Keyboardist, composer and producer Scott Kinsey has spent his career expanding the vocabulary of electric jazz. Known for a highly individual approach to synthesis, improvisation and rhythm, Kinsey has built a body of work that connects the lineage of Weather Report and Joe Zawinul with contemporary jazz, electronic music, funk, rock and music from around the world.

His latest album, Thought Distortions, brings those elements together in some of his most personal music to date. Featuring an international cast including Tim Lefebvre, Gary Novak, Gergo Borlai, Hadrien Feraud, Arto Tunçboyaciyan, Pedro Martins, Scott Henderson, Michael Landau, Justin Brown, Francisco Fattoruso and vocalist Mer Sal, the record places Kinsey firmly at the center of the music as composer, keyboardist and producer.

Rather than looking backward at fusion, Kinsey continues to treat electric jazz as an evolving language — built around improvisation, sound design, rhythmic interaction and the personalities of the musicians involved.

That philosophy also drives The Kinsey Sessions, his ongoing live series at Los Angeles' legendary Baked Potato, where changing configurations of leading improvisers meet with minimal rehearsal and maximum musical freedom. Recent Kinsey Sessions lineups have included musicians such as Danny Carey, Seamus Blake, Tim Lefebvre, Gary Novak, Kirk Covington, Hadrien Feraud, Justin Brown, Andrew Renfroe, Francisco Fattoruso, Travis Carlton and Mer Sal.

FROM TRIBAL TECH FORWARD

Kinsey emerged internationally in the early 1990s as a member of the influential electric jazz group Tribal Tech, alongside guitarist Scott Henderson, bassist Gary Willis and drummer Kirk Covington.

During his 21-year association with the band, Kinsey became an essential part of its most enduring lineup, appearing on six albums and touring internationally. His work with Tribal Tech established many of the characteristics that continue to define his playing: aggressive improvisation, sophisticated harmony, deep rhythmic vocabulary and an unusually expressive approach to synthesizers.

The group's final studio album, X, was released in 2012.

During and after Tribal Tech, Kinsey developed an extensive career as a sideman, producer and collaborator, working with musicians including Joe Zawinul, John McLaughlin, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Jimmy Herring, Michael Landau, Robben Ford, Lalah Hathaway, Philip Bailey, John Scofield, Peter Erskine, Dennis Chambers, Vinnie Colaiuta, Gary Novak, Tim Lefebvre, Hadrien Feraud, Gergo Borlai, Matthew Garrison, Jimmy Haslip, Danny Carey and many others.

JOE ZAWINUL

A particularly important musical relationship developed between Kinsey and legendary Weather Report co-founder Joe Zawinul.

Kinsey became Zawinul's protégé and eventually a trusted musical collaborator, producing Zawinul's 2002 album Faces & Places. Their relationship continued until Zawinul's death in 2007 and had a lasting influence on Kinsey's conception of synthesizers, composition and spontaneous ensemble interaction.

But Kinsey's connection to Zawinul has increasingly served as a point of departure rather than a destination.

On We Speak Luniwaz (2019), Kinsey radically reimagined compositions associated with Weather Report and the Zawinul Syndicate alongside Hadrien Feraud, Gergo Borlai and Katisse Buckingham, supplemented by original material and guests.

Peter Erskine said of the recording:

“Scott Kinsey’s band plays the daylights out of these tunes. This album deserves your attention.”

Kinsey returned to that repertoire with Luniwaz LIVE (2024), recorded at Jazz Dock in Prague with Patrick Bartley Jr., Hadrien Feraud and Gergo Borlai.

Scott Henderson described the band:

“Lots of interplay, incredibly creative grooves, otherworldly sounds and masterful improvisation… this band has it all.”

AN INDEPENDENT MUSICAL LANGUAGE

Kinsey's own recorded catalog began with Kinesthetics, followed by Near Life Experience (2016), an expansive recording featuring Seamus Blake, Michael Landau, Tim Lefebvre, Lalah Hathaway and others.

His work with Human Element brought together Kinsey, bassist Matthew Garrison, drummer Gary Novak and Armenian percussionist/vocalist Arto Tunçboyaciyan. The quartet debuted at the New Universe Music Festival and released its self-titled album in 2011, followed by You Are In You in 2018.

Kinsey subsequently formed ARC Trio with former Yellowjackets bassist Jimmy Haslip and Hungarian drummer Gergo Borlai. Their self-titled 2018 recording featured guests including Vinnie Colaiuta, Gary Novak, Steve Tavaglione and Judd Miller.

The trio later joined the GRAMMY-winning John Daversa Big Band for ARCeology: The Music of MSM Schmidt(2022), combining Kinsey's electronic and improvisational vocabulary with large-ensemble writing.

