Reviews from the United States
Scott DuBois' SUMMER WATER
One of Journalist Dan Bilawsky's Top 10 New Jazz Albums of the Year for JazzTimes Magazine
- JazzTimes Magazine, Dan Bilawsky, December 2021:: read full article here
Scott DuBois' SUMMER WATER
"...a contemplative reflection of golden hour sunlight glistening...There is a particular sound that DuBois achieves throughout the recording, it is clear, precise and reserved, each note or chord rings richly...the power of the tides and flows are captured...'Sea Before the Storm' expertly encompasses a building tension...Summer Water is surprisingly onomatopoetic, and DuBois' light flooded sound is the perfect soundtrack for a meditative sojourn."
- Free Jazz Blog, Paul Acquaro, June 2021:: read full review here
Scott DuBois' SUMMER WATER
"DuBois captures the dynamic textures and tonal colors of an orchestra, maintaining a bold, forceful sound, not just in terms of volume but intensity...a contemplative aura that permeates the entire session...frenetic fretwork navigating the crashing swells of a rising storm, before subsiding into tranquility in the aftermath...spiritual depth and compositional detail..."
- Point of Departure, Troy Collins, June 2021:: read full review here
Scott DuBois' SUMMER WATER
"Scott DuBois doesn't just play guitar; he's a sound sculptor...DuBois composed these 11 sinuous and feathery pieces not in summer, but during the dead of winter. Much like a river’s ebb and flow, they surge with forward momentum, swell with flying colors, and lull with introspection. His solitary approach—often quiet, occasionally abrasive, always atmospheric, sometimes symphonic—conjures up soundworlds that wouldn’t be out of place on the ECM label...Summer Water is a solo guitar clinic to behold."
- JazzTimes Magazine, Brad Cohan, May 2021:: read full review here
Scott DuBois' SUMMER WATER
"...Summer Water, his latest brilliant and sonically intricate piece of impressionistic musical storytelling...crackling and fiery symphonic energy via an expansive range of string tones, harmonies, rhythmic patterns and unbridled improvisations..."
- JAZZIZ Magazine, Jonathan Widran, April 2021:: read full review here
Scott DuBois' SUMMER WATER
"Best Jazz on Bandcamp: April 2021"
- Bandcamp, Dave Sumner, April 2021 :: read full article here
Scott DuBois' SUMMER WATER
"...effulgent tides and emphatic strums shining down...a sense of mystery, heralding the downpour at the heart of the album...it acts as a key point of convergence for this brilliant bi-directional statement. While whittling down the instrumentation for his latest seasonal story, DuBois has lost nothing in terms of power and narrative expression. Summer Water, as with the preceding autumnal and wintry wonders, earns incredibly high marks. Now we simply wait for spring."
- All About Jazz, Dan Bilawsky, April 2021 :: read full article here
Scott DuBois' SUMMER WATER
“The bellowing strings function as DuBois’ one-man orchestra, a symphonic effect demanded from his compositions in order for these pieces to be fully realized...DuBois rises above a hushed atmosphere...the storm does indeed arrive...like a fast-moving storm, he returns to the tranquility...SUMMER WATER is sagacious and spiritually deep...”
- Something Else!, S. Victor Aaron, March 2021 :: read full article here
Scott DuBois named in DownBeat Magazine's 2019 Critics' Poll in the "Rising Star Guitar" Category
- DownBeat Magazine, August 2019 :: read full article here
Scott DuBois' AUTUMN WIND
4.5 (out of 5) Stars
"...it's sometimes as if nature is letting loose its thunder and lightning...guitar virtuosity..."
- DownBeat Magazine, Howard Mandel, February 2018 :: read full review here
Scott DuBois' AUTUMN WIND
"...colorful and passionate, the moods ranging from bucolic to near-frenzy...Glorious...Lovely!"
- The Santa Fe New Mexican, Paul Weideman, February 2018 :: read full review here
Scott DuBois' AUTUMN WIND named one of the "Best of 2017"
- Something Else!, S. Victor Aaron, January 2018 :: read full article here
Scott DuBois' AUTUMN WIND chosen as an "Editors' Pick"
"The intersection of modern jazz and contemporary classical music became a much more interesting place last fall with the release of Autumn Wind...music that’s as delicate as it is bold...profoundly beautiful..."
- DownBeat Magazine, Ed Enright, January 2018 :: read full article here
"Evocative, moving, and successful in its mission, DuBois' concept is mature and meticulous."
