Scott van Gemert is a 23-year-old trombonist, pianist, composer and band-leader based in Melbourne, Australia.
He graduated with Honours from the James Morrison Academy of Music in Mount Gambier (SA) in 2018, where he studied with the likes of Wycliffe Gordon (US), Mat Jodrell and James himself. During his time at JMA he performed at international venues including Dizzy’s Jazz Club (NY) and the Green Mill Jazz Club (Chicago), and participated in an exchange program to study at the Julliard School (NY) and the Herbie Hancock Institute of Jazz (LA).
Scott currently leads a number of groups including the SvG Big Band, SvG 8tet and Unbroken Trio - who released their debut album ‘SPARK’ in April, 2020. He has performed with the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra, Daryl McKenzie Jazz Orchestra and the Horns of Leroy, as well as other Australian jazz legends such as Andrea Keller and Julien Wilson. He also played lead trombone on the ARIA-nominated album ‘James Morrison with his Academy Jazz Orchestra’.
A noted composer and arranger, Scott has written works for the Australian Youth Orchestra, ATM15 Big Band and was the Composer-In-Residence for the West Australian Youth Jazz Orchestra in 2019. In 2017 he was also chosen as a winner of the national Artology Fanfare Competition. For the Generations in Jazz Festival in 2016, Scott was commissioned to write for a double big band featuring the University of North Texas One O'Clock Lab Band and the JMA Jazz Orchestra together with guest soloists Wycliffe Gordon, Troy Roberts, Ross Irwin and James Morrison. In the following year his arrangement of '(Back Home Again in) Indiana' was selected as the Division 1 Set Piece for the festival.