Kinsey's collaboration with vocalist Mer Sal opened another dimension of his music. Their 2021 album Adjustmentsintegrated songwriting, vocals and electronic production with the improvisational language that has characterized his instrumental work.

These projects ultimately feed into Thought Distortions — a record that draws on Kinsey's history without being defined by it.

SELECTED DISCOGRAPHY

Scott Kinsey — Thought Distortions
Kinsey's newest studio album and one of his most personal statements as composer, keyboardist and producer, featuring an international cast of leading improvisers.

Scott Kinsey — Luniwaz LIVE (2024)
Recorded live at Jazz Dock in Prague with Patrick Bartley Jr., Hadrien Feraud and Gergo Borlai.

ARC Trio & John Daversa Big Band — ARCeology: The Music of MSM Schmidt (2022)
ARC Trio joins the GRAMMY-winning John Daversa Big Band for a large-scale collision of electric jazz and contemporary big-band writing.

Scott Kinsey & Mer Sal — Adjustments (2021)
A collaboration integrating Sal's vocals and songwriting with Kinsey's production, composition and instrumental language.

Scott Kinsey — We Speak Luniwaz (2019)
A highly personal reconstruction of music associated with Joe Zawinul and Weather Report alongside original compositions.

Kurt Rosenwinkel & Scott Kinsey — Do It 1992 (2019)
Do It 1992 captures Scott Kinsey and Kurt Rosenwinkel at the beginning of their artistic lives, already pushing beyond the boundaries of jazz into funk, electronics, improvisation and sonic experimentation. Recorded by two young musicians discovering their voices in real time, it sounds less like an artifact of 1992 than a glimpse of where modern jazz was heading.

Ego Mondo — End of Daze (2019)
Featuring Kinsey with Tim Lefebvre, Gary Novak, Kokayi and guests.

ARC Trio — ARC Trio (2018)
Kinsey, Jimmy Haslip and Gergo Borlai with guests including Vinnie Colaiuta, Gary Novak and Steve Tavaglione.

Human Element — You Are In You (2018)
Kinsey, Matthew Garrison, Gary Novak and Arto Tunçboyaciyan continuing the group's hybrid of jazz, electronics and global improvisational traditions.

Scott Kinsey — Near Life Experience (2016)
Featuring Seamus Blake, Michael Landau, Tim Lefebvre, Lalah Hathaway and others.

Human Element — Human Element (2011)

Scott Kinsey — Kinesthetics (2006/2007)

SELECTED PRODUCTION CREDITS

Joe Zawinul — Faces & Places
The Manhattan Transfer — The Chick Corea Songbook
Tim Hagans — Imagination: Animation and Re-Animation
Tribal Tech — X, Reality Check, Thick, Rocket Science
Gary Willis — Bent, Larger Than Life
Philip Bailey — Soul on Jazz
James Moody — Homage

Kinsey's work extends beyond performance and composition into production, mixing and mastering.

FILM & SOUNDTRACK WORK

Kinsey's recording and performance credits also extend into film, including:

Ocean's Eleven • Ocean's Twelve • Ocean's Thirteen • Code 46 • Stander • Confessions of a Dangerous Mind • The Girlfriend Experience • Smokin' Aces • Brown Sugar • Analyze That • Haywire • Let's Go to Prison

SELECTED ARTISTS & COLLABORATORS

Joe Zawinul • Scott Henderson • Gary Willis • Kurt Rosenwinkel • John McLaughlin • John Scofield • Michael Landau • Jimmy Herring • Robben Ford • Peter Erskine • Dennis Chambers • Vinnie Colaiuta • Gary Novak • Matthew Garrison • Tim Lefebvre • Hadrien Feraud • Gergo Borlai • Jimmy Haslip • Seamus Blake • Lalah Hathaway • Philip Bailey • Danny Carey • Louis Cole • Patrick Bartley Jr. • Arto Tunçboyaciyan • John Daversa • Mike Stern • Wayne Krantz • Oz Noy • Steve Tavaglione • Jimmy Earl • Ranjit Barot • Nate Smith • Mer Sal • Francisco Fattoruso • Andrew Renfroe • and many others.

THE KINSEY SESSIONS

Kinsey maintains a monthly residency at Los Angeles' legendary Baked Potato, where The Kinsey Sessions serves as a laboratory for the spontaneous, collaborative philosophy at the heart of his music.

Rather than functioning as a fixed band, each edition brings together a different combination of musicians, repertoire and improvisational possibilities — ranging from Kinsey's original compositions to radically reconstructed material drawn from jazz, rock and beyond.

The result is an evolving document of Kinsey's musical world: composition and improvisation, acoustic virtuosity and electronics, deep musical history and an insistence on finding something new in the moment.

With Thought Distortions and the continuing evolution of The Kinsey Sessions, Kinsey's focus remains where it has always been — not on preserving electric jazz as a historical style, but on discovering what it can become next.