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.”

The collaboration heard on 54 had its origins back in the 90's when Vince Mendoza asked John Scofield to play on his first album. John has since been featured on two of Vince’s records and his guitar sound and improvisational skills work well within Vince’s concept. When Mendoza assumed directorship of The Metropole Orchestra, he and Scofield decided to collaborate again with a primary focus on Mendoza’s arrangements of Scofield compositions as performed with The Metropole Orchestra. "Vince is one of the most creative arrangers today and his sensibilities are perfect for my compositions," says Scofield. ''in addition to Vince’s arrangements, 54 features another pair of Scofield tunes transformed by likeminded arrangers Jim McNeely and Florian Ross. Two classic Mendoza compositions are included to complete the repertoire. ''I love playing in this lush setting. This orchestra is unique to any other I know of in its ability to play with a natural jazz feeling," says Scofield. "It’s a thrill to hear my tunes expanded by the orchestral arrangements and Vince’s tunes are modern masterpieces that I truly enjoy interpreting. The other soloists in the Orchestra are excellent as well."

Medeski, Martin & Wood are among the busiest acts in the music biz. To celebrate their 20-year anniversary in 2011, the group has been releasing its latest album, 20, track by track. Also this year, following the grand Radiolarians series, they decided to issue its DVD portion, Fly in a Bottle, as a separate package; finally, there's MSMW Live: In Case the World Changes Its Mind, an utterly kinetic recording from their 2006 tour with jazz guitar boss John Scofield. In 1997 the trio backed Sco on his stellar A Go Go album. He returned the favor in 2006 by playing on MMW's Out Louder; this tour followed. The double disc collects performances from both recordings and a couple of others.

Named for the Grateful Dead song that concludes this inspired double album, Uncle John’s Band features masterful guitarist John Scofield at his most freewheeling. Wide ranging repertoire finds his trio with Vicente Archer and Bill Stewart tackling material from Dylan’s “Mr Tambourine Man” to Neil Young’s “Old Man”, from Leonard Bernstein’s “Somewhere” to the Miles Davis Birth of the Cool classic “Budo”. And jazz standards including “Stairway to the Stars” and “Ray’s Idea” rub shoulders with seven Scofield originals that are variously swing, funk and folk-inflected. The red thread through the programme is the trio’s tremendous improvisational verve. “I feel like we can go anywhere,” says John Scofield of the group’s multi-directional versatility. Uncle John’s Band was recorded at Clubhouse Studio in Rhinebeck, New York, in August 2022.