
The upright bassist, whose credits read like a who’s who of jazz greats, shares on his early musical career, which began when he was just 13 years old.
Recently, I was lucky enough to speak with the great Scott Colley—who’s worked with a host of jazz masters, including Herbie Hancock, Pat Metheny, Jim Hall, and Julian Lage—about bass, music, life, and more. I’ll be presenting this interview in two parts: the first dealing with how Scott came to be a bass player and his early experiences, and the second dealing with his specific areas of advice for all bassists. In this column, I’m sharing Part 1.
Colley was presented with a daunting decision at age 11: bass or trumpet? There were only two openings available in his elementary school orchestra. Honestly, it could’ve gone either way, and today, you could be reading my interview with an accomplished jazz trumpeter. Alas, his older brother, Jim—a drummer—said, “I want a rhythm section player in the family. You should play bass!” And so began the successful bass career of one of the soon-to-be-better-known acoustic bassists on the international jazz scene.
“I was learning a lot from these experiences, where older musicians would say, ‘Learn these tunes by Friday—and you’d better learn them!’”
Born and raised in Los Angeles, Colley’s brother exposed him to jazz at a young age. By 13, he was playing biweekly as the resident bassist at a jam session in Pasadena, was fortunate enough to work alongside many much older and more experienced jazz musicians, including Chuck Manning, Larry Koonse, Serge Kasimoff, Teddy Edwards, and Albert “Tootie” Heath. Some would give him advice or stacks of records and help him figure out what to listen to—or listen for. Like many successful musicians, Colley also had an amazing and influential music teacher at Eagle Rock Jr./Sr. High School. Band Director John Rinaldo managed to keep his program going, even when Los Angeles city schools had no funds, by throwing fundraisers.
Today, looking back, Colley describes himself during this early period as “more of a jazz purist,” who learned mostly by ear as he studied some of greats like Paul Chambers and Charles Mingus. He also took regular lessons with bass veteran Monty Budwig (a local legend). Read on to learn more about his musical journey.
PG: So, you grew as a musician that quickly, in just a few years?
Scott Colley: Yeah! In hindsight, I can’t imagine how that all happened in three years! I was learning a lot from these experiences, where older musicians would say, “Learn these tunes by Friday—and you’d better learn them!” That was the vibe! Another significant moment was when my brother offered to take me to see Weather Report in 1978. I didn’t want to go because I thought it was fusion [laughs].
PG: Wow! The era of some of my favorite Weather Report! Black Market, Mr. Gone, Heavy Weather…. You saw them live?!
Colley: Yeah. This was right after Heavy Weather came out. Seeing Jaco at that moment, hearing Wayne [Shorter] and Joe [Zawinul], their amazing orchestration, and the amount of sounds and grooves that could come out of that band—Peter Erskine, whew…. I thought, this is some shit that I’ve never heard! I don’t know where this all comes from, but I want to know! So, that kind of opened the door for me to think, “Oh, there’s a lot of stuff out here that I haven’t been experiencing.” From there, very shortly afterwards, I discovered—or rather, I realized—the amazing music of Ornette Coleman, beginning with Old and New Dreams [a quartet of Coleman’s former side musicians Dewey Redman, Don Cherry, Charlie Haden, and Ed Blackwell] and then going back to all the amazing classic quartet stuff.
PG: How old were you then?
Colley: About 14 or 15. It was a really great way of discovering music by listening, rather than from the page. But then I realized that there’s certain music that I want to be involved in that does require me to learn to read, understand harmony, the functions of melody, the functions of the bass within music, etc.
Then, I finished high school and floated for a year playing around Los Angeles. I was just gonna move to New York but heard that Charlie Haden was teaching at CalArts. So, I auditioned just so I could meet him. I figured he’d give me some pointers or something, and then I’d head off to New York [laughs]. Charlie said, “We’re getting ready to start a jazz program. Do you want to go to school here?”
So, I went to CalArts! Because of Charlie and David Roitstein, the pianist and heart of the Cal Arts jazz program, I got an amazing education.
They had an incredible program with teachers in jazz, world music, modern classical music, composition…. They’d have visiting artists like John Cage, Morton Feldman, Don Cherry, Pat Metheny, Dave Holland, and artists on faculty from North and South India, Balinese and Javanese gamelan, Nigerian and Ghanaian traditional music, and then Charlie. So, I did four years of CalArts, sold all my stuff, got my bass in a suitcase, and then moved to New York.
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The Sunset is a fully analog, zero latency bass amplifier simulator. It features a ¼” input, XLR and ¼” outputs, gain and volume controls and extensive equalization. It’s intended to replace your bass amp both live and in the studio.
