Brilliant Review of Shakespeare Songs

Scott has received a terrific review of his own performance of his Shakespeare Songs, which closed the Hexham Abbey Festival:..."It shouldn't have worked, but it did. And that's largely due to the huge talent that is American musician Scott Stroman. This is a man who, it seems, can turn his hand to anything."....

Click here to read the review.

"Conductor Scott Stroman...gave further proof of his uncanny comprehension of Weill's music..."

Scott received numerous terrific reviews as conductor of Kurt Weill's opera Street Scene in Toulon in March 2010. All performances in the first run were sold out, and he will conduct revivals in Toulon on 29 and 31 December 2010.

The most detailed review is in the Kurt Weill Foundation newsletter:

click here to view pdf (page 20)

Phil Collins' Going Back video

Phil Collins invited Scott to write the string arrangements and conduct the string sessions for his new project of Motown songs, Going Back, released in September 2010. Phil was a delight to work with, and Scott is featured in Phil's youtube video:

click here to watch video

London Jazz Orchestra review: "a spectacular opening to the series"

"The LJO is an illustrious group of virtuoso instrumentalists, expertly directed by Scott Stroman and this was without question a spectacular opening to the series. The first half comprised of works written by LJO members and immediately allowed the consummate skill of key players to shine. Pete Beachill is widely regarded as one of the finest trombone players on the circuit and we were treated to a dazzling solo in the first number which set the scene for other band members to follow suit. Stroman is the master director: he skilfully moulds the performances, subtly directing the phrasing, articulation and balance, and between numbers has an excellent, natural, relaxed rapport with the audience through his informative, informal introductions. If the start of the concert was perhaps a little tentative from the band en masse, they certainly were in full flow by the interval and in John Coltrane’s African Brass Suite, which followed in the second half, the electricity and inner energy generated made the performance sizzle. Coltrane is something of a legend in the world of contemporary jazz and in this astonishing suite it’s easy to see why – but what made this work so utterly absorbing on this hearing was the irresistible and compelling industry and panache of the LJO musicians. Fabulous stuff….." (Review of Marlborough College's season-opening concert, given by the London Jazz Orchestra on 19 September 2010, by Philip Dukes)

Stroman/Jönsson Project new Project 2 CD and tour

Scott's international jazz group, co-led by Swedish saxophonist Cennet Jönsson and featuring Hungarian violinist Zoltan Lantos, Irish bassist Ronan Guilfoyle, US/UK guitarist Justin Quinn, and UK percussionist Paul Clarvis, arrived in Britain for concerts in London, Bristol, and Gloucester in August. They have recently released their Project 2 CD on Kopasetic records. You can check out the CD and reviews at:

Kopasetic website

London Jazz Orchestra Vortex Sessions booming

The London Jazz Orchestra continues with London's longest-running jazz residency, at the Vortex Club. A full house heard Stroman's "recomposition" of Coltane's Africa/Brass on 20 September, and anxious listeners filled the staircase trying to get into the club for the LJO's concert on Monday 25 October, featuring music by Pete Hurt and Pete Saberton and with guests the Guildhall Jazz Band.

On 21 November at 4PM the LJO returns to Sunday afternoons with a special London Jazz Festival concert featuring Kenny Wheeler's Long Suite 2005. The LJO returns to a monthly Sunday afternoon slot, every 4th Sunday from 4-6 PM, on 23 January 2011.

Most of these sessions will be recorded to document the LJO's unique library of original music and to compile archive material for later release.

Directed by Scott Stroman, the LJO is a unique collection of top London jazz soloists and composers including Pete Saberton, Phil Lee, Alec Dankworth, Paul Clarvis, Martin Speake, Martin Hathaway, Pete Hurt, Josephine Davies, Mick Foster, Noel Langley, Henry Lowther, Robbie Robson, Yasmin Ahmed, Pete Beachill, Trevor Myers, and Sarah Williams. Over the years the LJO has seen countless musicians pass through its ranks, many who have made a lasting and influential impact on British jazz, including Stan Sulzmann, Kenny Wheeler, Tim Garland, Steve Buckley, Ian Carr, Ashley Slater and Chris Biscoe.

In addition to creating its own individual sound the band has performed and recorded with Billy Cobham, David Liebman, Rufus Reid, US trumpeter Ed Sareth, Swedish saxophonist Cennet Jönsson and many more.

“This ensemble…is as fine a big band as you'll find anywhere in Britain!” – Sholto Byrnes, The Independent.

Songs of Life and Liberty and Shakespeare Songs recorded on Blood and Gold

Scott's two new choral/jazz song cycles, recorded at Abbey Road in London last summer, have been released on Blood and Gold, a new CD on 33 Records. They feature London's Eclectic Voices with a band of top jazz soloists.

Songs of Life and Liberty was commissioned by FOTIS and premiered at a sold-out concert at the Victoria Hall in Geneva which raised several hundred thousand francs to support the education of students in Africa. Click here to visit their website.

Shakespeare Songs was commissioned by Lord and Lady Salisbury to commemorate the 450th anniversary of the accession of Elizabeth I and premiered at a beautiful event at Hatfield House, Hertfordshire, in November 2008.

