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(1953 – ) One of the “big three” of current jazz’s guitarists (along with Pat Metheny and Bill Frisell), Scofield’s influence grew in the 90’s. Possessor of a very distinctive rock-oriented sound that is often a bit distorted, Scofield is a masterful jazz improviser whose music generally falls somewhere between Post-Bop, Fusion & Soul Jazz.
He started on guitar while at high school in Connecticut, and from 1970-73 Scofield studied at Berklee and played in the Boston area. After recording with Gerry Mulligan and Chet Baker at the Carnegie Hall, Scofield was a member of the Billy Cobham-George Duke band for two years. In 1977 he recorded with Charles Mingus, and later joined the Gary Burton quartet and Dave Liebman’s quintet. His own early sessions as a leader were Funk-oriented. During 1982-85, Scofield toured the world and recorded with Miles Davis. Since that time he has led his own groups and recorded frequently as a leader for Gramavision and Blue Note, using such major players as Charlie Haden, Jack DeJohnette, Joe Lovano and Eddie Harris.
Scofield started a long-term relationship with the label Verve in 1996 with his acoustic album “Quiet”. He cut the “Funky A Go Go” with Medeski, Martin & Wood in 1997 while 2000’s “Bump” featured members of Sex Mob, Soul Coughing and Deep Banana Blackout. 2001’s “Works for Me” featured a more traditional jazz sound but for 2002’s “Uberjam” and 2003’s “Up All Night” he was back to playing fusion. The drummer Bill Stewart and the bassist Steve Swallow rounded out the John Scofield Trio for 2004’s cerebral and complex live album “EnRoute”. |
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