If you need a full sounding amp simulator with a lot of EQ, the Sunset is for you. It features a five band equalizer with Treble, Bass, Parametric Midrange (with frequency and level controls), Resonance (for ultra lows), and Presence (for ultra highs). All are carefully tuned for bass guitar. But don’t let that hold you back if you’re a keyboard player. Pianos and synthesizers sound great with the Sunset!
The Sunset includes Gain and master Volume controls which allow you to add compression and classic tube amp growl. It has both ¼” phone and balanced XLR outputs - which lets you use it as a high quality active direct box. Finally, the Sunset features zero latency all analog circuitry – important for the instrument most responsible for the band’s groove.
Introducing the Sunset Bass Amp Simulator
- Zero Latency bass amp simulator.
- Go direct into the PA or DAW.
- Five Band EQ:
- Treble and Bass controls.
- Parametric midrange with level and frequency controls.
- Presence control for extreme highs.
- Resonance control for extreme lows.
- Gain control to add compression and harmonics.
- Master Volume.
- XLR and 1/4" outputs.
- Full bypass.
- 9VDC, 200mA.
Artwork by Aaron Cheney
MAP price: $210 USD ($299 CAD).
PRS Guitars celebrates 40 years with the limited edition McCarty SC56. Featuring vintage-inspired design and modern innovations, this single-cutaway guitar pays tribute to Ted McCarty and his impact on the industry. With only 400 pieces available, this instrument is a must-have for collectors and performers alike.
PRS Guitars today announced the 40th Anniversary McCarty SC56 Limited Edition. With a classic PRS single-cutaway body shape and carefully chosen specifications, the McCarty SC56 is both a tribute to tradition and a reliable tool for the modern performer. Only 400 pieces will be made.
“The SC56, signifying Singlecut and 1956, model is our most recent tribute to my late mentor Ted McCarty and his impact on the guitar industry. We started with our take on a classic late ‘50s singlecut body. 1956 marks the year that Ted first had guitars made with his newly coined 'humbucker' pickups. It also happens to be the year I was born. Bringing vintage design into the modern era, we loaded this model with our McCarty III pickups, meticulously designed to deliver warm, clear, vintage tone with exceptional note separation and dynamics,” said PRS Guitars Founder & Managing General Partner, Paul Reed Smith.
Anchored by a maple top and mahogany back, the 24.594” scale length and 22-fret Pattern Vintage neck work with Phase III non-locking tuners and PRS two-piece bridge to promote its musical sustain. The PRS McCarty III pickups are controlled by a simple layout — two volume controls, two tone controls, and a three-way toggle on the upper bout.
Single-cutaway guitars are known to be heavier than their double-cutaway counterparts. The McCarty SC56 Limited Edition design incorporates weight-relief, decreasing the weight of the guitar by about 2/3 of a pound, while maintaining several points of attachment between the guitar top and back to eliminate the “hollow” sound of the cavities and promote tone transfer.
With appointments like binding on the fretboard, classic bird inlays, and a vintage-inspired nitrocellulose finish, the 40th Anniversary McCarty SC56 Limited Edition blends heritage and innovation into a timeless instrument.
PRS Guitars continues its schedule of launching new products each month in 2025.
For more information, please visit prsguitars.com.
40th Anniversary McCarty SC56 Limited Edition | Demo | PRS Guitars - YouTube
His credits include Miles Davis’ Jack Johnson and Herbie Mann—next to whom he performed in Questlove’s 2021 documentary, Summer of Soul—and his tunes have been covered by Santana and the Messthetics. But it’s as a bandleader and collaborator where Sharrock cut his wildest recordings. As groundbreaking as Sharrock’s music could be, his distorted tone and melodic tunes helped bring rock listeners into the jazz tent. Our callers let us know how much Sharrock meant to them and why he’s one of the “top guys of all time.”
Designed for players who demand flexibility without sacrificing tone, the Aquanaut fuses the rich warmth of classic analog delay with the extended range and clarity of modern digital designs. Featuring up to 600 milliseconds of delay time, the Aquanaut easily covers everything from tight slapback echoes to lush, ambient textures and rhythmic soundscapes – all with a simple, intuitive control layout.
Unlike many digital delays that can sound sterile and detached, the Aquanaut retains an organic, analog-inspired voice. Repeats are smooth and musical, gently fading into the mix to create depth and dimension without overwhelming your dry signal. Whether you’re chasing vintage tape echo, adding subtle space to your solos, or building massive atmospheric layers, the Aquanaut keeps your tone clear, present, and inspiring.
Berserker Electronics Aquanaut Delay/Echo
Key features include:
- Up to 600ms of delay time for expanded creative possibilities
- Analog-voiced digital architecture for warm, natural-sounding repeats
- Ambient-style echo that enhances, not distracts from, your core tone
- Simple, intuitive controls for delay time, feedback, and blend
The Aquanaut is available direct at www.berserkerpedals.com and Reverb at a $149 street price.