composer, orchestrator, and conductor, including the theme songs for Dragnet and Lassie.

His professional career began as a teenager as leader of the jazz ensemble Neoteric Trio. After that, he worked as a session musician. He wrote the theme songs for the television shows Starsky and Hutch and The Streets of San Francisco. He played the soprano saxophone solo on the No. 1 hit single "Listen to What the Man Said" by the band Wings. In 1976 he played the theme "I Still Can't Sleep" in Taxi Driver. In 1982, he collaborated with Johnny Mathis on "Without Us", the theme to the 1980s sitcom Family Ties. He also played the lyricon, an electronic wind instrument on Michael Jackson's Billie Jean.

Scott was a founding member of the Blues Brothers Band, despite his absence in the two films, The Blues Brothers and Blues Brothers 2000. According to Bob Woodward's account in Wired, a biography of John Belushi, Scott left the band after their 1980 tour over a salary dispute. However, he reunited with Dan Aykroyd and the Blues Brothers Band in 1988 to record a few tracks for The Great Outdoors.

Scott led the house band on two short-lived late night talk shows: The Pat Sajak Show and The Chevy Chase Show. He was music director for the 68th Academy Awards in 1996, several Emmy Awards telecasts from 1996 to 2007, Ebony's 50th Birthday Celebration, and the People's Choice Awards telecasts.

He has dozens of solo recordings for which he collected thirteen Grammy nominations (three of which he won). He has numerous film and television scoring credits, including composing and conducting the score for the movie Conquest of the Planet of the Apes, and appeared on records by the Beach Boys, Blondie ("Rapture"), Grateful Dead, George Harrison, Whitney Houston ("Saving All My Love for You"), Quincy Jones, Carole King, Richard Marx ("Children of the Night"), Paul McCartney, Joni Mitchell, Eddie Money, Olivia Newton-John, Pink Floyd, Helen Reddy, Frank Sinatra, Steely Dan ("Black Cow"), Steppenwolf, Rod Stewart ("Da Ya Think I'm Sexy?") Steely Dan, Aja

He produced two albums for tenor vocalist Daniel Rodriguez. The Spirit of America has sold over 400,000 copies to date. Scott is also a member of the Les Deux Love Orchestra and has conducted over thirty symphony orchestras around the U.S. as music director for Rodriguez.

On June 25, 2019, The New York Times Magazine listed Tom Scott among hundreds of artists whose material was reportedly destroyed in the 2008 Universal fire.

As leader

• The Honeysuckle Breeze (Impulse!, 1967)
• Rural Still Life (Impulse!, 1969)
• Hair to Jazz (Flying Dutchman, 1970)
• Paint Your Wagon (1971)
• Great Scott (A&M, 1972)
• New York Connection (Ode, 1975)
• Blow It Out (Ode, 1977)
• Intimate Strangers (Columbia, 1978)
• Street Beat (Columbia, 1979)
• Apple Juice (live) (Columbia, 1981)
• Desire (Elektra, 1982)
• Target (Atlantic, 1983)
• One Night – One Day (Ranwood, 1986)
• Streamlines (GRP, 1987)
• Flashpoint (GRP, 1988)
• Them Changes with The Pat Sajak Show house band (GRP, 1990)
• Keep This Love Alive (GRP, 1991)
• Born Again (GRP, 1992)
• Reed My Lips (GRP, 1994)
• Night Creatures (GRP, 1995)
• Toy Story 2 (soundtrack) (1999)
• New Found Freedom (Higher Octave, 2002)
• Bebop United (live) (MCG Jazz, 2006)
• Telling Stories with Paulette McWilliams (Reviver, 2012)

With The L.A. Express

• Tom Scott and The L.A. Express (Ode, 1974)
• Tom Cat (Ode, 1975)
• Bluestreak (GRP, 1996)
• Smokin' Section (Windham Hill, 1999)

With The Blues Brothers

• Briefcase Full of Blues, 1978
• Made in America, 1980
• Dancin' wid da Blues Brothers, 1983
• Everybody Needs the Blues Brothers, 1988

As sideman

With Don Ellis

• Don Ellis Orchestra 'Live' at Monterey! (Pacific Jazz, 1966)
• Live in 3⅔/4 Time (Pacific Jazz, 1967)
• Pieces of Eight: Live at UCLA (1967, released 2006)

With Joan Baez

• Gracias a la Vida (A&M Records, 1974)
• Diamonds & Rust (A&M Records, 1975)
• Blowin' Away (Portrait Records, 1977)

With Richard "Groove" Holmes

• Welcome Home (World Pacific, 1968)
• Six Million Dollar Man (RCA/Flying Dutchman, 1975)

With Tim Buckley

• Sefronia (Discreet Records, 1973)

With Robbie Williams

• Swings Both Ways (Universal, 2013)

With Jimmy Webb

• Words and Music (Reprise, 1970)
• And So: On (Reprise, 1971)

With Tom Waits

• The Heart of Saturday Night (Asylum, 1974)

With Carole King

• Fantasy (Ode Records, 1973)
• Wrap Around Joy (Ode Records, 1974)
• Thoroughbred (A&M Records, 1976)
• Simple Things (Capitol Records, 1977)

With Eric Carmen

• Boats Against the Current (Arista, 1977)

With Lulu

• Lulu (Polydor, 1973)

With Juice Newton

• Quiet Lies (Capitol Records, 1982)
• Dirty Looks (Capitol Records, 1983)
• Old Flame (RCA Records, 1985)

With Alphonse Mouzon

• The Man Incognito (1975)

With Dalbello

• Lisa Dal Bello (MCA, 1977)

