In his youth, Jazz guitarist John Scofield spent a lot of time in New York’s famous music venue Filmore East, where Rock-, Jazz- and Country musicians played on the same stage. No wonder, while finding his home in Jazz music, he loved to cross musical borders during all his career. One of his latest albums, Country for Old Men, is just one of his many fusions.
Country for Old Men
In his second last album so far, Country for Old Men, John Scofield plays Country classics. Released late in 2016, it was worth a Grammy Award for Best Jazz Instrumental Album in 2017.
Accompanied by Larry Goldings (piano and Hammond organ), Steve Swallow (bass) and Bill Stewart (drums), John concentrates on single-note runs to replace the original vocals. Thanks to the setup as a quartet, he does not have to play chords in addition to the melodies in the arrangements, as would be essential in a trio. That’s how he kept the breadth and lost-highway mood of country music.
Scofield pays tribute to classic and modern country greats such as Hank Williams, Merle Haggard, Dolly Parton or Shania Twain. In the twelve songs on the album, he does also play some traditionals.
Buy the album from iTunes.
John Scofield
John Scofield was born in 1951 in Ohio. His guitar work has influenced jazz since the late 70’s and is going strong today. Possessor of a very distinctive sound and stylistic diversity, Scofield is a masterful jazz improviser whose music generally falls somewhere between post-bop, funk edged jazz, and R & B.
Noteworthy, John has suffered a severe hearing loss during his long career.
I think I broke my ear in my jazz rock time. At that time we played very loud, ear protection was not an issue for us. Today I have to wear a hearing aid so that I can have conversations with other people. Luckily, my current band does not play so loudly that I have to worry about the remaining sound. But maybe I’m fooling myself, maybe we’re really playing out loud.
European Tour
After playing four nights in St. Louis’ Jazz at the Bistro end of April, John Scofield is heading to Europe to perform his Country for Old Men during May:
- 02 – Kempten, Germany
- 03 – Milano, Italy
- 04 – Wien, Austria
- 05 – Basel, Switzerland
- 07 – Bonn, Germany
- 08 – Meslay Du Maine, France
- 09 – Copenhagen, Denmark
- 10 – Copenhagen, Denmark
- 11 – Malmo, Sweden
- 13 – Porto, Portugal
- 14 – Rome, Italy
- 15 – London, England
- 16 – Le Vesinet, France
- 18 – Marly, France
- 19 – Den Bosch, Netherlands