Scofield in Montreal Jazz festival

[batswirl]

Hello there,

first post in this forum, I am just a newbie trying to learn more on the art of improvisation and jazz with the guitar, mostly to better appreciate the players that I like to listen to.

2 days ago (it took me that time to get back to normal and to be able to write this post) was John Scofield's Show in Montréal and I wanted to share with my very first impressions. You can imagine howe easy, groovy, stunning was the performance. No need to say that Mr Scofield is a master and I will not elaborate this as I think that it is mostly shared by a lot of people in this forum.

However, I think that what surprised me can be useful for some people :

- first and foremost : BRIGHTNESS
Scolfield was playing on two deluxe reverb amplifiers and after 2 measures, I was blown away by his tone and how clear and bright it was. Bright but not thin, it is rich, clear and hard hitting but the warm, boomy sound that we are used to ear in a jazz context.

Lesson learned : I will not last month to try flat wound strings and try to emulate an old Gibson ES 175 with my Comins GCS. You can have a really good jazz tone with a bright tone if it is good enough for John, it should be good enough for me.

- 2 : trio positioning (not sure if there is a specific term for this)
John was playing with Bill Stewart on Drums ( ) and Vincente Archer. John on the left, Bass on the right side and the drums in the middle. This setup looks quite unusual for me. Not sure why he prefers that but as I am writing this, I can remember a set at the blue note in NY with Steve Swallow at Bass where it was already the same.

- 3 : John Scofield can play fast and stunning bebop lines
Of course, as the concert started I appreciated how John can groove and I was making a parallel with another Miles Davis Guitarist that love : Robben Ford. And then, talking about Miles, they played an old miles classic (Budo) at a pretty fast tempo and... Yes he can play fast very long bebop phrase.

Hope this can help, excuse my english, I am a french canadian from France but I will do my best to share my love of this art with you!

[Sam Sherry]

first post in this forum, I am just a newbie trying to learn more on the art of improvisation and jazz with the guitar, mostly to better appreciate the players that I like to listen to.

Greetings and thanks for your dose of positive attitude!

BRIGHTNESS Scolfield was playing on two deluxe reverb amplifiers and after 2 measures, I was blown away by his tone and how clear and bright it was. Bright but not thin, it is rich, clear and hard hitting but the warm, boomy sound that we are used to ear in a jazz context.

a) You saw a concert in a 1600-seat hall. Almost everyone in the hall hears the front-of-house PA, not the band's onstage amplification.
I'm sure it was great. Don't dwell on whether or how much it was like what the band heard. They get what they get. We in the audience get what we get.

b) On the level that John Scofield works, players often travel with their guitar and request one or more amps of choice to be waiting at the gig. Even if Mr. Scofield plays 2x Deluxe Reverbs everwhere the speakers are different, the tubes are different . . . if the rental backline gets him into the ballpark he's ready to do the rest.

Lesson learned : I will not last month to try flat wound strings and try to emulate an old Gibson ES 175 with my Comins GCS. You can have a really good jazz tone with a bright tone if it is good enough for John, it should be good enough for me.

There are countless excellent jazz sounds and most of us want to find a few on the way to wherever we land.

trio positioning (not sure if there is a specific term for this)
John was playing with Bill Stewart on Drums ( ) and Vincente Archer. John on the left, Bass on the right side and the drums in the middle. This setup looks quite unusual for me. Not sure why he prefers that but as I am writing this, I can remember a set at the blue note in NY with Steve Swallow at Bass where it was already the same.

a) The band almost certainly has floor monitors or in-ear monitors. What they hear is not tied to where they stand.

b) As a bassist I like to be on the high-hat side if possible. I like to hear it, and most drummers habitually look in that direction.
As a guitarist I don't care as much.

John Scofield can play fast and stunning bebop lines.

Now you're talking!
There is no substitute for direct exposure to excellence!

Hope this can help, excuse my english, I am a french canadian from France but I will do my best to share my love of this art with you!

You're doing fine. Don't stop!

[batswirl]

Thank U for the answer Sam!

[Cunamara]

I am not a huge Scofield fan but seeing him play live is very different than listening to the studio records. When I saw him live with Steve Swallow and Bill Stewart, my jaw was on the floor pretty much the whole gig. Astonishing. And my wife, who is not that much of a jazz fan, also really enjoyed him.

[batswirl]

I am not a huge Scofield fan but seeing him play live is very different than listening to the studio records. When I saw him live with Steve Swallow and Bill Stewart, my jaw was on the floor pretty much the whole gig. Astonishing. And my wife, who is not that much of a jazz fan, also really enjoyed him.

I am already scheduling a trip to new-york next november to see this same trio at Blue Note, but I will not try to bring my wife. I know for sure that she will not enjoy that kind of performance (she is almost allergic to the dissonance of a 7th , imagine how lucky you are).

[Cunamara]

We all have our thing. My wife loves traditional Irish music, which she plays on mandolin, and keeps trying to get me engaged in that. I don't care for Irish music, in all honesty, even though that's my paternal heritage (Cunamara is the Irish language root of my last name). So I try to gracefully evade that, although I do go to shows with her.

During the Pat Metheny Group "This Way Up" tour, I took her to see them at Orchestra Hall in Minneapolis. As we were walking back to the car, she stated "don't ever do that to me again." But she liked Scofield much more, in part because he is much bluesier and has some R&B in his playing for her ear to latch onto. PMG did not offer anything like that. She also liked Julian Lage when we saw him at the Dakota. She also seemed to have enjoyed Ethan Iverson when we went and saw him.

So usually I go hear jazz with somebody else if she doesn't want to go. I am perfectly fine with her saying that she doesn't think she would enjoy any particular artist.