Jazz Rock/Fusion
United States
Proclaimed as the thinking man's Yngwie Malmsteen by celebrated jazz and fusion author/critic BILL MILKOWSKI, SCOTT MCGILL has been playing guitar for over twenty five years. His formal training includes a B.M. in Jazz Performance & Composition from Temple University (Summa Cum Laude). For ten years he studied with legendary composer and theoretician DENNIS SANDOLE (teacher of JOHN COLTRANE, PAT MARTINO, and JAMES MOODY among others). Currently SCOTT is guitarist for FREAKZOID, JONES MCGILL DECARLO and MCGILL/MANRING/STEVENS. He was featured in Guitar Player Magazine for February 2007.
During 1985 to 86, and at the ripe old age of 19, SCOTT became the lead guitarist for the RCA recording artist ROBERT HAZARD ('Escalator of Life', 'Girls Just Want to Have Fun'). Gigs included "Fourth of July on the Parkway" at the Philadelphia Art Museum with JIMMY PAGE, JOAN JETT and the BEACH BOYS and with 800,000 people in attendance. He formed his first group THE HAND FARM in 1991 touring with SPOCKS BEARD, TRANSATLANTIC, and MACEO PARKER. Praise for the first disc 'The Hand Farm' (1997) came from BILL BRUFORD, WAYNE KRANTZ, GREG HOWE and JENS JOHANSSON.
MCGILL joined the prog-rock/fusion band FINNEUS GAUGE (also featuring members of the former and future ECHOLYN), releasing the 'More Once More' and 'One Inch Of The Fall' albums between 1997 to 1999. The musical echoes of UK/BRUFORD got critical acclaim in both progressive rock circles and the mainstream press (e.g. Guitar World's "Top 10 Prog Bands" and Keyboard Magazine's "Best Of 1997"). Around this time SCOTT released his second solo HAND FARM album Ripe featuring VIC STEVENS (drums), CHICO HUFF (bass) and DEMITRIOS PAPPAS (keyboards). He left FINNEUS GAUGE in 1999 to write material for what was to be the first album by MMS - MCGILL, MANRING & STEVENS.
World renowned bassist MICHAEL MANRING and drummer VIC STEVENS joined MCGILL for the first MMS album 'Addition by Subtraction' (2001, produced by Grammy-winning producer NEIL KERNON) and also the 2002 double album 'Controlled by Radar'. DREAM THEATER/LIQUID TENSION EXPERIMENT's keyboardist JORDAN RUDESS, guested with MMS, being prominently featured on ABS. Promotion of ABS included touring North America with a special guest, the legendary bassist PERCY JONES. Various members of MMS also appeared on a couple of A TRIGGERING MYTH albums. MMS also performed at NAMM 2001 (Anaheim, CA) to an overwhelmingly enthusiastic response. The band then embarked on a second successful tour of the US east coast and central U.S. in 2002, supporting CBR.
During the next few years, MCGILL was kept busy as a teacher, clinician/endorsing artist, as well as guest soloist on many progressive, fusion, jazz, and prog-metal releases. In 2006 MMS released the critically acclaimed 'What We Do' featuring the mixing wizardry of DAVID TORN with liner notes by BILL MILKOWSKI. What We Do is an album of jazz standards done the MMS way with a bonus disc of live material from their 'Addition By Subtraction' Tour of 2001.
The band FREAKZOID with SCOTT, KJELL BENNER (bass), DAVE KLOSS (bassist/Stick) and RITCHIE DECARLO (drummer/producer) was created in 2006, with its eponymous debut disc was released in 2007. SCOTT also released a disc of fretless guitar material in late September 2006, 'Awareness' with DECARLO and HUFF. More recently, new material has been released over two albums with RITCHIE and PERCY JONES (bass - ex. BRAND X, TUNNELS). The first in 2008 was the i-Tunes release-only 'Debut' and with the 'Percy Jones, Scott McGill, Ritchie DeCarlo' album being issued in 2010. Special guests include DAVE KLOSS (Stick) and MARKUS REUTER (Warr guitar, - ex. Pat Mastelotto). SCOTT released a solo disc in 2009, 'Symptom Imperative', while a second FREAKZOID disc is completed and awaiting release.
As a teacher, SCOTT MCGILL was Senior Lecturer of Guitar at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia and Stockton College in Pomona, NJ. His latest book 'The Guitar Arpeggio Compendium' has been published as an e-book and there is more of his instructional texts on the way. He is an endorsing artist for Brian Moore Guitars, Vigier Fretless Guitars, DR Strings, and Seymour Duncan Pickups. He has now taken up a post as Course Leader/Prof BA (Hons) at the Brighton Institute Of Modern Music Scott and his wife Meredith, and their 2½ year old son Declan, now reside in Hove on the South English coast.
ALBUMS:
1999 - RIPE
Musicians
Scott McGill / Electric and Acoustic Guitars
Chico Huff / Bass
Vic Stevens / Drums and Percussion
Demetrios Pappas / Keyboards (5,9)
1 7 - 24 1:35
2 Ripe One 8:22
3 Fred - O - Cal 8:03
4 Monde de Incertitudes 1:43
5 Skwerbie 7:45
6 DDR 7:12
7 Industrial Blowout 7:00
8 Marcella 2:30
9 Cause for an Effect 7:35
10 Ong's Hat 6:39
11 24 - 7 2:50
Look!!
