John Scofield

John Scofield’s first guitar-solo-recording ever gives a résumé of all the influences and idioms he has cultivated over his career in performances on guitar, accompanied by his own rhythmic pulse and chordal backing using a loop machine. Besides jazz, John is known to have always also had a soft spot for the rock and roll and country music he grew up with, revealed here in unencumbered renditions of Buddy Holly’s “Not Fade Away” and Hank Williams’ “You Win Again”. Between elegant and personal readings of standards, like “It Could Happen To You”, the traditional “Danny Boy” and Keith Jarret’s “Coral”, Scofield presents his own timeless compositions – some new, others known. For the guitarist, it’s all about “the way you get the sound out of the string and what you do with it after you attack it.”

In short, this is a recital that is rich, inventive, absorbing and fully representative of a great guitar master at the height of his powers. The compositions reflect his experience. […] Scofield as composer is featured with material from across the years.  ‘Honest I do’ comes from 1991. ‘Mrs Scofield’s Waltz’ is dedicated to his wife and business partner.  ‘Since You Asked’ was originally recorded with Joe Lovano in 1991.  ‘Trance Du Jour’ was inspired by John Coltrane.  The speed is increased, the relationship with the loop is strained and there are more staccato notes and a strange fade out with a return to finish the piece. Staccato notes are also a feature of ‘Elder Dance’. These days Scofield might look like a nineteenth century lawyer in a Californian gold rush town but the album unites disparate parts of American cultural life. At one time the gap between the music of Hank Williams seemed light years aways from Charlie Parker.  It is Scofield’s achievement to have created a bridge between musical cultures. The gap of sensibilities between ‘There Will never Be Another You’ and ‘Junco Partner’ seems unbridgeable.  It is to Scofield’s credit that he convincingly brings the various trends together. We live in societies with sections drifting apart. Scofield in a musical way shows that it is possible to find resolution.
Jack Kenny, Jazz Views