Scott Andrews: All That Jazz | The Goddess of Groove By Madeline Royal

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: Those of us who live here on the Central Coast are fortunate for many reasons. We have great weather, gorgeous surroundings, and friendly people. We are also blessed with many great musicians who could hold their own on the world stage (some of them have). If you like to dance, there are almost daily opportunities to dance to a live band. To have a good dance band, you need at least a guitar, bass, and drums, but sometimes other instruments are added to make the band more memorable and add dimension to the music. And, after all, what is sexier than a saxophone?
Scott Andrews grew up in Arroyo Grande listening to his father’s big band music. He would listen to the records and spin around in circles in the living room (sound like a Billy Preston song?). When he was in fourth or fifth grade at Ocean View Elementary, the Paulding Band came to the school, and Scott decided he wanted to play the saxophone. He quickly moved up to first chair.
When Scott himself attended Paulding Middle School, Eric Stever was a year ahead. Eric is currently in Big Daddy’s Blues Band, among others. Scott and Eric had a bit of a rivalry then, although they are friends now. When Eric won the Louie Armstrong Jazz Award in eighth grade, Scott was determined to do the same, and he did achieve the award the next year. Rick Calder, another local sax player, used to sit next to Scott all through school. In high school, at AGHS, Rick continued on alto sax and Scott decided to specialize in tenor sax, so they wouldn’t have to compete for first chair. Scott was in the AGHS Band, the Jazz Band, the choir, and the Eagle-Aires, a song and dance group. Local legend Lee Statom was a huge influence during Scott’s childhood years, as Scott played in his bands in all three schools, Scott learned about the blues from him, and took his improv class on Mondays in high school as well. Scott ended up with one-third more credits than he needed to graduate from high school due to all his music classes, and was co-MVP in Jazz Band. This was despite the fact that he dropped off the honor roll in freshman year, due to an interest in Dungeons and Dragons. His parents made a deal with young Scott that they would buy him a tenor sax he had his eye on if he got his grades back up. In two weeks, Scott’s math grade went from a D to an A-, and he never looked back. He was able to earn the sax, which he still plays, a year ahead of schedule in his junior year.
After high school, Scott attended Cuesta College for two years, with scholarships from the Basin St. Regulars and the Women Soroptomists. Scott was in the Jazz Band under the leadership of Warren Balfour. Scott participated in the Montreux Jazz Festival, and was in the 1985 North Sea Jazz Festival in Rotterdam, when the headliners were Miles Davis, James Brown, and Ray Charles.
Two of Scott’s major musical influences were Wayne Shorter and David Sandborn.  If you are familiar with their music, you can definitely pick that up when you hear Scott play.
Eventually Scott burned out, and stopped playing. Then, after a divorce at the tender age of 25, he went back to his first love. He started practicing 8 hours a day, and eventually formed the band The Olive Club in the Bay Area, along with David “Dino” Palizzolo, Sergio Arrande, and David Sandborn. They performed covers of Sinatra, Sting, and Tom Waits. He then did a recording project with his brother, Craig, appropriately called the Andrews Brothers Project.
Scott moved back to the Central Coast in 2004, and was in a band called Goza with Tim Costa and Bobby Santa Cruz. The band broke up, but Tim and Bobby went with Scott as part of the original lineup of BODY, along with Matthias Clark and Greg Garman. Later members were Forrestt Williams and Jim Stromberg.  Scott spent a few years as an integral part of Burning James and the Funky Flames, and is currently leader of Scotty O’Graci’s Soul Explozion, Black Market Trio (with Joe Duran and Abe Robles), and has a duo with piano man Mark Pietri.
Scott has a passion in particular for jazz, and in educating the music-loving public to the wide variety of music which falls under that category. He is the director of the SLO Jazz Festival, which has aspirations to create wonderful jazz related concerts, education, and festival events on the Central Coast. 2014 was the first year that the festival came to fruition, with sponsorships from the City of San Luis Obispo and Alfano Motor Cars/Mercedes-Benz. This year’s SLO Jazz Fest is set for May 16, 2015, with hopes for three new stages, including a youth stage and a swing dance stage. If you have board experience, Scott is looking for you to join his team. Check out www.slojazzfest.org.
What would he like you to get from his music? “I’d like you to go on a journey with me, and feel something awesome. I want you to have fun. If someone walks away from a show or the Jazz Fest and says ‘That was fun!’ or ‘That was some awesome music!’, then I did my job.”
Scott’s next gig is at Frog and Peach in San Luis Obispo on January 22 with Scotty O’Graci’s Soul Explozion. The band plays primarily disco and funk, and other dance music. Check them out at https://www.soulexplozion.com.