is last CD, the 2000 release "Bump", featured members of electric New York jazz/fusion trio Medeski, Martin & Wood and quirky rock quartet Soul Coughing. On the previous album, '98's "A Go Go", he was backed throughout by the ever-acidic MMW. So what does guitarist John Scofield do for an encore to these two eclectic gems? Make equally-impressive traditional-jazz on his new "Works For Me" CD. Such a one-eighty would be surprising for most artists, but not for "Sco," who in the past decade has shifted from acoustic quartet ('93's "What We Do") to a horn-heavy New Orleans motif ('95's "Groove Elation") and orchestral arrangements like those of Miles Davis and Gil Evans ('96's Quiet).
Scofield learned to trust his instincts from playing with Davis in the late '70s, adopting the trumpeter's fearlessness of critique and understated whimsical nature. "You just play it and I'll catch you," veteran drummer Billy Higgins tells young bassist Christian McBride to open the CD, inadvertently providing the "I'll Catch You" title. Saxophonist Kenny Garrett and pianist Brad Mehldau, who round out the quintet, get brief solos and ably back the guitarist during his own ever-tasteful runs. Higgins provides a big band intro to "Not You Again," then leads the young lions through some swinging paces as Scofield does a couple of his inimitable post-bop solos; the ballad "Big J" features relaxed unison and harmonized sax-and-guitar patterns.
The midsection of "Works For Me" gets even more tongue-in-cheek, as reflected in titles like "Loose Canon" (with Garrett's creative squawks and a fine solo by Mehldau), "Love You Long Time" (a musing, melodic Scofield blues number) and the dedicated, left-of-center ballad, "Mrs. Scofield's Waltz." "Hive" morphs into near-trad swing, but only after earning its title with chaotic, buzzing figures by Scofield, Garrett and Higgins as both intro and outro. "Heel and Toe," like much of Works For Me, uses creative mono-like panning effects - Scofield in the left channel; Higgins in the right and Garrett and McBride (who takes a deft, dynamic solo coda) in both.
The hyper-swinging "Do I Crazy?" is the disc's best cut, with Scofield and Garrett comping behind Mehldau's left-channel solo and ending breaks by Higgins and McBride. If the panning is intended to create a live feel, it works. You hear every rimshot, brush stroke and grunt by Higgins to the right throughout, every touch of Mehldau's keys to the left, and you never quite know where Scofield will turn up. The guitarist is in both channels for his rhythm parts during the hip, jazz-lofty "Six and Eight," but more to the right for his solo. The brief and experimentally-playful "Freepie" closes "Works For Me", a CD title that suggests Scofield knows he can write and play to suit himself and still maintain commercial and
critical viability. Works for me too, Sco.
is last CD, the 2000 release "Bump", featured members of electric New York jazz/fusion trio Medeski, Martin & Wood and quirky rock quartet Soul Coughing. On the previous album, '98's "A Go Go", he was backed throughout by the ever-acidic MMW. So what does guitarist John Scofield do for an encore to these two eclectic gems? Make equally-impressive traditional-jazz on his new "Works For Me" CD. Such a one-eighty would be surprising for most artists, but not for "Sco," who in the past decade has shifted from acoustic quartet ('93's "What We Do") to a horn-heavy New Orleans motif ('95's "Groove Elation") and orchestral arrangements like those of Miles Davis and Gil Evans ('96's Quiet).