News:
28-11-2008:
Scott Jones in flowing form... and on myspace: http://www.myspace.com/sjonesmusic
Scott Jones: stormy solo
19-05-2007:
A message from Scott Jones:
Finally, an answer/diagnosis for my hand issues. It turns out that my hand issues are not spine related, though my cervical spine is pretty racked with cervical arthritis. I saw my neurologist today, and he brought in a specialist. They watched me play my guitar for a few minutes, and the specialist asked me a list of questions.
It turns out that they have diagnosed me with Musician's Focal Dystonia. It originates in a part of my brain called the Basal Ganglia. Below are some quotes from a medical paper on it that describes perfectly, exactly what I've been dealing with since the end of 2004, when I was practicing intensley, and had played bass on several weeks of gigs, just before the problems started with weird problems with my ring and small finger:
"The dystonias are movement disorders in which sustained muscle contractions cause twisting and abnormal postures. All movement disorders stem from disturbance of basal ganglia or their connections.
In focal hand dystonia, abnormal movements are initiated by an attempt to carry out a specific motor skill within a particular context, which it is not explained by diminished practice efforts and it cannot be circumvented by any masking strategy.
Focal dystonia is more common than generalized dystonia. Its prevalence rate was 24 per million per year. Musicians are affected in a proportion of 1/500, much more than in other professions requiring skilled hand movements, as watchmakers, dentists and surgeons. 165 cases of focal dystonia was reported in 1320 musicians between 1992 and 1999.
Occurs mostly in men between the ages of 20 to 50 years. Onset is generally gradually progressive. Regardless of the pain, not uncommonly, the patient keeps working. Eventually the pain resolves, but the problem persists. History of ulnar neuropathy predisposing dystonia of the ring and small finger has been reported.
Symptoms frequently start with holding the instrument but become exaggerated when playing begins. Adverse biomechanics, particularly inflexibility of the hand, constitute an important predisposing factor.
Musicians are almost always very talented and ambitious people. They also tend to be somewhat fanatic in their work habits. During the period when the problem begins, they are usually in a particular hurry or working unusually hard. In some musicians, the burst of activity comes because a critical point in their career has been reached, and intense technical work has been undertaken to break through to a higher level. Occasionally, a musician starts a program with the goal of overcome a particular problem that has a long history and is definitely stubborn. The problem can start after changing to a new instrument, when loss of finger control can start abruptly. When the new instrument is abandoned, the musician finds out he can no longer play the old instrument either. The side affected depends more on the instrument than the dominant hand.
The disobedient fingers most often implicated are the two ulnar digits. It seems that these two fingers are not designed for the prolonged, rapid, highly complex movements demanded in musical performance.
Diagnosis is mainly based on history and physical examination. It is important to watch the patient performing their tasks, i.e., musicians playing their instruments. Occasionally, when the symptoms are mild, the diagnosis can be extremely difficult to make.
Current therapeutic options for dystonia include botulinum toxin injections, oral medication, chemodenervation, peripheral nerve or muscle surgery, and brain neurosurgical procedures. Oral medications are most useful in generalized, hemi-, segmental and severe cervical dystonia.
Focal dystonia in musicians is difficult to treat, but physical therapy and sensory retraining can yield good results.
In order to treat patients with refractory conservative treatment for focal hand dystonia, stereotactic thalamotomy was performed in eight patients, including a guitarist. The target was chosen at the junction of anterior and posterior ventrooralis nuclei. All patients showed immediate postoperative disappearance of dystonic symptoms. The effect was sustained during the follow up period, which ranged from 3 to 29 months, except in one case. One patient showed partial recurrence of the symptom and underwent second thalamotomy 5 months after the initial surgery with satisfactory results."
Pretty much word for word, what I've been going through. Especially the summer of 2004 with the overpracticing of guitar and bass gigs.
The neurologist prescribed a Parkinson's medication that can balance 2 chemicals that relate to the motor malfunction.
What an odd journey this has been.
