John Scofield Trio - From left, Bill Stewart, John Scofield, Vicente Archer
Originally published in Jersey Jazz - Reprinted by permission of the New Jersey Jazz Society
In October 2023, guitarist John Scofield released an album on the ECM label called Uncle John's Band. The two-CD recording mixed the Grateful Dead title track, Bob Dylan's "Tambourine Man", Neil Young's "Old Man", the Miles Davis/Bud Powell jazz standard "Budo", and "Somewhere", written by Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim for West Side Story, with several Scofield originals.
Reviewing it for AllAboutJazz, Neil Duggan wrote: "This selection of covers and originals features an entertaining mix of rock, country, and swing, which liberates the trio's improvisational dynamism. Scofield sounds as distinctive and inventive as ever."
When the John Scofield Trio appears at The Newton (NJ) Theatre on Thursday, October 17, the concert, Scofield said, will include "a lot of stuff from Uncle John's Band. When you look at the composers on the CD -- one is Bob Dylan, another is Miles Davis, and another is Leonard Bernstein. How could they play all those kinds of music? But all of them sort of meet in the center ground." Those songs are on the album, the 72-year-old Scofield added, because "I like the songs. That's why we played them with our arrangements. It's not like we're playing those tunes. We're using those tunes to play our own music."
And, he said, it works really well with his trio. "I love the way Vicente plays (bassist Vicente Archer). He's a real open player who can really walk and swing. He straddles a bunch of stuff. We can play some funk stuff with him but, to me, it sounds absolutely at home. And, Bill Stewart is one of the great jazz drummers I've ever played with. He's spoiled me over the years. He's so good at making the music move." In November, the trio will be spending six nights -- during Thanksgiving week -- at New York's Blue Note.
Archer started off as a guitarist but switched to acoustic bass as a student at Northeastern University in Boston. While still in college, he performed with alto saxophonist Donald Harrison and pianist Eric Reed. He has also played or recorded with trumpeter Nicholas Payton, saxophonist Kenny Garrett, and vocalist Norah Jones, among many others. Stewart studied under drummers Eliot Zigmund and Horacee Arnold at William Paterson University. In a review of his 2018 self-produced album, Band Menu (with tenor saxophonist Walter Smith III and bassist Larry Grenadier), DownBeat's Ken Micallef called Stewart, "one of the greatest drummers on the planet."
Scofield's website describes him as someone "who goes from traditional jazz to funk-oriented music." That range, he explained, just reflects "the times I've grown up in." In the mid-'70s, Scofield played with drummer Billy Cobham. "This was fusion funk and very technical," he said. "I just went where the good jobs were -- first with Billy's band with the Brecker Brothers and then the George Duke/Billy Cobham Band for two years." Before that, though, he had the opportunity to play in a more mainstream jazz setting with Gerry Mulligan.
I interviewed Scofield in 2014 when I was working on my book, Jeru's Journey: The Life and Music of Gerry Mulligan (Hal Leonard Books: 2015). "I had attended Berklee," he told me," but I dropped out and was just working around town, trying to get into the jazz scene. Gerry came to town to play at the Jazz Workshop for a week, and he wanted to add vibes and guitar to his quartet. So, he called Alan Dawson, the drummer, and Alan recommended me and Dave Samuels (on vibes). We played a week with Gerry's group with Bill Goodwin on drums, Jack Six on bass, and Tom Fay on piano. It was great. We got to hang with Gerry and meet him. I couldn't believe I was playing with a jazz legend."
Shortly after that, Mulligan was scheduled for a reunion concert with Chet Baker at Carnegie Hall, and he reached out to Scofield and Samuels to join the rhythm section of pianist Bob James, bassist Ron Carter, and drummer Harvey Mason. That, Scofield recalled, "was unbelievable. We didn't know he was going to call back for anything. We were unknown. When I go back and listen, I realize what an amateur I was. It was just great to be there." The concert was recorded and released on a two-disc album by CTI in November 1974.
In the early '80s, Scofield spent three years with Miles Davis' band during Davis' fusion years. He appeared on three Davis Columbia albums: You're Under Arrest, The Decoy, and Star People, plus Siesta, a Warner Bros/WEA album, that was the soundtrack for a movie of the same name starring Ellen Barkin, Gabriel Byrne, and Jodie Foster.
"I feel lucky to have known him and to have been mentored by him," Scofield said. "It's the same thing with Gerry Mulligan and Jim Hall, Bob Brookmeyer, and Joe Henderson. My direct mentors were (vibraphonist) Gary Burton and (bassist) Steve Swallow. These guys just tell you the stories about their early years. With Miles, it was amazing because he was talking about being a kid with Bird and playing with him."
Scofield met Hall in the early '70s. "We hung out. He lived in the Village. I lived in the Village, and we played some. I also knew Pat Martino. He would tell me about his early years, coming to Harlem and playing with Lloyd Price's band and Willis Gator Jackson and then the fusion guys. I got to know John McLaughlin and Larry Coryell, and both were very kind to me.
As for current guitarists, Scofield declined to provide a list of his favorites because "I would forget somebody." But, he did mention a few. "I love Peter Bernstein, Pat Metheny, and Bill Frisell. Pat went to Berklee when I was a student. Gary Burton brought him up from Miami. I was 20; he was 19 or 18, and we became friends. Bill Frisell and I played together a bunch in the '80s."
The Hudson quartet, from left: Larry Grenadier, Jack DeJohnette, John Scofield, and John Medeski
Scofield has recorded more than 30 albums as a leader. One that's considered a classic is the 2017 Motema Music recording, Hudson, with keyboardist John Medeski, bassist Larry Grenadier, and drummer Jack DeJohnette. The album, as with Uncle John's Band, is split between pop/rock tunes and original compositions. The former are mostly associated with Woodstock.
Among the selections are Bob Dylan's "Lay Lady Lay" and "A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall", Joni Mitchell's "Woodstock", and Robbie Robertson's "Up on Cripple Creek". In a DownBeat review, Paul Barros pointed out that, "Though everyone contributes equally, Scofield is key, because his succinct, lyrical guitar melodies really sing. Try chiming in on 'Lay Lady Lay', which DeJohnette invests with a reggae feel, or 'Up On Cripple Creek', to experience just how nuanced Sco’s delivery is. He’s even more thrilling when he leaps outside the chords on 'A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall'."
That quartet, Scofield said, "was an amazing group. Jack DeJohnette was one of the giants of the drums. Jack doesn't want to tour anymore, but I got the tail end of his touring years. Jack and me and (keyboardist) Larry Golding made a record for ECM and toured 15 years ago."
Before finishing the interview, Scofield recalled that he once again had the chance to play with Gerry Mulligan in 1995, at the end of Mulligan's career. It was on one of Mulligan's last albums, the Telarc Jazz recording, Dragonfly. "I was so lucky to get to play with Gerry again," he said. "He was sick at the time, but he didn't seem sick to me. He played beautifully. He was one of the great arrangers. Being on that record was wonderful. I didn't realize he was going to be gone right after that." All 10 tracks on the album were Mulligan originals. He passed away on January 20, 1996, at the age of 68.
The New Jersey Jazz Society is a non-profit organization of business and professional people, musicians, teachers, students and listeners working together for the purpose of advancing jazz music. Their mission is to promote and preserve America’s original art form – jazz. The Society seeks to ensure continuity of the jazz art form through its commitment to nurture and champion local talent, along with showcasing outstanding national and international artists providing for the younger generation via arts education programs.
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