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I've been interested in jazz for over 50 years.
I first encountered John's recordings in the early 80s.
It was a complete coincidence. A friend of mine had John Scofield records and he said to me: listen to this guitarist.
It was a shock for me...and I don't know how to call it, but John's guitar playing just suits me.
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06-06-2026 11:42 AM
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Like Stern and Metheny it took a while to adjust to the effects.
Heard him live at Wolftrap Barns in the trio and the effects were not a factor at all.
I like subtle use of effects.
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This recording is a real cosmos.
Originally Posted by Aiq
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[QUOTE=kris;1469225]This recording is a real cosmos.
/QUOTE]
The album reviews give Sco high praise. It seems to be a crossroads in development of his style.
He carries this energy with him when Miles Davis elevated his profile into guitar god status.
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That's a classic, but Beirach's comping is insufferably busy and overdone. Horrible and he's not listening. Originally Posted by kris
So bad man.
Also Scofield doesn't really have "beauty" in his style. It's more snarky than anything.
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I have never adjusted to Scofield's tone. Absolutely love his playing; have from as far back as I can remember (e.g., those records with Billy Cobham in the 70s), and the more recent stuff is mind-bogglingly good, really creative use of harmony and tension and orbiting between "Inside" and "Outside" like few other musicians ever have. But the sound he gets from his guitar irritates me like nails on a chalkboard. Originally Posted by Aiq
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This is a sensational record and all the musicians play at the highest world level. Originally Posted by jazzyfan
A long time ago I made an accurate transcription of the Scof solo.
This is a brilliant solo.I bought all the albums that John Scofield recorded.
Beirach's comping fits Scof's playing very well.It is very stylistically consistent with the guitar master's playing.
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John's current tone, like on the absolutely wonderful "Swallow Tales" from a few years ago is just a guitar through a tube amp pushed just a little, no effects. My guess is you'd like it. Originally Posted by Bob_Ross
Sco is just...one of the best to ever do it.
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I love John's tone-sound.Sometimes I was a little surprised that he often plays solo on the pick up at the bridge, but I liked it very much. Originally Posted by mr. beaumont
. All this fits and is justified.
John creates brilliant guitar music.Sometimes it seems that it is easy to listen to.
This is very difficult music-if you do an in-depth analysis.
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I love how there's always a bit of blues in there, no matter how advanced the tune or his playing gets, that groundedness persists. Theres a bit of grease in there.
As a young man getting into jazz, i was also attracted to his almost rock and roll energy- a lot of the classic players had this wonderful elegance to them. Sco sounded as if he was on the verge of coming unglued in the coolest possible way.
As for tone, I love his chorused sound as well as his unchorused one on for instance Past Present. The one thing I do dislike is the fast Faux Leslie sound that i felt he overused w MMW, Uberjam etc
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I think that's his 'secret sauce', well not that secret, but what makes him relatable to a bigger audience, not just hardcore jazz fans. Certainly why I started listening to him. In fact his generation jazz guitar players all had it to various degrees, Frisell, Mike Stern, Abercrombie, even Metheny! Call me crazy.. Originally Posted by Average Joe
And then it all ended post Kurt Rosenwinkle, jazz guitar lost all the grease.
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Is cos they is boomers
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Many Jazz guitarists of that vintage play with that Blues/Rock tinge.
Probably, because they listened to Eric Clapton etc as teenagers. Maybe, Kris did too.
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OK so many have seen Sco..solo..duo..trio and band combos of all types..
Big Band??..you bet..and bet heavy..with a side of down home grease..
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Even I liked that, probably because there's some fun in it. He does some tasteful blues but no big solo. I think he was giving the horn players a bit of the limelight. Or somebody was.
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I love listening to Scofield. This will sound odd, I guess, but he is a guitarist I love listening to but have no desire to emulate. I like hearing where he takes tunes, tone, I enjoy his playfulness, and I never feel like "Hey, I should try to do that." I can just enjoy his music, plain and simple.
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"it is easy to listen to." Exactly. I listen to JazzRadio.com's Guitar Jazz channel in the mornings when I run, and every time a Scofield track comes on, I lose my running rhythm because I find myself laughing a bit, just in pure pleasure at what a crazy dude he is. I love players who just make me smile and laugh. That's not the only thing in music, but it's a big thing. Originally Posted by kris
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Imitating it is probably impossible. Originally Posted by lawson-stone
You can try to sound like Scof.... but playing Scof's phrases is rather impossible.
He plays differently at every concert – it's incredible creativity.
Have a nice conversation.
Best
Kris
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" but playing Scof's phrases is rather impossible." Why do you say that? To physically play?
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You can learn to play the phrase... But what next? Originally Posted by joe2758
Scof's solo improvisations create a certain perfect construction.
They have a very interesting form-structure.This creates a kind of tension.
Often Scof ends solo by playing climaxes with octaves.
All this creates a compact and intelligent construction of the whole tune.
.So briefly I could explain what I meant with these phrases of Scof.
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That's all true, I wasn't sure if you meant technically
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For pleasure at home, I played a few choruses of Scof's solo.The last choruses of solo were getting harder and harder. Originally Posted by joe2758
Then I decided that it didn't make sense.It's not mine, although I like it very much.
This is Scof's music, which suits me very well and that's it.
I learned this solo , but I don't play a single Scof phrase during gigs...
I perceive all this more as Scof's time learning.
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When I have been playing "live" with a small ensemble, which is not often, I have had moments where I slipped out of my usual cliches and just said "Who cares!" and starting playing what I thought was "weird stuff." By "weird" I just mean not bop, not swing, not Joe Pass or Kenny Burrel. Afterwards, one of the guys said "Hey you did a little John Scofield there" and he was serious, not just kidding.
Sometimes I wonder if I've spent too much time trying to learn swing and bop, and maybe I should just immerse myself in Scofield and Jim Hall and folks like that, and see what bubbles to the surface.
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Interesting! I wonder if that was your originality coming through organically...maybe you're already taking the right approach? Unless you feel drawn to those two's specific phrases, but if it's the uniqueness itself that is the draw, maybe just let yours shine through? I think you only need a break from bop if you're bored of it Originally Posted by lawson-stone
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