- Free Jazz Blog, Paul Acquaro, January 2018 :: read full article here
"The music serves to beautifully illustrate the moods and modes of autumn as a season and the autumnal frame of mind, seeking peace amid the squalls of life’s travails. From the riotous blooms of autumn's color in the landscape to the stark and barren trees of early winter, the music takes the listener on a personal journey, echoing the season’s many hues within its structure, a gradual unveiling of the nature of the inner and outer world."
- Music and More, Tim Niland, January 2018 :: read full review here
Scott DuBois' AUTUMN WIND album named one of the "Best Releases of 2017"
- All About Jazz, Dan Bilawsky, December 2017 :: read full article here
"Autumn Wind is one vast modern jazz canvas...DuBois appears to be broadening everything about his art...a jazz album unlike any other...Honestly, he can stop right now, and his reputation for a forward-thinking artist would be firmly cemented."
- PopMatters, John Garratt, December 2017 :: read full review here
"DuBois, 39, is an endlessly inventive guitarist with a penchant for arranging delicate passages that could pass for Baroque if they weren’t so damn futuristic and cool. This is fusion of the highest order. With seven CDs in the last 13 years, looks like I’m headed down to DuBois Blvd. to catch up with this amazing mathematician of a music-maker."
- The Aquarian Weekly, Mike Greenblatt, November 2017 :: read full review here
Scott DuBois' AUTUMN WIND
4.5 (out of 5) Stars
"Scott DuBois has managed to do the impossible in bringing sound to season to sound."
- All About Jazz, Dan Bilawsky, November 2017 :: read full review here
Scott DuBois' AUTUMN WIND
"...highly impressionistic...brimming with even more original ideas...a complete mastery of the electric guitar’s tonal palette...full of timbral richness...DuBois’s desire to blur the lines between creative jazz, chamber music and folk forms is a quest others before him have taken on, but the challenge of putting it all together both coherently and provocatively is where many have fallen short. Not so with Autumn Wind, it excels at that."
- Something Else!, S. Victor Aaron, October 2017 :: read full article here
Scott DuBois' AUTUMN WIND
"...touching the nerves of our hearts...There is something most uplifting going on here. When I first put this disc on earlier, the day was cool and dark. As this disc draws to a close, the sun has burst through, providing some warmth to help us make it through the day. The same can be said about the music here, it is organic medicine for the heart and souls of those who want to listen…"
- Downtown Music Gallery, Bruce Lee Gallanter, October 2017 :: read full review here
Scott DuBois' WINTER LIGHT album named one of the "Best Releases of 2016"
- All About Jazz, Dan Bilawsky, December 2016 :: read full article here
Scott DuBois' WINTER LIGHT
“From Rembrandt to Monet, artists have long sought to capture the essence of natural light. Now, guitarist and composer Scott DuBois takes up this painterly and poetic task through sonic expression…From the creeping tendrils of dawn over a snowy expanse to brilliant sun illuminating a forest glen to the muted yet dramatic light filtered through an icy, foggy afternoon, DuBois and company paint vivid scenarios…”
- JAZZIZ Magazine, June 2016 :: read full review here
Scott DuBois' WINTER LIGHT **** (4 Stars/Excellent)
“Guitarist Scott DuBois shapes an astonishing variety of sounds on Winter Light, an album that changes as starkly as the atmosphere it conjures…he’s startling and full-bodied, even rhapsodic…a joyous mini-symphony unto itself.”
- DownBeat Magazine, Carlo Wolff, March 2016 :: read full review here
Scott DuBois' WINTER LIGHT
“It is fascinating listening to the musicians approximating changes in weather and light and the character of different landscapes. DuBois’ dramatic compositions are spellbinding and the playing…is virtuosic and exciting.”
- Santa Fe New Mexican, Paul Weideman, February 12, 2016 :: read full review here
Scott DuBois' WINTER LIGHT
“…as wondrous, chilling, atmospheric, and powerful as can be.”
- All About Jazz, Dan Bilawsky, January 2016 :: read full review here
Scott DuBois' WINTER LIGHT
Album of the Year (2015)
- New York City Jazz Record, January 2016
Scott DuBois' WINTER LIGHT
“With his composing pen, leadership and guitar, Scott DuBois has painted a Monet.”
- Something Else!, S. Victor Aaron, December 2015 :: read full review here
Scott DuBois' WINTER LIGHT
One of ten albums of 2015 to track down.
- Los Angeles Times, Chris Barton, December 2015
Scott DuBois' WINTER LIGHT
“Scott DuBois has been redefining the art of expertly crafted music…absolutely brilliant.”
