Scott Trayer
Scott Trayer grew up in the small rural town of Stuarts Draft, Virginia.
His father bought him a bass guitar at the age of eight, and he got started
on the double bass as a freshman in high school. Scott attended James
Madison University after high school, majoring in music education and
studying classical music. During his sophomore year at JMU an interest in
jazz began to grow, and a few months later he packed everything he owned
into a 1986 Chevrolet Cavalier station wagon and set out to study in the
prestigious jazz program at the University of North Texas. While at North
Texas Scott studied with renowned double bass teachers Jeff Bradetich, Lynn
Seaton and Todd Markey. He also gained valuable experience in big band and
small group playing, as well as marathon running (he completed three full
26.2 mile marathons while in Texas). Scott earned his BM degree in jazz
performance in 2000 and then moved to Richmond, Virginia where a busy
performance schedule and a position teaching double bass at Longwood
University kept him busy. Acceptance into graduate school at Manhattan
School of Music in 2001 brought Scott to New York City. While at MSM he
studied with bassist Jay Anderson, arranger Michael Abene and Grammy Award
winning jazz historian and researcher Phil Schaap. In June of 2002 Scott
accepted a job with Carnival Cruise Lines. During his three years with
Carnival, Scott played with jazz trios and show bands on many different
ships sailing all over the world. Scott left the cruise industry in 2005 to
accept an offer for a Teaching Assistantship from the University of New
Orleans. Scott has performed with John D'earth, Dave Larue, Royce Campbell,
Hod O'brien, Glenn Wilson and Tony Martucci.
Link to Scott at http://www.scotttrayer.com is
Scott's page