David Thorne Scott

David Thorne Scott is a singer and songwriter who “explores the intersection of Jazz and Americana, city and country, instrumentation and lyrics to create lush compositions and covers that are unifying, and healing, in their beauty.” (Eponymous Review)

David has long been known for bringing a modern edge to the classics of the Great American Songbook. His album “Shade” was named a “Top 5 CD of the Year” by the Jazz Education Journal. Cadence Magazine said “he phrases like a saxophone player and is as slippery and hip as the young Mel Tormé.” Herb Wong, one of the west coast's leading jazz experts, wrote “I haven’t been this moved by a performance of ‘For All We Know’ since Carmen McRae.”

David's recent release is called “Thornewood”, an album that explores the sweet spot between Jazz and Americana: Cole Porter and Harold Arlen placed next to John Denver and Townes Van Zandt. Special guests on the album include Paula Cole, Peter Eldridge, Jason Palmer, Walter Smith III, and Sara Caswell.

David's pop/jazz crossover album “Hopeful Romantic” consists of smoky jazz, powerful rock anthems, bouncy pop and moody hip-hop musings. Gold- and Platinum-award winner Anthony Resta produced the CD.

His composition “I See You” was featured in the television show The Blacklist on NBC. David has been a featured soloist with the Boston Pops, the Capital Jazz Orchestra, the New England Wind Symphony, the Melrose Symphony, the Cape Symphony, and the Bill Elliott Swing Orchestra.

David is Professor of Voice at Berklee College of Music.

Other Projects

David is the founder of the Vintage Vocal Quartet, comprised of double-threat singer/instrumentalists who vocalize and harmonize while keeping a steady beat on bass, guitar, piano and trumpet. The group's repertoire is inspired by groups like Glenn Miller’s Modernaires, the Nat King Cole Trio, the Andrews Sisters, and Tommy Dorsey’s Pied Pipers.

DYAD is the duo of David Thorne Scott and Mark Shilansky. They blow up audience expectations of “a singer plus an accompanist” by singing in harmony and playing percussion, bass, mandolin and trumpet. They view varied musical styles — including classical, folk, theater, the Beatles, and 80’s pop music — through a jazz lens.

As a member of the vocal quartet Syncopation, called “a 21st-century Manhattan Transfer or Lambert, Hendricks and Ross‚” by the Boston Globe, he sang and played trumpet. The legendary vocal group the Four Freshmen has only had four different lead singers since its inception in 1947 and David is the only substitute ever to tour with them, singing the high lead part and playing bass.

Awards

• Top 5 Vocal Jazz CD of 2004 by the Jazz Education Journal. The other 4 were Kitty Margolis, Andy Bey, Mark Murphy and Judy Silvano. • Berklee Faculty Fellowship and Recording Grant to study, transcribe, perform and record vocal group arrangements from the 1930s and 1940s.