2002: Scott Looney

solo piano

Scott R. Looney has been making noises on various instruments since he was about 3 years old, and comes from a long list of Cal Arts alumni, joining fellow improvisers Adam Lane and Aaron Bennett whom he regularly plays with. He first studied jazz and improvisation in the unlikely cultural atmosphere of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, at Coe College under avant trumpeter Paul Smoker, also obtaining his BM in Music Composition. In 1990 he attended the Banff Jazz Workshop in Banff Canada, where he learned unique approaches to improvisation and composition from Steve Coleman, Robin Eubanks and Kevin Eubanks. In 1991 Scott attended the California Institute of the Arts, where he studied improvisation under Roscoe Mitchell and Wadada Leo Smith, as well as composition and interactive electronics under David Rosenboom and Morton Subotnick. After graduating with an MFA in Music Composition, he moved to New York, where he honed his composition and improvisation skills in sessions with Herb Robertson, Phil Haynes, Jim Black, and Randy McKean. In the summer of 1996, he moved back to the Left Coast, this time to Oakland, and since then he has been gradually emerging from his shell, composing and playing varying instruments in performances with Leo Smith, Dan Plonsey, Moe, and Rent Romus.

Artist (photo by Photographer)