SCOTT MITCHELL
 

Discovering his love of jazz at an early age, Scott Mitchell has played the saxophone since the age of seven. His adolescence was spent studying the alto saxophone, and later the flute, while playing in a number of combos, ensembles, and bands. 

In high school, Scott studied under legendary University of Oregon jazz author, educator, and performer Carl Woideck. During this time, he frequented the Southern Oregon Music Festivals and other festivals around the Pacific Northwest, where he received numerous awards as “Outstanding Performer,” and learned from living legend, Mel Brown  among many others.

Scott then went on to earn a BFA in Jazz Studies from the Herb Alpert School of Music at the California Institute for the Arts where he studied under Paul Novros and many other professional musicians, including saxophonist Vinny Golia, and bassists Charlie Hayden and Alphonso Johnson. He is trained in music theory, composition, and performance.

His earliest influences were Charlie Parker and later Cannonball Adderly, and for his junior performance at CalArts he did a tribute to Adderly that prompted one professor to say he thought Scott was “channeling Cannonball.” For his senior year he performed a set of his own original compositions for sax, drum and bass trio, followed by a set of original arrangements of songs from beloved old video games. 

While jazz will always be his first love, Scott is well versed in many musical genres and is currently a member of the R&B/Soul band, the Essentials, experimental jazz/rock band, Yama Yama, and The Gerry Rempel Jazz Syndicate. He also composes his own original pieces of music, chiptune/electronic songs, and teaches private lessons through the Guitar Center and independently. 

In his free time, Scott enjoys playing video games and has recently started participating in a growing online community of gamers producing instructional and entertaining YouTube videos.