John Schott, a guitarist, graduated from Seattle’s Cornish College of the Arts in 1988 with a degree of composition. He had previously studied with Gary Peacock, Jerry Granelli, and Jerry Granelli. He was the musical director of a Shakespearean production and worked with a choreographer to create a dance performance. Schott relocated to Berkeley, CA in 1989. He co-founded Planet Good, which released their own album Prozac Holiday. They became a well-known band in the Bay Area. Schott is still based in that area and collaborates regularly with other talented musicians like Ben Goldberg, clarinetist. The NEA funded a series in 1994 of Schott-Goldberg concerts, which featured music by Herbie Nichols. They also formed Junk Genius, which featured drummer Kenny Wolleson and bassist Trevor Dunn. The band had a self-titled album on Knitting Factory (1994), as well as Ghost of Electricity (1999) on Songlines. Schott also plays in a part-time band with Charlie Hunter called T.J. Kirk. Their second album, “In These Great Times”, received a Grammy nomination in 1997. Schott appears on many Tzadik labels’ releases. This includes his own date as leader, In These Great Times, with texts by Kafka and Karl Kraus and Jacob Glatshteyn, sung in Hebrew and German respectively. Also, the 1998 trio recording, What Comes Before, which was recorded with Goldberg and Michael Sarin. John Schott led Ensemble Diglossia at the close of 1990s, with his 11-piece band that included Rova’s Steve Adams as well as William Winant as percussionists. Allmusic