- AXS.com, Paula Edelstein, November 2015 :: read full review here
Scott DuBois' WINTER LIGHT
“…blown away…The magic, the sublime suspense starts right at the beginning, from the first note…mesmerizing…Without a doubt, one the best discs to be released this year.”
- Downtown Music Gallery, Bruce Lee Gallanter, November 2015
Scott DuBois' WINTER LIGHT
“Scott DuBois’s ‘Winter Light’ turns colors & light to sound…DuBois hears colors…There are colors seeping through the darkness…It’s the color of dawn peeking over the horizon…the color of slanting shards of sunlight as it permeates through the trees…”
- Classicalite, Mike Greenblatt, November 13, 2015 :: read full review here
Scott DuBois' LANDSCAPE SCRIPTURE named one of the “Top 10 Jazz Albums of 2012″ by NPR
- National Public Radio, Patrick Jarenwattananon, December 2012 :: read article here
“LANDSCAPE SCRIPTURE is a brilliant work of art that touches the soul.”
- JazzTimes, Steve Greenlee, May 2012
“Guitarist Scott DuBois has taken a masterly turn with LANDSCAPE SCRIPTURE…Using aural dynamics to depict the visual aspect of light falling on inner ear, DuBois creates gorgeous meditations in both earthy tones and heavenly hues.”
- All About Jazz, Raul D’Gama Rose, May 2012 :: read full review here
Scott DuBois' LANDSCAPE SCRIPTURE
“Like impressionist painter Claude Monet, whose series of canvases treating haystacks was a direct inspiration for this recording, DuBois too is a master of tone and texture, using broad strokes and subtle shadings to evoke cycles of sound and nuances of structure…soothing and surging, introspective yet extroverted, aggressively graceful.”
- New York City Jazz Record, Tom Greenland, May 2012
Scott DuBois' LANDSCAPE SCRIPTURE
“…riveting”
- Free Jazz Blog, May 2012
Scott DuBois' LANDSCAPE SCRIPTURE
“This is an album of massive scope. It is a hornets nest of mixed metaphors…Powerful stuff…an astounding album. DuBois tapped into a vein of epic artistic expression…”
- Birdistheworm, April 2012 :: read full review here
“…Scott DuBois approaches the jazz guitar very much in a Debussy fashion…LANDSCAPE SCRIPTURE is a for-all-seasons diamond that dazzles in how it takes a dated form of Romanticism, applies it to a battle-weary genre like jazz, and creates something reassuringly new.”
- PopMatters, John Garratt, 10 April 2012
“Scott DuBois is one of Downtown’s most exciting, adventurous and creative jazz guitarists to come down the pike in years.”
- Downtown Music Gallery, Bruce L. Gallanter, March 2012
Scott DuBois' LANDSCAPE SCRIPTURE
“Capturing subtleties in lighting, temperature and texture, DuBois’ aural interpretations of Monet’s varied canvases convey the rising potential of spring, the celebratory warmth of summer, the wistful melancholy of autumn and the meditative calm of winter, in all their multihued glory…a brilliant transposition of another artist’s visualizations into pure sound.”
- All About Jazz, Troy Collins, March 2012 :: read full review here
Scott DuBois' BLACK HAWK DANCE ***** (5 out of 5 stars)
“Wonderful, evocative album…every track on this album in a profound delight”
- DownBeat Magazine, Paul de Barros, May 2010
“There is a deep, questioning spirituality that pervades the music of Scott DuBois. On BLACK HAWK DANCE, his second Sunnyside release, the music becomes a kind of ancient/modern ritual that reaches outward and upward to seemingly attain—as Don Cherry once did—complete communion with the Divine.”
- All About Jazz, Raul D’Gama Rose, March 2010 :: read full review here
“DuBois and company balance episodes of bristling furor with mellifluous lyricism, exuding a dynamic emotional resonance…DuBois’ multifaceted compositions pivot between freedom and form with graceful alacrity, embracing moods that veer from wistful to acerbic. Such expansiveness is paralleled by his incisive virtuosity, a breathtaking technique…DuBois’ quartet infuses this session with a muscular tunefulness that balances ferocity with tenderness. Both cathartic and uplifting, BLACK HAWK DANCE is a stellar record…”
- Point of Departure, Troy Collins, April 2010
“On his fourth album, BLACK HAWK DANCE, Scott DuBois, a New York guitarist who favors a clean, modern approach, makes even the most abstract gestures pleasing…hazy and precise, complicated and tuneful…lovely.”
