John Scofield

John Scofield
John Scofield at Moers Festival 2006, Germany
Background information
Born	(1951-12-26) December 26, 1951 Dayton, Ohio, United States
Genres	Post-bop, jazz fusion, (jazz-rock, jazz funk, acid jazz, nu jazz)
Occupation(s)	Musician, composer
Instrument	semi-acoustic jazz guitar
Years active	1970s-present
Labels	Enja, Gramavision, Blue Note, Verve, EmArcy
Website	www.johnscofield.com

John Scofield (born December 26, 1951, Dayton, Ohio), often referred to as "Sco", is an American jazz-rock guitarist and composer, who has played and collaborated with Miles Davis, Dave Liebman, Joe Henderson, Charles Mingus, Joey Defrancesco, Herbie Hancock, Pat Metheny, Bill Frisell, Pat Martino, Mavis Staples, Phil Lesh, Billy Cobham, Medeski Martin & Wood, George Duke, Jaco Pastorius, John Mayer, and many other well-known artists. At ease in the bebop idiom, Scofield is also well versed in jazz fusion, funk, blues, soul, rock and other forms of modern American music.

Biography

Early in his life, Scofield's family left Ohio and relocated to the small, then mostly rural location of Wilton, Connecticut; it was here that he discovered his interest in music.

Educated at the Berklee College of Music, Scofield eventually left school to record with Chet Baker and Gerry Mulligan. He joined the Billy Cobham/George Duke Band soon after and spent two years playing, recording and touring with them. Scofield recorded with Charles Mingus in 1976, and replaced Pat Metheny in Gary Burton's quartet. In autumn 1976 he signed a contract with Enja Records, and he released his first album, John Scofield, in 1977. Around this time, he toured and recorded with Pianist Hal Galper, first on his own solo album Rough House in 1978, and Galper's album Ivory Forest (1980), where he is heard playing a solo rendition of Thelonious Monk's "Monk's Mood". In 1979 he formed a trio with his mentor Steve Swallow and Adam Nussbaum which, with drummer Bill Stewart replacing Nussbaum, has become the signature group of Scofield's career. In 1982, he joined Miles Davis, with whom he remained for three and a half years. He contributed tunes and guitar work to three Davis recordings, Star People, You're Under Arrest and Decoy.

While still with Davis, he released the first of his Gramavision recordings Electric Outlet (1984). Still Warm (1985) followed after he left Davis's group. At the end of the Davis tenure, he started what is now referred to as his Blue Matter Band - with Dennis Chambers on drums, Gary Grainger on bass and at times either Mitchel Forman, Robert Aries or Jim Beard on keyboards - releasing Blue Matter, Loud Jazz and Pick Hits Live. The mid-80's were also the time, when Marc Johnson assembled his first own ensemble Bass Desires with Peter Erskine on drums, and Bill Frisell beside Scofield as two guitarists of distinctive but complementing styles. This “most auspicious [pairing] since John McLaughlin and Carlos Santana” was only transitory and recorded just two records, the self-titled Bass Desires and Second Sight (1986 and '87).

At the beginning of the 1990s, Scofield formed his quartet that included Joe Lovano with whom he recorded several important albums for Blue Note Records. Time on My Hands (1990), with Lovano, Charlie Haden and Jack DeJohnette, showcased Scofield's guitar and Mingus-influenced writing. Bill Stewart subsequently became the group's drummer, and played on Meant to Be (1991) and What We Do (1993). In 1992, Scofield released Grace Under Pressure, featuring fellow guitarist Bill Frisell, with Charlie Haden on bass and Joey Baron on drums. Stewart rejoined with Scofield and bassist Steve Swallow for the 1994 collaboration with Pat Metheny, I Can See Your House from Here.

Towards the end of his tenure with Blue Note, Scofield returned to a more funk and soul jazz-oriented sound, a direction which has dominated much of his subsequent output. In 1994 and 1995, Scofield formed a core group that included organist/pianist Larry Goldings, bassist Dennis Irwin, and alternately drummers, Bill Stewart and Idris Muhammad. The group toured extensively, and the albums Hand Jive and Groove Elation feature this funk/groove/soul dimension in Scofield's music, bringing in tenor saxophonist Eddie Harris, percussionist Don Alias, trumpeter Randy Brecker, and others. He recorded the acclaimed 1997 album A Go Go with the avant garde jazz trio Medeski Martin & Wood. Also during this period, his relationship began with British composer Mark-Anthony Turnage. First as a soloist on Turnage's Blood on the Floor: Elegy for Andy, the two paired up to create Scorched, Turnage's orchestrations of Scofield compositions largely form the Blue Matter period. Scorched, a recording available on Deutsche Grammophon, debuted in Frankfurt, Germany.

