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Scott LaFaro
From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist
Scott LaFaro was an American jazz bassist, born in 1936 in Newark, New Jersey. He first played piano, bass clarinet and tenor saxophone, and began on the double bass only at eighteen, because a string instrument was compulsory for music education students. He played in Buddy Morrow's big band, in Los Angeles with Victor Feldman and Hampton Hawes and later with Chet Baker, Stan Kenton, Cal Tjader and Benny Goodman.
Music and breakthrough
In 1959 he joined the pianist Bill Evans, who had just left Miles Davis's sextet. With Evans and the drummer Paul Motian he developed a countermelodic approach: the bass did not merely play a conventional walking bass, but held a conversation of its own with the piano. The trio saw itself as three equal voices that together work out one musical idea, often without any of them explicitly keeping time. In January 1961 he also took Charlie Haden's place with Ornette Coleman. On the last day of a two-week engagement at the Village Vanguard in June 1961 two albums were recorded: Sunday at the Village Vanguard and Waltz for Debby.
Influence
On 6 July 1961 LaFaro was killed in a car accident. He was twenty-five. Evans stopped performing for months. Although his career was short, LaFaro is regarded as one of the most influential bassists in jazz. His virtuosity and his countermelodies changed the idea of what a bass can do in a trio.
Listening
Discography
Studio albums
- 1978The Legendary Scott Lafaro
- 20051960
- 2009Pieces of Jade
Mentioned in other articles
- The new piano trio Genre
Around 1960, the trio of Bill Evans with the bassist Scott LaFaro and the drummer Paul Motian showed that the three players can play together as equals, instead of bass and drums merely accompanying.