Jazz Psalms a roaring success at Three Choirs

Scott's new song-cycle, Jazz Psalms, was a clear success with audience and performers as it closed the the final concert of the 2010 Three Choirs Festival at Gloucester Cathedral on 15 August 2010. Commissioned by the Festival with funds from the PRS, the 55-minute piece was performed by a specially-assembled massed choir with an 9-piece ensemble of international jazz soloists. It was broadcast by BBC Radio Gloucestershire on 30 August as their their first-ever concert recording.

London Philharmonic's Renga success in India

The London Philharmonic Orchestra's groundbreaking Renga ensemble, directed by Scott, got a large number of great reviews in the Indian press for its collaboration with the Karnatica College of Percussion in performances in Mumbai, Bangalore, and Delhi in April. You can read an article about the tour in the Times (London) here.

Stroman/Jönsson Project reviews

Mike Hobart in the Financial Times reviewed the Stroman/Jonsson Project performance at London's Vortex Club in January 2010:

"Trombonist and vocalist Scott Stroman and Swedish saxophonist Cennet Jönsson bring 20 years of mutual orchestral, world-music and jazz-combo experience to their latest collaboration, the self-explanatory Project 2. The CD’s eight originals are ambitious mini-overtures of world-tinged fusion jazz and were slightly ragged at the edges on the night. Spirited soloing and an unusual front line more than compensated. Stroman concentrates on vocals which, orchestrally voiced, are blended smoothly with violin and sax.

The opening modal workout “Luce” set the tone. A pounding “gathering-of-the-clans” bass riff – Irishman Ronan Guilfoyle solid on acoustic bass guitar – was the foundation for a whirligig folk-dance melody. Tension was released by a change of key and texture, and a twiddly riff finally launched a succession of solos, with Hungarian violinist Zoltán Lantos and Jönsson on soprano sax expertly crafting slow-burning crescendos.

Other first-set compositions were similarly episodic in structure. Unaccompanied soprano sax introduced hymnal elegy, rattly percussion set up lilting funk and Justin Quinn’s slide guitar established the atmosphere for the bleak ballad “Homeless”. The ensemble coped with the complex chords, precision harmonies and disjointed rhythms.

In the second set, “Everlasting Song” was light-toned and optimistic, “Ten Bar Blues” a jigsaw of overlapping lines and altered chords and “Man in the Moon” an affectionate ballad. The band zipped through angular fusion, modal swing and lounge-jazz brushwork. And there were sparky improvisations from the charismatic Lantos – gypsy jazz, off-the-cuff cadenzas – and a grand-finale solo from drummer Paul Clarvis. Stroman’s improvisations, mixing scat and Indian references, were spot on."

From the same concert TV/film arts producer Mathew Tucker writes:

"Scott Stroman is a musician with fingers in many pies. Tonight he was the vocalist in a band he co-leads with his long-term musical partner, saxophonist Cennet Jönsson. Joined by instrumentalists from Hungary, the US, Ireland and, er Highbury (Stroman), he treated the select audience at the Vortex to a collection of works (well I can't really call them songs) from his new album Project 2. This rather clinical title doesn't do justice to the warmth exuded by the assembled musicians, spearheaded by Jonsson's soprano sax and Zoltan Lantos' fiddle. Their breathtaking unity of sound was underpinned by Stroman's gentle scat singing which, whether intended or not, was a useful brake on anything too outlandish and impenetrable. The highlight of the evening was Stroman's composition, Homeless whose desolate quality perfectly captured the cold and slushy view of Gillett Square as seen from the comfort of the Vortex."

London Marathon success

Scott ran the London Marathon on Sunday 25 April, raising £1750 for the Children's Society, who work with disadvantaged and troubled young people. Stranded in Geneva the previous week due to the volcanic ash cloud, he made it back to London on Saturday night just in time to run on Sunday. Many thanks for all who supported him in this worthy cause!

Scott featured in London Philharmonic Orchestra podcast

Scott was featured in the LPO's December 2009 podcast in an extended interview with Edward Seckerson. Inspired by the success of the LPO's innovative Renga ensemble, which Scott directs, the interview focuses on collaborations between classical music and other genres, and on his ability to work in many styles of music including classical, jazz, world, and popular. Click here to listen.

Lady in the Dark nominated for Moliere Award

The 2008-2009 French production of Kurt Weill's Lady in the Dark, directed by Jean Lacornerie and with music direction by Scott, was nominated for best musical in the 2009 Molière Awards, France's equivalent to the US Tony Awards and British Olivier Awards. This new touring production, presented in collaboration with Lyon Opera, Opera de Rennes, Dijon Opera and the Orchestra Pays Savoie, was the only nomination from outside Paris. The show received rave reviews and every performance in the entire tour was sold out.

Jubilee Suite for orchestra premiered in Grimsby

Scott's new Jubilee Suite, commissioned by the Grimsby and Cleethorpes Youth Orchestra for their 50th anniversary, was performed under his direction by over 150 young, mature, student, and professional performers on 27 June 2009 at the Auditorium, Grimsby. The four pieces, Lincolnshire Lines, Fair and Young, My New Ship, and Sieze the Day, were written to allow performers of all ages and abilities to perform alongside each other. It also allowed orchestral and jazz musicians to work together.