He released Überjam in 2002 and Up All Night in 2004, two albums on which he experiments with drum n bass and other modern rhythms. John Scofield has also worked and recorded in Europe with nu-fusionist Bugge Wesseltoft New Conception of Jazz in 2001/2 and 2006. Late 2004 saw the release of EnRoute: John Scofield Trio LIVE, which features the jazz trio of John Scofield, the venerable Steve Swallow on bass and Bill Stewart on drums. It was recorded live at The Blue Note in NYC in December 2003. The next year, he released That's What I Say - JS plays the music of Ray Charles - Scofield with an all-star guest studded collection of Ray Charles material. This led to a series of performances with Mavis Staples, Gary Versace on organ, John Benitez on bass, and Steve Hass on drums.

After sitting in for two engagements in December (3rd & 4th) of 2005 with Phil Lesh and Friends, Scofield has since played numerous shows with the band.

On September 26, 2006 he released Out Louder, his second collaborative effort album with avant garde jazz trio Medeski Martin & Wood. The group, known collectively as MSMW toured extensively worldwide in 2006 and 2007, with sporadic engagements planned in the future. Scofield also performs as a duo with John Medeski - aptly named The Johns and another groove trio with Scofield, Medeski and drummer Adam Deitch.

September 18, 2007 saw This Meets That released on EmArcy Records - Universal Music's jazz label, a record featuring his trio with Steve Swallow and Bill Stewart. This time John added a horn section to expand the sound of his trio.

Never one to follow an expected path, in recent years Scofield launched a personal search for musical inspiration beyond the standard 12 bar blues and found it in "old time gospel music - the closest relative to and inspiration for the R&B.” His 2009 release Piety Street with bass legend George Porter, Jr. and singer/keyboardist Jon Cleary. The collaboration heard on the 2010 release 54 had its origins back in the 90's when Vince Mendoza asked John Scofield to play on his first album. John has since been featured on two of Vince’s records and his guitar sound and improvisational skills work well within Vince’s concept. When Mendoza assumed directorship of The Metropole Orchestra, he and Scofield decided to collaborate again with a primary focus on Mendoza’s arrangements of Scofield compositions as performed with The Metropole Orchestra.

In a return to Scofieldesque "straight ahead" jazz, he went to the studio in January 2011 with pianist/organist Larry Goldings, bassist Scott Colley and drummer Brian Blade, laying the tracks for a ballads album scheduled for a May 2011 release on EmArcy Records.

In April 2010, Scofield was named an Officier of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French Ministry of Culture.

Scofield is currently serving as an adjunct faculty member in the Jazz Department at New York University's Steinhardt School of Education.

He married Susan Scofield in 1978. They are the parents of music producer Jean Scofield (b. 1981) and Evan Scofield (b. 1987).

Equipment

Scofield endorses Ibanez guitars. His signature guitar, the JSM100, is based on his longtime stage and recording guitar, a 1981 Ibanez AS200 which he believes to be one of the best semi-acoustics ever built. He gets his tone by running a Pro Co RAT through either a Vox AC30 or Mesa Boogie amplifier. Some of his effects include an Ibanez CS9 Analog Chorus, a Line 6 FM4 Filter Modeler, and a Line 6 DL4 Delay Modeler. Some of his additional effects include a DigiTech XP100 Whammy/Wah, a Boss EQ Pedal, a Boss Loop Station, and a Boomerang phrase sampler pedal. John Scofield uses Dunlop Delrin 2 mm picks.

Discography

John Scofield playing at the International Jazz Festival Enschede, 2007.

