is this the same scott jones who won the red onion hot licks contest playing a satriani song its me scott Earl (west covina)

With a farewell nod to one of my favorite musicians Shawn Lane, may he rest in peace! The irony of fate has me introducing to you the reader, Scott Jones. Why the irony? Scott Jones is a multi-instrumental musical genius who also happens to be a great guitarist, and he is just releasing his debut recording called Freedom on the Progressive Arts label, the irony being that Scott is much in line with Shawn's style and expertise on multi-instruments. While Shawn Lane's friends and family, and fans alike, mourn the loss of his all too short life, we can return to the many recordings that he left as a reminder of what a true innovator and blessed musician he was. My apologies for the tribute to Shawn in a review for Scott Jones, but to my ears, his fans should be looking very hard to find this cd, Scott Jones is not a household name to the fusion public, but the music he is presenting on Freedom will no doubt elevate what should be a large interest in his musical prowess. In visiting Scott's website, one gets the impression that he is the accidental, oh by the way, I have a fusion cd out, kind of person. He is hugely involved in ministry, teaching, and church related activities, and his site relates more to his life than his music. So much unlike the typical musician that desires to be known as a musician first, person second. This humble approach to self- portrayal certainly doesn't take away his aggressive and technical approach to writing and performing his music. The songs on this cd are anything but humble, passive or laid back. On the contrary, Scott Jones provides much depth, and sheer technical brilliance to his music, in many ways he has captured the writing styles of Zappa, Corea, Zawinul, Lane, Henderson/Willis and a few others, and fused them into his own individual sound, to write such music is impressive enough, yet Scott also performs every instrument, and with a high level of competence I might add. Like Shawn Lane, Scott is a most impressive musician, and really sets the standard on what I am guessing is his main instrument, the guitar. Though, I should say, of the 16 short pieces on the disc, not one is done in a vain or showoffish way. Jones has more commitment towards composition savvy than to waste time shredding or improvising mindlessly. This is the sign of musical maturity, and the confidence of expressing oneself through instrumentation without seeming contrived or impersonal as many guitarists seem to do these days. I strongly urge those of you who have read this far to go to Scott's site and sample some of the mps's and vids there, I am sure they will make you a believer if this review has yet to convince you. There are a lot of things to check out there.

Freedom is packed with some of the finest and widely diverse fusion/prog instrumentation and guitar playing to come out of the last decade.  To simple state that Jones is a musical genius with jaw dropping technical abilities would be an understatement. Freedom is a showcase, introducing the world to a multi-talented, multi-instrumentalist who has complete control over the guitar and every other instrument that falls into his hands. The entire CD is a landmark release with evolutionary implications that should help to re-define Fusion. Never one to waste musical space, Jones seems to have the uncanny ability to stretch musical boundaries about as far as they can be stretched all the while maintaining musical coherence. In a world full of “repeat-rewind-repeat” musicians and musical statements it is refreshing to come across someone so willing to push the limits and project onto a higher plane. Scott Jones revolutionizes progressive / fusion music on “Freedom” and comes up with a masterpiece of originality. This entire CD will slay the masses in progressive, jazz-fusion circles worldwide and is a must have for the serious music connoisseur.

Within seconds of putting this disc on for review I knew Scott Jones had me in the palm of his hands. This guy is a monster player of the highest caliber and puts a lot of the work by the regular stalwarts of the industry to shame. With a special mention of thanks to such luminaries as Allan Holdsworth and Steve Vai, from whom he is surely influenced, Scott knows a lot about song structure, originality and style and yet manages to engage the listener with a collection of 16 brilliant songs that encompass a lot of what the best in the business often fail to deliver. It is extremely hard to believe that for the most part, you are only listening to one musician as the drumming; the additional percussives and the overall rhythm of his songs are so brilliantly executed. Whereas many albums that use synthesized drums have that inherently cold feeling where you know intuitively, you are being tricked into thinking a real drummer is at hand, Scott sure has an amazing talent in the sequencing department as his control of this aspect of his music is so compellingly plausible. The fills, triplets and cymbal work is so convincing, crisp and accurate, you would be forgiven for thinking Steve Gadd or Lenny White was in attendance. Scott composed, recorded and mixed all songs on this album which is a strong testament to his overall ability. Although Scott is the main musician here, Bill Elrod also contributes some tasty sax work on 4 tracks to round out the overall sound. With a solid funky, often jazzy basis upon which to concoct his appetizing brew of songs, Scott is so adept at bringing a unique and yet challenging bevy of tunes to the table for your delectation. Using a plethora of sounds from any number of instruments you want to name, this is what Allan Holdsworth should be and could be doing. His mastery of the guitar, keyboards and percussion is simply breathtaking and elicits any amount of awe one musician can have for another. The timing, structure and execution of his music is so intense and impressive and yet it possesses an emotional quality that pertains to a string of single notes that are played so delicately well and with truly professional precision. The track, “Heartland” is such a song with a degree of thoroughness in its arrangements that leave you in amazement at just how versatile this man is. Just when you thought things could not be improved upon, Scott unleashes “Eek, A Mouse” on the listener with some of the most amazing amount of compelling chops and time changes I have heard in eons. If you have a penchant for music that rewards the listener who accepts the challenge proffered from a truly talented musician and who knows no boundaries to the inventiveness and originality to which his songs can aspire, then you will need to add his name to your wants list immediately. This is without doubt the best jazz/rock/fusion album I have heard in over 3 years and will be in heavy rotation on my CD player for a long time to come. This comes with my highest recommendation for a brilliant release that surely heralds the arrival of a name synonymous with the biggest names in the game. For anyone into Brand X, Lenny White, Allan Holdsworth, Return To Forever, Steve Vai, Janne Schaffer, Mastermind or Nathan Mahl, you can do no wrong with this one. Reviewer: Greg Cummins Score: 5 Stars