Scott Healy is an American

pianist A pianist ( , ) is a musician who plays the piano. A pianist's repertoire may include music from a diverse variety of styles, such as traditional classical music, jazz piano, jazz, blues piano, blues, and popular music, including rock music, ...

, keyboardist and

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and def ...

best known as the

keyboardist A keyboardist or keyboard player is a musician who plays keyboard instruments. Until the early 1960s musicians who played keyboards were generally classified as either pianists or organists. Since the mid-1960s, a plethora of new musical instru ...

for Conan O'Brien. He was the keyboard player for the Jimmy Vivino and the Basic Cable Band on '' Conan'' on TBS. His association with O'Brien dates back to the original ''

Late Night with Conan O'Brien ''Late Night with Conan O'Brien'' is an American television talk show broadcast by NBC. The show is the second installment of the ''Late Night (franchise), Late Night'' franchise originally established by David Letterman. Hosted by Conan O'Brie ...

'' show in 1993, and the subsequent '' The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien''. He was nominated for a

Grammy The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious a ...

for '

Best Instrumental Composition The Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Composition (including its previous names) has been awarded since 1960. The award is presented to the composer of an original piece of music (not an adaptation), first released during the eligibility year. I ...

' for 'Koko On The Boulevard'

Early life

Healy was raised in

Cleveland, Ohio Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County, Ohio, Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–United States border, Canada–U.S. maritime border ...

and is an alumnus of Hawken School. As a teenager Healy studied with the renowned piano teacher James Tannenbaum at The Cleveland Institute of Music. Following this, Healy attended the

Eastman School of Music The Eastman School of Music is the music school of the University of Rochester, a private research university in Rochester, New York, United States. Established in 1921 by celebrated industrialist and philanthropist George Eastman, it was the ...

where he graduated with a degree in

composition Composition or Compositions may refer to: Arts and literature *Composition (dance), practice and teaching of choreography * Composition (language), in literature and rhetoric, producing a work in spoken tradition and written discourse, to include ...

and piano. While there he studied with Samuel Adler,

Joseph Schwantner Joseph Clyde Schwantner (born March 22, 1943) is an American composer, educator and a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters since 2002. He was awarded the 1970 Charles Ives Prize. Schwantner is prolific, with many works to his cred ...

Rayburn Wright Rayburn Wright (27 August 1922 – 21 March 1990) was an American trombonist, composer, arranger and conductor, and professor of jazz studies and contemporary media at the Eastman School of Music, University of Rochester The University of ...

and

Warren Benson Warren Frank Benson (January 26, 1924 – October 6, 2005) was an American composer. His compositions consist mostly of music for wind instruments and percussion. His most notable piece is titled ''The Leaves Are Falling'' (1964). Biography Benso ...

Career

Healy is active on both coasts as a jazz and rock keyboardist, a session pianist, organist and accordionist, and a composer, arranger and producer. His performing and recording credits include many of the greats in rock,

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...

, R&B and

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

, including

Bruce Springsteen Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen (born September 23, 1949) is an American Rock music, rock singer, songwriter, and guitarist. Nicknamed "the Boss", Springsteen has released 21 studio albums spanning six decades; most of his albums feature th ...

Bonnie Raitt Bonnie Lynn Raitt (; born November 8, 1949) is an American singer, guitarist, and songwriter. In 1971, Raitt released her Bonnie Raitt (album), self-titled debut album. Following this, she released a series of critically acclaimed Americana (mu ...

Al Green Albert Leornes Greene (born April 13, 1946), known professionally as Al Green, is an American singer, songwriter, pastor and record producer. He is best known for recording a series of soul hit singles in the early 1970s, including " Tired of ...

, B. B. King,

Jackson Browne Clyde Jackson Browne (born October 9, 1948) is an American rock musician, singer, songwriter, and political activist who has sold over 30 million albums in the United States. Emerging as a teenage songwriter in mid-1960s Los Angeles, he had his ...

Levon Helm Mark Lavon "Levon" Helm (May 26, 1940 – April 19, 2012) was an American musician who achieved fame as the drummer and one of the three lead vocalists for The Band, for which he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994. Hel ...

, Son Seals, Hubert Sumlin,

Max Weinberg Max Weinberg (born April 13, 1951) is an American drummer and television personality, most widely known as the longtime drummer for Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band and as the bandleader for Conan O'Brien on ''Late Night with Conan O'Brien'' an ...

, Branford Marsalis, and

Tony Bennett Anthony Dominick Benedetto (August 3, 1926 – July 21, 2023), known professionally as Tony Bennett, was an American jazz and traditional pop singer. He received many accolades, including 20 Grammy Awards, a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, ...

. Healy also scores feature films, produces records, and leads his ten-piece jazz group, The Scott Healy Ensemble, and various contemporary music composing projects and commissions. His composing and arranging credits include the Portland Maine Symphony Orchestra, the Aspen Contemporary Ensemble, and the Mel Lewis Orchestra, as well as recording artists

Ricky Martin Enrique Martin Morales (born December 24, 1971), known professionally as Ricky Martin, is a Puerto Rican singer, songwriter and actor. He is known for his musical versatility, with his Ricky Martin albums discography, discography incorporati ...

and

Christina Aguilera Christina María Aguilera ( , ; born December 18, 1980) is an American singer-songwriter, actress and television personality. Recognized as Cultural impact of Christina Aguilera, an influential figure in music and having received Public imag ...

. In 2012, Healy, in conjunction with guitarist Glenn Alexander, released their album Northern Light as the Scott Healy-Glenn Alexander Quartet, a project the pair started in 1991. Alexander attributed the renewed enthusiasm for finishing the album to positive reception from students in his class at

Sarah Lawrence College Sarah Lawrence College (SLC) is a Private university, private liberal arts college in Yonkers, New York, United States. Founded as a Women's colleges in the United States, women's college in 1926, Sarah Lawrence College has been coeducational ...

. In early 2013 he released his second large ensemble record, ''Hudson City Suite'' by The Scott Healy Ensemble, which features Tim Hagans on trumpet, Scott on piano, and an eleven-piece ensemble. His monthly column, "Session Sensei" appeared in Keyboard Magazine for over five years and provided real world advice on performing, studio work, the music business and professional life in general. In addition he wrote many feature articles on artists and bands, as well as lessons on rock, jazz and blues piano and organ for Keyboard. His jazz composition blog, professorscosco, deals with advanced topics in music theory, arranging and orchestration. In the 1980s he taught at the

New School for Social Research The New School for Social Research (NSSR), previously known as The University in Exile and The New School University, is a graduate-level educational division of The New School in New York City, United States. NSSR enrolls more than 1,000 stud ...

in New York City, and was an associate professor at Sarah Lawrence College in Bronxville, NY from 1990 through 2001.

Recognition

He was nominated for a

for '

' for 'Koko On The Boulevard'. He has received awards from BMI, The National Endowment for the Arts, and the "Distinguished Artist" award from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts.

References

External links

Scott Healy WebsiteRecordings and Reviews
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Healy, Scott Year of birth missing (living people) Living people The Max Weinberg 7 members Eastman School of Music alumni Musicians from Cleveland Sarah Lawrence College faculty Jimmy Vivino and the Basic Cable Band members American jazz pianists American male jazz pianists Hawken School alumni The Tonight Show Band members