As leader and co-leader

• John Scofield Live (Enja, 1977)
• John Scofield aka East Meets West (Black Hawk, 1977)
• Rough House (Enja, 1978)
• Who's Who? (Arista Novus1979)
• Four Keys with Martial Solal, Lee Konitz and N.-H. Ørsted Pedersen (MPS, 1979)
• Bar Talk (Arista Novus, 1980)
• Out Like a Light (Enja, 1981)
• Shinola (Enja, 1981)
• Electric Outlet (Gramavision, 1984)
• Still Warm (Gramavision, 1985)
• Blue Matter (Gramavision, 1986)
• Loud Jazz (Gramavision, 1987)
• Pick Hits Live (Gramavision, 1987)
• Flat Out (Gramavision, 1989)
• Time on My Hands (Blue Note, 1990)
• Meant to Be (Blue Note, 1991)
• Grace Under Pressure (Blue Note, 1992)
• What We Do (Blue Note, 1993)
• I Can See Your House from Here, with Pat Metheny (Blue Note, 1994)
• Hand Jive (Blue Note, 1994)
• Groove Elation (Blue Note, 1995)
• Quiet (Verve, 1996)
• A Go Go with Medeski Martin & Wood (Verve, 1998)
• Shortcuts - Jazzpar Combo 1999 with Hans Ulrik, Lars Danielsson and Peter Erskine (Stunt, 1999)
• Bump (Verve, 2000)
• Works for Me (Verve, 2001)
• Überjam (Verve, 2002)
• Oh! as ScoLoHoFo (Blue Note, 2003)
• Up All Night (Verve, 2003)
• Scorched with Mark-Anthony Turnage (DG (Deutsche Grammophon), 2004)
• John Scofield Trio LIVE EnRoute (Verve, 2004)
• That's What I Say: John Scofield Plays the Music of Ray Charles (Verve, 2005)
• Saudades as Trio Beyond (ECM, 2006)
• Out Louder as Medeski Scofield Martin & Wood (Indirecto, 2006)
• This Meets That (EmArcy, 2007)
• Piety Street (EmArcy, 2009)
• 54 with Vince Mendoza & Metropole Orchestra (EmArcy, 2010)
• A Moment's Peace (EmArcy, 2011)
• MSMW Live: In Case the World Changes Its Mind as Medeski Scofield Martin & Wood (EmArcy, 2011)

Compilations

• Best of John Scofield (Blue Note, 1989)
• Slo Sco: The Best of the Ballads (Gramavision, 1990)
• Liquid Fire: The Best of John Scofield (Gramavision, 1994)
• Steady Groovin': The Blue Note Groove Sides (Blue Note, 2000)

As a sideman

Onstage in 2004

With George Adams

• More Sightings (Enja, 1984)

With the George Adams-Don Pullen Quartet

• Live at Montmartre (Timeless, 1985)

With Franco Ambrosetti

• Movies (Enja, 1987)
• Movies Too (Enja, 1988)

With Ray Anderson

• Blues Bred in the Bone (Enja, 1988)

With Teodross Avery

• My Generation (Impulse!, 1996)

With Chet Baker

• You Can't Go Home Again (A&M, 1977)
• The Best Thing for You (A&M, 1977)

With Joe Beck & Larry Coryell

• Tributaries (Arista Novus, 1978)

With Richie Beirach

• Some Other Time (Triloka, 1989)

With Paul Bley

• Hot (Soul Note, 1985)

With Gary Burton

• Times Like These (GRP, 1988)
• Six Pack (GRP, 1992)
• Departure (Concord, 1997)

With Terri Lyne Carrington

• Real Life Story (Verve Forecast, 1989)

With Dennis Chambers

• Getting Even (Glass House/Pioneer, 1991)

With Billy Cobham

• A Funky Thide of Sings (Atlantic, 1975)
• Life & Times (Atlantic, 1976)
• Inner Conflicts (Atlantic, 1978) JS on two tracks

With Larry Coryell

• Tributaries (RCA/Novus, 1978)

With Bill Cosby & Friends

• Where You Lay Your Head (Verve, 1990)

With Lars Danielson

• Fresh Enough (L+R, 1991)

With Miles Davis

• You're Under Arrest (Columbia, 1985)
• Decoy (Columbia, 1984)
• Star People (Columbia, 1983)
• The Complete Miles Davis at Montreux 1973-1991 (Warner Switzerland, 2002)

With Joey DeFrancesco

• Where Were You? (Columbia, 1990)

With Jack DeJohnette

• Music for the Fifth World (Capitol, 1992)

With John Ellis:

• One Foot in the Swamp (Hyena, 2005)

With Peter Erskine

• Sweet Soul (Arista Novus, 1991)

