Scott LaFaro Archives

Scott LaFaro was only 25 when he tragically died in a car accident in 1961, but the body of work he left changed jazz bass playing for good. He influenced the majority of today’s best bassists. That includes Brian Bromberg, who has just released a trio album in his honor.

Few musicians can change the way others play their instrument, but Scott LaFaro was one of those special few. LaFaro’s free and floating style was more reminiscent of a saxophonist. His playing, especially with pianist Bill Evans, made people see the bass in a different light. Like too many of our favorite musicians, LaFaro’s life was cut short in 1961,...

Swiss company Schertler has introduced the LaFaro Deluxe, a 2-channel, 280-watt bi-amplified combo amp designed specifically with double bass in mind. The amp’s name and image are a tribute to jazz bass icon Scott LaFaro, who revolutionized jazz bass in his short career. It sports an 8? woofer designed specifically for the amp with a long linear extension for strong...

Bassist Phil Palombi has just released RE: Person I Knew, a tribute to bass legend Scott LaFaro who tragically died in a car crash in 1961. Palombi recruited former Bill Evans drummer Eliot Zigmund and pianist Don Friedman, who was LaFaro’s roommate, to fill out the trio. The ties don’t end there, as Palombi got the unique opportunity to use...

Recently, I had an experience that changed the way I think about instruments. Years ago, I used to get nervous sitting in on other people’s gigs for fear of not being able get “my sound” out of their bass. You know what I’m taking about, right? You grab someone else’s bass, play a few notes, then think “uh-oh, this action...

In the past four years or so, I’ve been asked to write or speak about Scott LaFaro many times. Each time I delve back into the experience, I find another side of the story to tell. That’s because my brain is constantly processing all of the information that I put into my head by transcribing all of LaFaro’s solos from...

Jazz bassist Phil Palombi was given the opportunity of a lifetime. For a week, he was able to borrow Scott LaFaro’s 1825 Prescott bass to record a tribute album to the groundbreaking player. Palombi, who is an expert on LaFaro, realized there has not been a tribute album to the late bassist and decided to make one with Don Friedman...

I am doing a Mingus project in May with the WDR Big Band, so I have been checking out Mingus’s music recently. He has left such a legacy on several levels: his bass playing, his rhythm section playing, his band leading and his composing. All of those aspects of Mingus’s music are interconnected, and he really made strong contributions in...

I recently discovered some amazing footage of bassist Scott LaFaro worth sharing. The first video is the Richie Kamuca Quintet recorded in 1958 at KABC studios in Los Angeles. The program was “Stars of Jazz”, which ran from 1956 until 1958. The band includes leader Richie Kamuca on tenor saxophone, Frank Rosolino on trombone, LaFaro on bass, Victor Feldman on...

Jazz bassist Scott LaFaro is being honored with the first biography on his brief but influential life, Jade Visions: The Life and Music of Scott LaFaro. The biography has been written by LaFaro’s sister Helene LaFaro-Fernandez and includes contributions by notable jazz writers highlighting LaFaro’s contributions to the bass community. LaFaro made his mark on the scene with the Bill...

Here’s a nice performance by the Bill Evans Trio, including a great solo by bassist Chuck Israels. The trio also includes Larry Bunker on drums. Israels joined the trio after the passing of Scott LaFaro. The performance was recorded in 1965, we think.