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Scott McDavid
Now residing in San Diego, California, Scott McDavid grew up in Birmingham Alabama, and was influenced by the music that his family loved. His Dad (R.P. McDavid III) was a band leader during the swing era and had a “Top Hits Countdown” show on WAPI radio in Birmingham in those days as well. His Mom (Ann Brooks McDavid) was a fine pianist and active in local theater and dance groups. Their musical tastes ranges from Art Tatum to Benny Goodman, Frank Sinatra to Cole Porter, and more variety in between.
“When I was about 15 or so, I was digging through Dad’s record collection (which I wasn’t supposed to be doing) one day while skipping school (wasn’t supposed to be doing that either), and I came across a dark album cover called ‘Miles Davis - Kind Of Blue’, and it looked rather exotic, so I played it.. I was floored and very impressed that my Dad had taste for such music. I didn’t understand the significance of that album till later, but Dad new.. and he was that much hipper to me after that…”
From the hits of the 40s to the Beatles “…I’m still a rabid Beatle student..” - from the deep delta blues, to Motown, and the eccentric stylings of King Crimson, his brothers - “..I got four of ‘em.. all older..” - also had an impact on exposing Scott to what would be his roots in music. “I also loved ‘Yes’ very much… such wonderful musical imagination… big, powerful, bold and most creative.”
“I first heard Steely Dan on the radio with ‘Realin In The Years’ when it was a hit..” - McDavid sites The Beatles, Steely Dan, Donald Fagen, Yes, Peter Gabriel, Billy Joel, Miles Davis, and Chick Corea as main musical influences to his musical mind, but that “it all creeps in here and there..”
McDavid composes music for film, broadcast, commercial or theater. With 30 plus documentary films to his credit, hundreds of jingles, song placements in feature films, multiple ADDY and SilverMic awards, a Telly, and he hopes to add more in the future as one of his goals is to score feature films - “I love the narrative style of a feature film score… unlike a documentary, where you are trying hard to stay out of the way and still support the feel and content. Both are fun challenges.”
Somewhere in between all that, he finds time to write and produce his own projects. He’s recently finished producing a new album of original vocal music called “Time Guys”, but with that album just released, he says there’s a “new album in progress. The music is already written, and its time to produce it. Hopefully it will be ready on the near horizon... I also have an albums worth of instrumentals compositions that will be another near future project... stay tuned”
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“Man, this is the coolest record I’ve heard in a long time. Refreshing to hear some musical sophistication...very similar to the ‘Dan’..” - Jackie Bertone / percussionist - Michael McDonald, David Benoit, George Duke, Brian Bromberg, Stanley Clarke.
“Its not rock...but it is, it’s not funk...but it is, it’s not jazz...but it is. Scott has crafted a wonderful selection of songs that touches a lot of styles. The writing, playing and production is as good as it gets....” - unknown iTunes reviewer.
Primary Instrument
Keyboards
Willing to teach
Intermediate to advanced
Credentials/Background
I occasionally except students for a full range of musical instruction, with a focus on piano and other keyboard instruments. Study of harmony, arrangement and composition are also something I encourage to promising students. By appointment only