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Tony Scherr
He still tours, records, and plays around town regularly with a very broad range of artists, and has played on many albums, movie and television scores. In the 1990's, Tony built his own 8 track analog studio where he has recorded and played on numerous albums. A Grammy nominated producer, Tony has produced and engineered a diverse body of work that includes two records of his own music released on Smells Like Records titled "Come Around"(2001), and "Twist in the Wind"(2008).
He is also busy with his own band; Tony Scherr Trio, singing his own songs, performing steadily in the NY area, and touring the US, Canada, and Europe. This band travels light, is self managed and booked, and is currently recording a new live album to be released Spring 2011.
Born in New Haven, CT, Tony began studying string bass at the age of five. He rebelled by picking up guitar at twelve years old and forming a series of garage bands with his brother Pete on bass. After trying music school, Tony spent a couple of years on the road with the Woody Herman band, landing in New York in the late eighties.
This led to a blizzard of bass gigs playing with many of New York's finest jazz musicians (Al Grey, Maria Schneider, Dakota Staton, John Scofield, Stanley Turrentine, pianist Steve Kuhn and many more...), for most of his twenties, after which he rebelled again by picking up the guitar, writing songs, and singing. The New York Times has declared him to be a “singer-songwriter of deep and palpable conviction”.
He is still playing string bass as a member of the Bill Frisell Trio (10 years), and Sex Mob (15 years), and plays guitar as a member of Ursa Minor (8 years), and in Anton Fier's recently reformed rock band The Golden Palominos.
Tony Scherr lives in Brooklyn.
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Elan Mehler: There Is A Dance
by Patrick Burnette
David Bowie's album The Rise And Fall of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars (RCA, 1972) includes instructions on the back: To Be Played At Maximum Volume." Had pianist Elan Mehler's new trio effort, There is a Dance, followed suit, the slogan would be something like To Be Played Only on Rainy Afternoons." There is a Dance, which celebrates memories of Mehler's mother, is a quiet, meditative album, one more drawn to rubato than momentum. There are moments of ...
read moreNorah Jones: I Dream of Christmas
by Jim Trageser
With Tony Bennett's retirement, the mantle of legitimate straight-ahead pop crooners is now firmly in the hands of subsequent generations: Harry Connick, Jr., Diana Krall and Norah Jones. Not pure jazz singers, of which there are numerous stellar examples, these singers are more in the Bennett-Sinatra-Fitzgerald mold, bringing a jazz sensibility to pop music. It is in the area of seasonal Christmas music that the crooners have had perhaps their greatest influence. From Andy Williams to Connie Stevens, ...
read morePat Donaher: Occasionally
by Jerome Wilson
Occasionally sees saxophonist Pat Donaher reflecting on a few milestones in his life to date. He does this by writing and performing compositions which are all dedicated to occasions and people that have been special to him. Donaher's varied set of tunes is played here by an excellent group with Jason Palmer on trumpet, Tim Watson on guitar, Carmen Staaf on piano, Tony Scherr on bass and Allison Miller on drums. Two selections celebrate family weddings. Wedding Day," ...
read moreRick Peckham Trio: Left End
by Jerry D'Souza
Guitarist Rick Peckham has played as a sideman on several albums, bringing his personal signature to the music. On this, his debut as leader, he elevates that presence, aided by two fine musicians in Jim Black and Tony Scherr.
Peckham is fine tuned into jazz, as evidenced by his cover of the Thelonious Monk tune Evidence," as well as the group's Free 1" and the fleeting Free 2." And though the harmonies may not be those of jazz ...
read moreBill Frisell: Unspeakable
by John Kelman
Some artists spend an entire lifetime within a narrow genre, honing their skill and working at stretching the boundaries of that style, while others transcend all definitions and labels, creating a music that defies categorization. Such is the case with guitarist Bill Frisell, who over a twenty-five year career has contributed to everything from the Nordic cool of Jan Garbarek's quartet to the downtown edge of John Zorn's Naked City. On his own records he has explored diverse landscapes including ...
read moreRick Peckham: Left End
by Sean Patrick Fitzell
The opening twangy guitar riff off the title track of guitarist Rick Peckham’s Left End suggests an edge usually associated with rock music, a feeling solidified by the propulsive groove of drummer Jim Black and bassist Tony Scherr (both with plenty of rock in their backgrounds) to push the leader’s statement further. And that’s just the first 30 seconds.
Peckham’s debut as a leader draws on early classic rock guitar influences for sound and attitude and infuses them with improvisational ...
read moreRick Peckham: Left End
by John Kelman
For the first album by the assistant chair to the guitar department at the Berklee School of Music, one might expect a heavily jazz-centric affair and, given Rick Peckham’s vintage, one that would be heavily informed by alumni like John Scofield, Pat Metheny and Bill Frisell. And, to be sure, there’s a certain outward edge a la Scofield, and some reference to the skewed Americana of Frisell territory. But while Left End may demonstrate these allegiances, they are just as ...
read moreTony Scherr "Twist in the Wind" out on March 17, 2008
Source:
All About Jazz
"One of the best guitar players I've ever seen." -Norah Jones
Tony is one of the most original and soulful musicians I know. I love his slide playing, his voice, his songs...and this new album." -Bonnie Raitt
Of all the marvelous musical roles Tony plays, I like it when he sings and plays his own songs best. He is a soulful guitarist and honest singer who writes as naturally and casually as he speaks." ...
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Photos
Music
Tropicalia
From: RETRO TrilogyBy Tony Scherr
The Wind
From: RETRO TrilogyBy Tony Scherr
Lonely Hearts
From: Another Way HomeBy Tony Scherr