- JazzTimes, Brent Burton, April 2010
“This album (BLACK HAWK DANCE) certainly is his breakthrough…a lot of work, passion, and craftsmanship have gone into this…pickup this unique recording and you’ll be rewarded by its intelligence and depth of spirit.”
- All Music, Michael G. Santos, March 2010
“Unpredictable and compelling…sparks fly.”
- JazzTimes, Mike Shanley, December 2008 :: read full review here
“Music as fluid and intriguing as a Dalí painting…”
- All About Jazz New York, Terrell Holmes, October 2008
“Scott DuBois is not your run-of-the-mill jazz guitarist. His thorny, diffuse, quick, hard-edged style is not reflective of any contemporary peer…a highly developed sense of harmonic acumen, a lithe and sinewy athletic tautness, and a brave attitude to play differently.”
- All Music Guide, Michael G. Nastos, July 2008
“DuBois walks a line between abstraction and lyricism…”
- The New York Times, Nate Chinen, June 2008
“DuBois’ music is highly emotional with an undertone of controlled intensity and intellect.”
- AllAboutJazz, Budd Koppman, June 2008
“DuBois favors an asymmetrical approach, navigating oblique intervals with a nimbleness that would make Eric Dolphy proud…” Banshees is as hair-raising as the title suggests.”
- AllAboutJazz, Troy Collins, June 2008 :: read full review here
“Modern jazz guitar great, Scott DuBois, is one of the finest guitarists to emerge from the downtown scene…”
- Downtown Music Gallery, Bruce L. Gallanter, May 2008
“Scott DuBois is one of the best and most adventurous guitarists in New York.”
- Downtown Music Gallery, Bruce L. Gallanter, September 2007
“Exceptional…His extended lines bring to mind a combination of Joe Morris, Pat Martino, and a pit bull…faultless, a perfect gem.”
- Cadence Magazine, Charles Winokoor, July 2007
“Superb…again he triumphs with his spirited playing, diverse writing, and arranging…mysterious aura.”
- Downtown Music Gallery, Bruce L. Gallanter, June 2007 (Monsoon on DMG Best of 2005 List)
“Captivating “experimental” music…for the more meditative thinker…fascinatingly erudite…”
- AllAboutJazz New York, Ivana NG, June 2007 :: read full review here
“DuBois favors a nervy flat-out attack; he relishes lots of notes and snug compartments of rhythm and line.”
- DownBeat Magazine, Greg Buium, June 2007
“Fascinating…DuBois spins through tight orbits, unravels knots and creates brooding atmospheres on electric and acoustic guitars…Eastern or even Native American ideas, as they coalesce from low, processional rhythms to complex harmonics and concentrated intensity.”
- JazzTimes, Forest Dylan Bryant, June 2007 :: read full review here
“(Scott DuBois) has begun to make waves…exploratory yet melodic sensibilities, serious compositional ambitions…cohesive looseness against complex subtleties…”
- The New York Times, Nate Chinen, September 2005
“Scott DuBois’ Monsoon (Soul Note) is just the sort of album you’d expect to find saxophonist David Liebman showing up on. His expressive and spiritual sound fits right into this earthy set of DuBois originals that often comes off like a late-’60s Pharoah Sanders LP… it’s dramatic music on the whole and a must-hear for those seeking the mystical sound.”
- JazzTimes, Russell Carlson, March 2005
“There has always been talk about the state of jazz—where is it going and so on. Hearing Scott’s music, I am sure the listener will feel the positive vibrations and conviction which is so obvious and a source of comfort when one thinks about the future of jazz. I can hardly imagine where Scott will be artistically in a few years. I look forward to that with great anticipation.”
- David Liebman
“DuBois is a nimble, rapidfire guitarist, but he´s also a patient player, given to long silences: he waits like a hungry robin, head cocked, searching for the right moment to strike.”
- Cadence Magazine, Nate Dorward, March 2005
“DuBois cutting across the music elegantly, like flashes of light… I like DuBois’ habit of firing lines off like darts then waiting & listening quite some time before he essays another one.”
- JazzCorner.com, Nate Dorward, December 2004
“DuBois’s electric guitar sounds like a piano, stretching the tempo with well-placed pauses and timely fills and compressing time with effusive runs…When DuBois is unplugged, the fuses threaten to blow…Strumming, plucking and pulling strings as if he were rearranging them on the neck of his instrument…classical virtuosity…These originals favor group work that thrives on close listening and the youthful energy or players who have come up together…DuBois’ tunes favor the upper end of the scale and intensify air that’s already crackling with seriousness.”
- AllAboutJazz New York, Jeff Stockton, December 2004