The Scott Gwinnell Jazz Orchestra is a modern-jazz, big band of 16 members who congregate on Tuesday nights to play at the Cadieux Cafe on the east side of Detroit, Michigan. The band focuses on playing original music as well as lesser known works by legendary jazz-composers and arrangers. The 'SGJO' is lead by pianist, Scott Gwinnell, who contributes many of the compositions/arrangements played by the band. The group consists of mainly young, prolific musicians who have a desire to play this idiom of music and bring a fresh perspective to big-band jazz that is sometimes lacking in older bands.
The band has been together for 3 years now, and has changed homes from 'The Music Menu Cafe,' 'The Berklee Front,' to the 'Cadieux Cafe,' where they have been for the last 2 years. The band attracts 'full house' crowds and many jazz musicians to the club each week, where some of them sit in with the SGJO. The most notable and frequent guest is legendary trumpeter, Marcus Belgrave; he is also the featured artist on their new CD.
Recent activities have been plentiful for the band. They've just recorded their second CD, consisting of original compositions and arrangements by Gwinnell. The CD is named, 'Basement Vibes' was released in April 2002. It is a collaboration with Marcus Belgrave. The group has played on Ed Love's WDET jazz-broadcast, and has been featured in publications such as 'The Detroit Free Press,' 'The Detroit News,' 'Detroit Jazz Monthly,' 'Grosse Pointe News,' 'The Metro-Times,' and 'Real Detroit Weekly.' 'Real Detroit' has gone as far as to vote the SGJO as their top jazz group of 2000. The Cadieux Cafe is the bands' home, but the SGJO plays festivals and concerts throughout the year.
Scott Gwinnell, the leader of the SGJO, is a 27 year old freelance pianist, trombonist, and writer originally from Harper Woods, now residing in Detroit, MI. He has 13 years of professional experience including performances with Jimmy Heath, Billy Hart, Claudio Roditi, and Rufus Reid. He has played frequently with Detroit musicians such as: Larry Nozero, Steve Wood, Larry Smith, Robert Noll Paul Keller, Marcus Belgrave, Ed Nuccelli, Johnny Trudell, Harvey Thompson, Barbara Ware, Wendell Harrison, and John Wojciechowski. He has been a sideman on 4 recordings. In 2002, he has been selected by the Detroit Music Awards for best jazz composer, and nominated for best jazz artist.
As a composer and arranger of music, Gwinnell has written for and has had music recorded by the likes of Kenny Burrell, Phoenix Jazz Orchestra, Bird of Paradise J.O., Ed Nuccelli, Hamid Dana, Western-Michigan J.O., SEMJA big band, and Wayne State University Jazz Band. He is a graduate of the Wayne State and has a B.A. in music. He studied there with legendary pianist/writer, Matt Michaels. He is also a former student of the esteemed Detroit pianist, Bess Bonnier.
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REVIEWS of SCOTT GWINNELL and SCOTT GWINNELL JAZZ ORCHESTRA
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"Scott is a serious artist and a great talent. He is an innovative and inventive pianist. If he did nothing else but play piano, he would rate high on any list of great Detroit musicians"
Detroit Jazz Monthly
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"One of the most active and multi-faceted figures in Detroit's jazz community."
Real Detroit Weekly
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"A Brilliant Pianist and Composer."
Music on the Plaza
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"A no-nonsense modern-jazz big band, with stirring ensemble writing balanced by discursive soloing by a mix of veterans and young guns."
Detroit Free Press
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"Listen to his arrangements of jazz classics and originals, you begin to sound the depths of his prodigious ability"
Detroit Jazz Monthly
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"The band that bares his name is a rare example of a vital, progressive big band."
Real Detroit Weekly
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"One of the young bright lights on Detroit's jazz scene."
Detroit Free Press
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"When his Scott Gwinnell Jazz Orchestra brings to vibrant life another of his gorgeous arrangements, he's doing something few other Detroit bandleaders are doing on a regular basis." - Metro Times
"It is state-of-the-art, modern-jazz big band writing. The band is really unique; it really has its own thing." -
Metro Times
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"Pianist/Composer/Arranger Gwinnell pays homage to the music and the musicians he cut his
musical teeth on, through a freshness of thought and sense of playfulness that interjects his own personality
into each piece."
"The first class writing and instrumentalists makes this large ensemble recording one of the best of
the past few years."
jazzreview.com
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"Each of Gwinnell's compostitions is first-rate, as is the Detroit-based big band that plays them."
All About Jazz
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"Gwinnell has taken this group to a level of playing sophistication that's a joy to watch"
C & G publications
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"Gwinnell distills the influences of Thad Jones, Charles Mingus and Duke Ellington into a post-bop
explosion that puts a premium on colorful harmony, detailed orchestration and a soloistic approach that
informs even simple backgrounds and counterlines with brainy and swinging intelligence."
"This much fire and imagination are worth your attention."
Detroit Free Press
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