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Ermm... well, I can tell you that fusion mostly (but not always) means you have to be able to cut it as a jazz guitarist (which means having to be able to swing) but combine it with a predilection for aspects of rock music (and other musics at times).
Originally Posted by Hep To The Jive
Gambale I've heard swing. I confess I'm not familiar with Di Meola's stuff to comment on it, but I doubt it's really the case that he 'can't' swing...
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04-15-2025 05:55 PM
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Larry Coryell could swing as well as any jazz guitarist alive or dead.
And he is the Godfather of jazz-rock fusion guitar.
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I saw Coryell play in Los Angeles with Jimmy Smith (which was one of Smith's last performances). Coryell could swing with the best of them. Originally Posted by Stringswinger
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Many fusion guitarists are resented for being British.
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Check out this lesson videotape called "John Scofield on improvisation" from his early days (1983), so old that I had it on VHS, where he hasn't even settled into his style or sound exactly yet, and you just see a stellar jazz player. Which he has always been I think.
Having said that, his distance from mainstream playing is very evident, especially on albums like the ones with Mehldau etc .. My favorite albums of his are the ones before his Medeski trio period.
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+1 Originally Posted by Alter
"On Improvisation" is one of the best jazz guitar education video.
I've transcribed all video many years ego....great jazz stufff in one hour lesson.
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I would perhaps question how far removed Scofield is from the mainstream, considering that he is one of the most influential jazz guitarists of his generation. Maybe mainstream moved?I can't readily think of another player that so thoroughly blend influences from straightahead, fusion, rock, etc into a singular voice and move so effortlessly between them in performance
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Sounded great to me, but I’m a big fan of 335s.
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Sometimes I wish he were using a saturated lead tone like Gambale et al! Originally Posted by Christian Miller
I love Scofield's lines; he consistently comes up with fascinating ways to articulate the harmony while demonstrating a desire to eek out every possibility, possibilities that in the hands of a lesser musician would simply destroy the harmony.
But sweet jesus I detest his tone! It's like, c'mon John, make up your mind: Are you playing clean, or are you playing dirty? This halfway crap just sounds like faulty equipment ...or decision-paralysis.
tbh I'd really prefer him with a traditional all-clean archtop tone. But I could also dig him with a fully saturated caterwauling Marshall-Plexi-with-all-knobs-dimed tone. Just not the namby-pamby half-fuzz/half-clean thing he's used for most of his career.
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I agree the tone in the clip is unsatisfying. His recent album Uncle John's Band has better sound, a hint of dirt for the more energetic tunes, sweetly clean on the ballads, like "Stairway to the Stars".
A Scofield video posted here was his performance at a German jazz festival, playing sone of that album's material. His tone was more muddy, that opaque sound we don't much like, but it was better than this clip.
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Sounds to me like he's having more problems with the amp than the guitar.
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If you say so chief haha Originally Posted by Bob_Ross
(I'll leave aside the fact that you aren't going to get a saturated modern lead guitar tone out of a Marshall Plexi, dimed or not. And yes MacLaughlin sounded killer through one, but that's not what I mean.)
I mean people dislike Mike Stern's sound as well, but I could recognise both them right away. If something is recognisable there's a likelihood someone somewhere will hate it.
I don't need the apples to be oranges. There's plenty of chopsy fusion players out there using the same distorted lead guitar tone as each other. I like Sco's approach and sound.
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I really like his sound. It's exactly that halfway between clean and fuzz aspect that I think makes it work. It gives him all sorts of options for colors and articulations that he wouldn't get with either a purely clean or completely distorted tone. He's also got this overall vibe/esthetic of seeming to be kind of sloppy/greasy, which his tone reinforces. I say "seeming" because if you actually sit down and dissect/copy what he's doing it's way more technically demanding than it seems and is obviously very intentional. But de gustibus, etc. If you don't like, it that's your loss, not his. Originally Posted by Bob_Ross
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Judging somebody's tone by YouTube concert videos is like judging somebody's cooking by YouTube concert videos.
We know two things about that clip:
a) Scofield's sound on the stage was different from what comes out of your computer speaker; and
2) Scofield had zero involvement in how the clip was mixed.
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I'm just judging the tone that came from the posted video, as heard thru my computer speakers, and it sounds like crap. Originally Posted by Sam Sherry
Don't you agree with that? (assuming you listened to the video using your computer speakers).
PS: I really enjoy Scofield's tone when I play CDs I have, using my stereo system and JBL speakers.
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He’ll always be synonymous with his Ibanez in my eyes/ears and even though the Ibanez is a variation of a theme of the guitar he plays in the OP, seeing him with a Gibson just doesn’t quite sit right… although I don’t think he sounds ‘that’ bad with the 335… just different but still Sco. Funny eh?Last edited by BradGuitar; 04-16-2025 at 06:03 PM.
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John Scofield likes to play semi-hollow guitars.
I have all his CD recordings.
On all these albums it sounds simply brilliant.
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I love his sound and the level of overdrive. But while he's never sounded less than stellar live, his records can imho be a bit hit or miss in terms of tone. Maybe that early chorus sound was hard to record, or maybe he's just not a tone chaser.
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John Scofield played on my semi-hollow Weston Rainbow guitar/Janan made/ during jam session in 1986 at the local jazz club in Warsaw.
His sound was very good and very similar to the Ibanez As-200.
It was a magical evening.
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What I hear is a player who is still at the top of his game at 70+ ; it's the notes that count, tone being secondary. JMO. Surprised he didn't have a backup Ibanez, however.
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I always thought it was the other way around. ?!? Originally Posted by Litterick
S
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I'm surprised that there was no Ibanez guitar signed with his name in Budapest. Originally Posted by Peter C
There are a lot of professional music stores with instruments.
ps.
Scof has probably three Ibanez semi-hollows, but he goes on tours with one.
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I imagine this sort of thing happens quite often to guys who are on the road all the time. In the ‘Inside Scofield’ film there’s a scene where Vicente Archer’s bass goes missing during a train journey. So it was probably John’s turn this time!
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I like the tone of his playing on the ES-330 with Steve Swallow a lot better than the recording with the ES-335. It may have just been the amp or recording.
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I’ve been listening to a lot of Sco. His rhythm sections play a huge role in his music.
Whereas most jazz guitarists either went for a traditional post-bebop configuration or virtuosos in the fusion world, Sco went for more contemporary or even hip-hop sound right from the beginning.
Listen to A-go-go, for instance. He goes for a groove, rather than a straight-ahead sound.
And then he has explored pretty much any genre you can think of, but seems especially at home with roots music and jam music. Check out his show with Gov’t Mule—Sco-Mule—for a good example of how he fits in there.
About 1/4 of his stuff I don’t find scintillating—more like background music, since it’s too laid back. But when he’s on…very compelling stuff.
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