Also, he did an MRI of my brain, a spinal tap and a mylogram. My MRI showed curious white spots that he wants to investigate further for MS. My spinal tap show non-specific markers for massive inflammation. The mylogram revealed that the issues with my cervical arthritis are not the cause of my hand issues.
At least with this diagnosis, I can begin the process of trying to treat it, whatever that means.
Anyway, though Id keep you updated.
Peace,
Scott
27-02-2007:
Scott Jones will be live:
Mar 14 2007 8:00P Ameristar Casino-VICKSBURG MS Vicksburg, Mississippi
Mar 15 2007 7:00P Ameristar Casino-VICKSBURG MS Vicksburg, Mississippi
Mar 16 2007 11:30P Ameristar Casino-VICKSBURG MS Vicksburg, Mississippi
Mar 17 2007 11:30P Ameristar Casino-VICKSBURG MS Vicksburg, Mississippi
Mar 18 2007 7:00P Ameristar Casino-VICKSBURG MS Vicksburg, Mississippi
19-01-2007:
A live clip from 2003
13-07-2006:
Scott Jones is still recovering from surgery on his retting hand to relieve pressure from a nodule on a tendon, He will soon be undergoing treatment for a nerve problem in his Cervical Spine. It will consist of an epidural injection into his spine, under X-Ray, of a steriod to reduce inflammation around nerve roots that have been impinged by bone spurs. This problem may have contributed to the tendon problem in his hand, but certainly has affected motor function outside of the tendon issue.
Scotts Jones next release Convergence, is still set for release in 2007, and features Virgil Donati, Rufus Philpot, Steve Weingart, Gary Willis, Scott Lerner, Scott Henderson, Brett Garsed, Chris Poland, Guthrie Govan, RonThal and Greg Howe. We wish him luck in his recovery.
03-12-2005:
An update from Scott Jones who has been experiencing loss of mobility in his left hand. He has had a bone and MRI scan, but this has not shown anything. The result is he can play to only about 30% of his normal playing ability. As a consequence he has put his CD on hold. We wish him luck with recovery from this condition.
22-05-2005:
Guitar Player magazine has launched "Guitar Hero". Scott applied and got the call on April 28th 2005, from the Managing Editor and Chief, saying that they were blown away by his track and he's made the FINAL 10! They will fly Scott to Cleveland June 10-12 to perform one song in front of judges Steve Lukather, Joe Satriani and others. Lets wish Scott the best of luck.
27-02-2005:
The musicians are confirmed for Scotts' next CD, "Convergence". They are: Steve Weingart, Virgil Donati and Rufus Philpot. The release date is to be confirmed but hopefully summer 2005 followed by a supporting tour.
Background:
Scott Jones is a professional musician who has the uncommon ability to play many musical styles from fusion, jazz, pop, progressive to blues. His ability derives from his personal musical philosophy that a player needs to have a broad musical ear as possible without losing sight personal musical direction...He says "Listen to everything".
To that end he has an extended list of musical influence running the gamut of pop to jazz. These include Scott Henderson, Pat Metheny, Chick Corea, The Yellow Jackets, Lost Tribe, Allan Holdsworth, John Scofield, Mike Brecker, Mike Stern, Dave Liebman, Ralph Towner, John Coltrane, Pat Martino, John Williams,Béla Bartók,Alban Berg, Sergei Prokofiev, Claude Debussy, Maurice Ravel, Igor Stravinsky, Jerry Goldsmith, Frank Zappa, Steve Vai, Chris Poland, Brett Garsed, Adam Rogers, Planet X, Eric Johnson, Jimi Hendrix, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Michael Landau, Steve Lukather and Sting.
His first CD "Freedom" was originally released on the recently defunct Gnarly Geezer Records. He switched labels to Progressive Arts Music, and has re-released the CD which includes three new bonus tracks and improved guitar mix. The CD also includes about 80 minutes of bonus mp3s in CD-ROM format, and 3 live video clips. He is currently working on a follow-up release
You can also check out Essential Guitarist's excellent interview and CD review. You can also check out his playing on the Progressive Arts Music web site on video (large AVI) or the videos from Scott Jones official web site. You can also check out his informative discussion board.
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