Scott LaFaro
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Rocco Scott LaFaro (April 3, 1936 - July 6, 1961) was one of the most influential jazz bassists of the 20th Century. Growing up in a musical family (his father played in many big bands), LaFaro started on piano as a small child, started studying clarinet at the age of 7, played various reed instruments in High School and only took up the double bass at the age of 16. At the age of 17, nursing a lip injury from basketball and dissatisfied with his saxaphone playing, LaFaro decided to concentrate on bass.
He entered college to study music but left after less than two years to try his luck in the Los Angeles music scene. There, he quickly found work and became known as one of the best of the young bassists. In 1959, after many gigs with such luminaries as Chet Baker, Percy Heath, Victor Feldman and Stan Kenton, LaFaro hooked up with Bill Evans, who had recently left the Miles Davis Sextet. It was with Evans and drummer Paul Motian that LaFaro developed and expanded the counter-melodic style that would come to characterize his playing.
LaFaro died in an automobile accident in the summer of 1961 near Geneva, New York, his home town. Although he performed for only six years (1955-1961), his innovative approach to the bass redefined jazz playing, and inspired a generation of bassists who followed him.
External links
- Scott LaFaro: Beacon for Jazz Bassists (http://www.geocities.com/chuck_ralston/08_slf.htm)