With Johnny Rivers

• New Lovers and Old Friends (Epic, 1975)
• Outside Help (Soul City, 1977)

With Richie Havens

• Mirage (A&M, 1977)

With George Benson

• Songs and Stories (Concord Records, 2009)

With Stephen Bishop

• Bish (ABC Records, 1978)

With Tina Turner

• Tina Turns the Country On! (United Artists, 1974)
• Acid Queen (United Artists, 1975)

With Michael Franks

• Michael Franks (Brut, 1973)

With Michael Bublé

• To Be Loved (Reprise Records, 2013)

With Peter Allen

• Not the Boy Next Door (Arista, 1983)

With Eddie Money

• Eddie Money (Columbia Records, 1977)
• Life for the Talking (Columbia Records, 1978)

With Barry Manilow

• If I Should Love Again (Arista, 1981)
• Swing Street (Arista, 1987)

With Joe Cocker

• Hymn for My Soul (EMI, 2007)

With Neil Diamond

• Tap Root Manuscript (Uni Records, 1970)
• Beautiful Noise (Columbia, 1976)
• I'm Glad You're Here with Me Tonight (Columbia, 1977)

With Sara Bareilles

• Kaleidoscope Heart (Epic, 2010)

With Josh Groban

• Awake (143 Records, 2006)

With Rickie Lee Jones

• Rickie Lee Jones (Warner Bros., 1979)
• Pirates (Warner Bros., 1981)

With Frankie Valli

• Frankie Valli... Is the Word (Warner Bros., 1978)

With Barbra Streisand

• ButterFly (Columbia Records, 1974)
• Wet (Columbia Records, 1979)
• The Movie Album (Columbia Records, 2003)

With Billy Preston

• Music Is My Life (A&M, 1972)

With Rod Stewart

• Blondes Have More Fun (Warner Bros., 1978)
• Soulbook (J, 2009)

With Dan Fogelberg

• Phoenix (Epic, 1979)
• The Innocent Age (Epic, 1981)
• Windows and Walls (Epic, 1984)
• No Resemblance Whatsoever (Giant, 1995)

With Aretha Franklin

• You (Atlantic, 1975)

With Donovan

• Essence to Essence (Epic, 1973)
• Slow Down World (Epic, 1976)

With Art Garfunkel

• Fate for Breakfast (Columbia, 1979)

With Glen Campbell

• Rhinestone Cowboy (Capitol Records, 1975)
• Bloodline (Capitol Records, 1976)

With Oleta Adams

• Evolution (Fontana, 1993)

With Peggy Lee

• Mirrors (A&M, 1975)

With Randy Newman

• Born Again (Reprise Records, 1979)
• Bad Love (Dreamworks, 1999)

With Diane Schuur

• Love Songs (GRP, 1993)

With Oliver Nelson

• Live from Los Angeles (Impulse!, 1967)
• Soulful Brass with Steve Allen (Impulse!, 1968)

With Thelma Houston

• I've Got the Music in Me (Sheffield Lab Records, 1975)

With Michael McDonald

• If That's What It Is (Warner Bros., 1982)
• Wide Open (BMG, 2017)

With Bill Plummer

• Cosmic Brotherhood (1968)

With Phoebe Snow

• Something Real (Elektra, 1989)

With Minnie Riperton

• Adventures in Paradise (Epic, 1975)
• Minnie (Capitol, 1979)
• Love Lives Forever (Capitol, 1980)

With Al Jarreau

• Breakin' Away (Warner Bros., 1981)

With Richard Marx

• Repeat Offender (Capitol, 1989)

With Joni Mitchell

• For the Roses (Asylum, 1972)
• Court and Spark (Asylum, 1974)
• Hejira (Asylum, 1976)

With Howard Roberts

• The Magic Band – Live at Dontes (1968, released 1998)
• The Magic Band – Vol. 2 (1968, released 1998)

With Natalie Cole

• Everlasting (Elektra, 1987)
• Good to Be Back (EMI, 1989)

With Bernie Taupin

• He Who Rides the Tiger (Elektra, 1980)

With Deniece Williams

• Hot on the Trail (Columbia, 1986)

With Sarah Vaughan

• Brazilian Romance (CBS, 1987)

With Helen Reddy

• Music, Music (Capitol Records, 1976)

With Lalo Schifrin

• Che! (soundtrack) (Tetragrammaton, 1969)
• Rock Requiem (Verve, 1971)

With Olivia Newton-John

• Soul Kiss (Mercury Records, 1985)

With Otis Spann

• Sweet Giant of the Blues (BluesTime, 1970)

With Christopher Cross

• Another Page (Warner Bros., 1983)
• Back of My Mind (Warner Bros., 1988)

With Boz Scaggs

• Silk Degrees (Columbia Records, 1976)
• Fade into Light (MVP Japan, 1996)

With Ringo Starr

• Ringo (Apple Records, 1973)

With Dolly Parton

• Dolly, Dolly, Dolly (RCA Victor, 1981)
• Heartbreak Express (RCA Records, 1982)
• Real Love (RCA Records, 1985)
• Rainbow (CBS, 1987)

With Gábor Szabó

• Light My Fire with Bob Thiele (Impulse!, 1967)
• Macho (Salvation, 1975)

With Bob Thiele Emergency

• Head Start (Flying Dutchman, 1969)

With George Harrison

• Dark Horse (Apple Records, 1974)
• Extra Texture (Read All About It) (Apple Records, 1975)
• Thirty Three & 1/3 (Dark Horse, 1976)
• Somewhere in England (Dark Horse, 1981)