Jim Scully is a composer, performer and educator in the fields of contemporary classical music, electroacoustic music and jazz studies. He has been contributing his diverse talents to the music scene in Bakersfield, California for over 20 years.
Scully holds degrees in music from CSU Bakersfield (B.A. in Music) and (M.F.A. in Music) and has taught music at the collegiate level at Bakersfield College, UC Irvine and now, CSU Bakersfield. He has served as Director of the Bakersfield College Jazz Ensemble and Director of the UC Irvine Community Jazz Ensemble. Currently, he is a full-time member of the CSU Bakersfield music faculty where he teaches an array of courses in the fields of Music Theory, Jazz Studies and Music Technology and serves as Founding Director of the CSUB Guitar Ensemble, Director of Small Jazz Ensembles, Director of the CSUB Music Lab and Assistant Director of the Bakersfield Jazz Festival.
Scully plays such traditional instruments as the guitar, electric bass and piano and also makes music on computers using Sibelius 6 notation software, Logic Studio 9, Garageband and various software samples and loops. He has appeared, collaborated, or worked with Billy Childs, Kei Akagi, Kenny Burrell, Dr. Keith Calmes, Kris Tiner, Dr. Doug Davis, Dr. Chris Dobrian, Eric Marienthal, Carl Allen, Charles Owens, Kyle Burnham, Paul Cierley, CSUB Jazz Ensemble, CSUB Jazz Singers, Kern County High School Honor Jazz Band, CSUB Theatre Department, and many, many others.
Scully has received grants from American Composers Forum and the Faculty Teaching Learning Center at CSU Bakersfield. He has had works commissioned by Rachel Arnold, Ashley Addington and Dr. Keith Calmes. Various pieces have been performed at venues throughout the United States, including the Electro-Acoustic Juke Joint on the campus of Delta State University in Cleveland, Mississippi, the Lilypad in Cambridge, Massachusetts, the United Parish Church of Brookline in Massachusetts, The Bakersfield Jazz Festival, The Pacific Coast Collegiate Jazz Festival in Berkeley, California and aboard the Queen Mary in Long Beach, California as part of the Music Association of California Community Colleges Conference.
The Bakersfield Symphony, CSU Bakersfield Jazz Program, CSU Bakersfield Theatre Program, UC Irvine and Bakersfield College have hosted other performances of works for various instrumentations.
Scully has also led or co-led numerous small jazz groups including the Jim Scully Group, Jim Scully Trio, Jim Scully/Kris Tiner Band, the Bodfish All-Stars, Jenn Neil Group and the Speedy Neptune Project. Jim is currently a member of Society of Composers, American Composers Forum and College Music Society and has had music recorded and released on the the CSUB Jazz and Beauport Classical record labels.
Jim currently lives in Bakersfield, California with his lovely wife and vocalist Jennifer Neil and their three sons Aidan, Maxwell and Dylan.