Scott Colley

Scott Colley (born November 24, 1963) is an American jazz double bassist and composer. As of 2024, he had been nominated for 4 Grammy Awards, including Best Jazz Instrumental Album for Guided Tour in 2014 and Still Dreaming in 2019. During his career, he has toured, recorded, and played with musicians such as Herbie Hancock, Jim Hall, Carmen McRae, Chris Potter, Julian Lage, Brian Blade, and Pat Metheny. He began studying bass at age 11 after his older brother Jim, a drummer, said he "thought it would be cool to have another rhythm section instrument in the family." He auditioned at California Institute of the Arts after learning that Charlie Haden taught there and was granted a full-ride scholarship. and Terri Lyne Carrington.

In the mid-2000s, Colley recorded projects with Chris Potter, Abbey Lincoln, Adam Rogers, and Donny McCaslin. and taught a workshop at Berklee with Antonio Sánchez and Chris Potter. The album was recorded with a quartet including Ralph Alessi, Craig Taborn, and Brian Blade with appearances by David Binney, Jason Moran, Adam Rogers, Gregoire Maret, and Antonio Sánchez. the Antonio Sánchez Quartet with Sánchez, Miguel Zenón, and David Sánchez; Magic Circle with Dave Douglas and Mark Feldman; the David Binney Quartet with Binney, Craig Taborn and Brian Blade; and the Kenny Werner Quintet with Werner, Randy Brecker, David Sánchez, and Ari Hoenig. During the summer of 2010, he released Empire, an album entirely of original compositions, on CAM Jazz with longtime collaborators Bill Frisell, Alessi, Blade, and Taborn. the Koppel Colley Blade Collective with Benjamin Koppel and Brian Blade; Bob James, David Sanborn, and Steve Gadd at the London Jazz Festival (2013); a trio with Julian Lage and Kenny Wollesen; the Steel House trio with Edward Simon and Brian Blade; and the Pat Metheny Trio with Metheny and Kenny Garrett and a quartet with Metheny and Gary Burton, both at the Detroit International Jazz Festival in 2015. He was also a member of the Jim Hall Trio until Hall's death in 2013. Between 2016 and 2019, he played with many of the same groups: a trio with Gary Burton and Julian Lage; and the Steel House. He held a residency at The Stone with the Nels Cline Four in 2016 with Nels Cline, Julian Lage, and Tom Rainey. He performed with Joshua Redman on his Still Dreaming tour in 2017 and accompanied Luciana Souza alongside Chico Pinheiro at the Portland Jazz Festival in 2018. In December, he performed via livestream on the Jazzwise Facebook page with Tim Berne and Nasheet Waits. He was back to touring the following summer, heading to Europe with Antonio Sánchez, Donny McCaslin, and Miguel Zenón. In 2022, he toured with Brian Blade and Wolfgang Muthspiel.

Personal life Colley has a daughter (born around 2002).

Bleckmann, Café, Elridge, M. Feldman, Nussbaum, Prins, Thielemans, Werner

R. Blake, Cary, Foster, A. Hart, Hicks, Higgins, Hutchinson, Lacy, McBride, Scott, Whitaker

Barth, Blade, Blanchard, Bryson, Castro-Neves, Cole, A. Davis, T. Davis, Hall, Hancock, Hirshfield, Keezer, McBride, Mehldau, Piltch, Redman, Shorter, Smith, Thomas, Washington, N. Wilson Alexiev, Burridge, Brecker, Eckert, Fusco, Hanlon, Hirshfield, Kadleck, Millikan, J. Nelson, B. Parsons, Seaton, Sessions, Slagle, Warfield, J. Weiskopf, W. Weiskopf

Amendola, Andress, Eubanks, Hedges, Hirshfield, C. Hunter, Nowinski, Paul, Perowsky, Satriani, Stern, Wilson

Amsallem, Baron, Brecker, C. Gordon, B. Hart, Monder, Wendholt

Bartz, Bernstein, Foster, Kanno, B. King, Payton, Potter, Previte, Redman, Robin, Roseman, Sadownick, Shapiro, Soskin, Vallet, Yamane

Cardenas, A. Cruz, Eggar, M. Feldman, Martin, Potter, Rabinowitz, Tardy, von Kleist

Bernstein, S. Blake, Goldstein, S. Harris, Johnson, Kanan, Lubambo, Miner, Montalbano, A. Sánchez, Vignola Acuña, Crystal, L. Feldman, Goldstein, Hammann, Heick, Locker, Mainieri, Marini, Martin, Robbins, Seaton, Shanahan, Sheppard

Gilkes, Greenblatt, Komer, McCaslin, Monder, Rojas, Saturnino, A. Sánchez, Sipiagin, Simon

Campbell, Creswell, Eggar, Goldstein, Henze, Lee, Mainieri, J. Nelson, Nester, Pelton, Phaneuf, Pillow, Rizner, Sanborn, Thielemans, Todorov

Baron, Christoffersen, Koonse, Mandrup, J. Nilsson, L. Nilsson