With David Friesen

• Two for the Show (ITM Pacific, 1994)

With Hal Galper

• Ivory Forest (Enja, 1979)

With Mike Gibbs Orchestra

• Big Time (Venture, 1988)

With Benny Golson

• Rhythmstick (CTI, 1990)

With Bill Goodwin

• Solar Energy (Omni Sound Jazz, 1981)

With Jon Gordon

• Possibilities (Double-Time, 2000)

With Urbie Green

• Señor Blues (CTI, 1977)

With Herbie Hancock

• The New Standard (Verve, 1995)

With Tom Harrell

• Stories (Contemporary, 1988)

With Jimmy Haslip

• A R C (UMG, 1993)

With Roy Haynes

• Love Letters (Columbia, 2003)

With Joe Henderson

• So Near, So Far (Musings for Miles) (Verve, 1993)
• Porgy & Bess (Verve, 1997)
• Quiet Now: Lovesome Thing (Verve, 1999) JS on two tracks

With Terumasa Hino

• May Dance (Flying Disk, 1977)
• Bluestruck (Blue Note, 1989)

With Ron Holloway

• Struttin (Milestone, 1995)

With Marc Johnson

• Bass Desires (ECM, 1986)
• Second Sight (ECM, 1987)
• Shades of Jade (ECM, 2005)

With Eero Koivistoinen

• Altered Things (Timeless, 1991)

With Lee Konitz

• Rhapsody II (Evidence, 1993)

With Niels Lan Doky

• Daybreak (Storyville, 1988)

With Phil Lesh and Friends

• Live at the Warfield (Image, 2006)

With Dave Liebman

• Don't Do It Again (Timeless, 1979)
• If They Only Knew (Timeless, 1980)
• What It Is (Columbia, 1980)

With Manhattan Jazz Quintet

• Manhattan Blues (Sweet Basil, 1990)

With Gary Marks

• Gathering (Arewea, 1974)

With Ron McClure

• Descendants (Ken, 1980)
• Home Base (ODE, 1987)

With Jim McNeely

• The Plot Thickens (Muse, 1979)
• with the WDR Big Band - East Coast Blow Out (Lipstick, 1989)

With Jay McShann

• Big Apple Bash (New World, 1971)

With Charles Mingus

• Three or Four Shades of Blues (Atlantic, 1977)

With Gerry Mulligan and Chet Baker

• Carnegie Hall Concert (CTI, 1974)

With Missing Links

• Groovin' (MCA, 1988) JS on two tracks

With L'Orchestre National du Jazz

• Orchestre National du Jazz '86 (Label Bleu, 1986)

With Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen

• Dancing on the Tables (Steeple Chase, 1979)

With John Patitucci

• Now (Concord Jazz, 1998)

With Jim Pepper

• Comin' and Goin' (Antilles, 1974)

With Knut Riisnæs & Jon Christensen

• Knut Riisnæs - Jon Christensen featuring John Scofield - Palle Danielsson (Odin, 1992)

With Zbigniew Seifert

• Passion (Capitol, 1979)

With Tommy Smith

• Step by Step (Blue Note, 1988)
• Blue Smith (Linn, 1999)

With Jeremy Steig

• Firefly (CTI, 1977)

With Steve Swallow

• Swallow (XtraWATT, 1991)

With Harvie Swartz

• In a Different Light (Blue Moon, 1990)

With Gary Thomas

• By Any Means Necessary (JMT, 1989)

With Mark-Anthony Turnage

• Blood on the Floor (Decca, 1998)

With McCoy Tyner

• Things Ain't What They Used to Be (Blue Note, 1989)

With Miroslav Vitous

• Guardian Angels (Trio, 1978)

With Bennie Wallace

• Sweeping Through the City (Enja, 1984)
• Twilight Time (Blue Note, 1985)
• Art of the Saxphone (Denon, 1987)
• Border Town (Blue Note, 1987)

With Jack Walrath

• Demons in Pursuit (Gatemouth, 1979)

With Peter Warren

• Solidarity (JAPO, 1982)

With Bugge Wesseltoft

• New Conception of Jazz Live (Jazzland, 2003)

With Lenny White

• Present Tense (Hip Bop, 1995)

With Keller Williams

• Dream (SCI Fidelity, 2007)

Awards

In 1998, John Scofield was granted the Miles Davis Award by the Montreal International Jazz Festival.

External links

• Official site