John Scofield
When I first got into jazz — around 1969, I came from playing R&B and Soul in High School. Jazz Rock was in its infancy stage and I was lucky enough to be around to experience the Golden Age of both Rock and Soul and see Jazz embrace that movement while I was trying to learn how to play straightahead Jazz. A lot of my early chances to actually gig were in various Jazz/Rock idioms. I got to play "real" jazz with Gary Burton and Gerry Mulligan but my real first "big time" gig was with the Billy Cobham/George Duke band. We got to play in gigantic concert halls and rock venues for excited people who were not necessarily jazz aficionados, but loved the music.
After that band ended, I stayed home in NYC and worked on playing acoustic jazz with my own groups and people like Dave Liebman. I also started an ongoing musical relationship with bassist Steve Swallow that continues to this day. As a jazz bassist and real songwriter (not just a composer) Swallow has influenced me as much as anyone.
In 1982, I joined the Miles Davis Band, answering the call of funky jazz once again. My stint with Miles made me sure that there really was a kind of music that was both funky and improvised at the same time.
After playing with Miles for over three years and making a few more records of my own, I hooked up with ex-P-Funk drummer Dennis Chambers, and we made a group that really utilized funk rhythms. Dennis and bassist Gary Grainger were masters of that "James Brown/ Earth Wind and Fire/ 70's thing". It was great having that underneath my tunes.
When I signed with Blue Note Records in 1989, I decided to explore more "swinging" avenues. I got together with my old Berklee School buddy, genius saxophonist Joe Lovano. We had a group and made three albums for Blue Note — four counting a bootleg from Europe — that are probably my very best "jazz" endeavors. Part of that can also be attributed to the magnificent drumming of Bill Stewart, who is as good a musician as I've ever met.
Then I felt the urge to get into a soul-jazz thing. I'd been really influenced by the music of Eddie Harris and Les McCann from the sixties. I invited Eddie to guest on the album Hand Jive. This was about the same time that Larry Goldings entered my music on Hammond Organ. With the collective possibilities of these musicians, I began to allow jazz to blend with New Orleans type rhythms to make the music groove.
Read moreTags
Radio & Podcasts
Live Review
In Pictures
Radio & Podcasts
Album Review
- John Scofield by Ian Patterson
- John Scofield by Mario Calvitti
Radio & Podcasts
- Classic '90s music from Jazz Rock Fusion masters
- John Scofield, Jing Chi, Paroksha, Diamond Dust and Casiopea
Film Review
Read more articlesDecember 26, 2022
Jazz Musician of the Day: John Scofield
May 31, 2022
Interview: John Scofield, Solo
December 26, 2021
Jazz Musician of the Day: John Scofield
June 17, 2020
June 06, 2020
INSIDE SCOFIELD: A film about master guitarist and jazz legend John...
December 26, 2019
Jazz Musician of the Day: John Scofield
December 26, 2018
Jazz Musician of the Day: John Scofield
October 17, 2018
October 09, 2018
John Scofield Quartet: Combo 66
April 25, 2018
Jazz this week: John Scofield & Joe Lovano, Julian Vaughn, Eddie Gomez...
B.D. Lenz
guitarSamo Salamon
guitar, electricGreg Diamond
guitar, electricTassos Spiliotopoulos
guitarDidier Verna
guitarDennis Winge
guitarAvi Granite
guitarPeter Knoll
guitarScott Sawyer
guitarLudmil Krumov
guitarJostein Gulbrandsen
guitarTellef Øgrim
guitarTahina Rahary
guitarRicardo Pinheiro
guitar, electricDan Andersen
guitar, electricThomas Dahl
guitarCharlie Hoats
bass, electricHugo Fernandez
guitarBeledo
guitarBele Beledo
guitarAndres Marcos Revellado
producerGoran Lindelow
guitarSantiago Bosch
pianoArielle Carvajal
guitarMárk Fenyves
guitarMarco Moura
guitarHiroshi Fukutomi
guitarPC ENERGETIC
band/orchestraWild Card
band/orchestraSamuel Bonnet
guitar, acousticJustin Duhaime
guitarFletcher McKenzie
guitar, electricAndy Bianco
guitarEric Zolan
guitar, electricUlli Juenemann
saxophone, altoRoberto Spadoni
composer/conductorJeff Lopez
bass, electricTim Bruer
pianoVinay Kaushal
guitar, electricGeorge Nazos
guitarJavier Subatin
guitarDanil Zverkhanovsky
guitar, electricJay Reed
guitarSergio Fulqueris
guitarArcangelo Pezzella
guitar, electricEric West
drumsAleksi Glick
guitarFabrizio Savino
guitar, electricMariane Bitran
fluteJosh Sheiman
guitarJaco Parmentier
pianoBob Ockenden
guitarScott T Jones
guitarJatayu
band/orchestraJohan Grim
guitarFrancesco Mascio
guitarNonnomatteo
guitar, electricLee Heerspink
guitarVery Cool People
band/orchestraSahib Singh
guitar, electricHarvey Bryant
guitarRoberto Macry Correale
guitarJack Taylor
guitarHelios Fernandez
guitarPhotos
Concert Schedule
Album Discography
Ivory Forest
From: Ivory Forest ReduxBy John Scofield
Simply Put
From: A Moment's PeaceBy John Scofield
Slinky
From: New Morning: The Paris ConcertBy John Scofield