A new interview/concert series with host & jazz luminary, Pete Siers!

This week, Pete will be joined by pianist & composer, Scott Gwinnell!

Scott Gwinnell is a pianist, compose, arranger, and educator who has grown up in Detroit and played professionally since the early 1990s. His playing credits consist of performing, recording, and touring with the following artists: Aretha Franklin, Vanessa Williams, Roberta Flack, Joe Lovano, Richie Cole, Sheena Easton, Dave Liebman, Jimmy Heath, John Clayton, Marcus Belgrave, Delfayo Marsalis, Steve Turre, and Jon Hendricks, for whom Scott was music director for three years. He has been a sideman on over 20 professionally released recordings and has four records to his own name. These are: Basement Vibes (2002), The Scott Gwinnell Trio (2006), and the two‐time Detroit Music Award-winning recording, Brush Fire (2010). The Jazz.com review of Brush Fire states, “Overall the band is tight, the spirited arrangements lean, listenable and balanced. Even those who are lukewarm on big band music should be sufficiently ignited by this brush fire.”

As a BMI composer, Gwinnell has written over 300 works, from solo piano to symphony orchestra. He has written in every style, penning works for mediums like television, radio, and musical, to name a few. He is the recipient of many awards and acclaim for his composing, including recognition from: Detroit Music Awards, Downbeat Magazine, International Association of Jazz Educators, SEMJA, among others.

As an educator, Gwinnell has taught in full and part time capacities at University of Toledo, Bowling Green State University, Wayne County Community College, and Oakland University where he presently teaches. He has conducted clinics of jazz improvisation, composition, arranging, history, and vocal jazz at many universities and holds a small private studio of gifted students. He is also the director of the Metro‐Detroit Jazz Workshop in Grosse Pointe Woods, MI.