Article by Karel Van Keymeulen
Guitarist John Scofield had to turn 70 first, and it took a pandemic before he ventured onto his first solo album. The result? A gentle and accessible album in which the master shines.
'I was scared, it's terrifying. Playing solo is so laborious and delicate and you're on your own,' Scofield says in a video from his record label ECM.
'A pianist playing solo can simultaneously play harmonies with his left hand and solo with his right. But a guitarist? It was the biggest challenge of my life. Fortunately, there is the walking machine that allows me to accompany myself,' he says.
That machine makes it seem like Scofield is playing a duet with himself on his solo album - which is simply called John Scofield. There is a great calmness all over the record, which makes it fit well into the ECM catalog.
A pianist playing solo can simultaneously play harmonies with his left hand and solo with his right. But a guitarist? It was the biggest challenge of my life.
John Scofield
The sound of Scofield
You immediately recognize Scofield, although he sounds more subdued and his playing is stripped down to its pure essence. He accentuates all notes even more, seeking out subtle colors and shadows with great textural ingenuity.
From his broad view of American music, he selected songs from jazz, country and rock that he loves, as well as some compositions of his own. It is an intimate portrait of a man, his guitar and his looper.
Sounds like
The versatile guitarist is distinguished by his style in which he mixes jazz, blues, funk and soul. Sometimes cutting and rousing, other times polished and harmonious; his eclectic catalog seems to contain music for every mood.
Scofield's guitar playing is instantly recognizable, with a meaty bluesy sound, elastic lines and crunchy dissonances. He knows the plaintive effects and sinuous cries of blues and rock, as well as the bop language.
Scofield's guitar playing is immediately recognizable, with a meaty bluesy sound, elastic lines and crunchy dissonances. He knows the plaintive effects and sinuous cries from blues and rock, as well as the bop language.
Van Keymeulen
Among the greats
John Scofield, often mentioned in the same breath as other master guitarists such as Bill Frisell and Pat Metheny, has made more than 40 albums in his long career, not counting his work as a sideman. He has collaborated with leading musicians in genres ranging from jazz to funk to psychedelic rock.
Between 1982 and 1985, he was alongside the grandmaster Miles Davis, who reinvigorated his career with lots of electronics and electric sounds. Scofield's biting sound full of blues colors and his unique approach to melody and harmony pleased Miles.
Lost without a guitar
Scofield needed a group to play. Listening to each other and improvising with each other was what it was all about for him. He did not see the solo guitar as the perfect platform for improvisation.
'I'm lost without the guitar,' he said in an interview in De Standaard (23 OKT '15). 'Even though guitar is a damn difficult instrument. Sometimes I hate them. But all these years, since I was 11, all I've done is play guitar. As a kid you want to be somebody, that's why I started playing guitar. Besides the fact that I had an obsession with music. If I didn't play guitar, who would I be? I sometimes fret about losing my hands, I'm really afraid of that sometimes.'
I'm lost without a guitar. Even though it's a damn difficult instrument. Sometimes I hate them. But all these years, since I was eleven, all I've done is play guitar.
John Scofield
Why solo
Quite a few guitarists preceded him with solo albums. From Joe Pass to Pat Metheny, from Kenny Burrell to Marc Ribot, from Bill Frisell to Julian Lage. With us, young Vitja Pauwels even released his second solo album already.
The technical means today allow for the creation of a layered sound. But Scofield, a guitarist pur sang, found all that too much hassle.
After all these years, he finally got triggered to go it alone. The pandemic played a role. 'And then how did I get through the pandemic? Well at home, with my wife Susan and my dog Gunnar. And like many guitarists, I played guitar a lot. Alone. I bought some equipment and in my little studio I made recordings, sent them to ECM boss Manfred Eicher and an album came out of that,' he says in an ECM podcast.
At the same time, he realized that he has been playing guitar alone at home or in hotel rooms every day since 1962. 'I'm a road dog, since 1975 I've been on the road half the year. I have to play guitar every day or I won't play well.'
From his broad view of American music, he selected songs from jazz, country and rock that he loves, as well as some compositions of his own. It is an intimate portrait of a man, his guitar and his looper.
Van Keymeulen
Finally that solo record
Today he dares to be alone on stage, without pre-recorded samples. He creates his accompaniments on the spot over which he solos. He is free, does what he wants and shows his deep love for the guitar.
His solo album contains thirteen tracks, five of which are his own mostly older songs as well as some traditionals, standards, a bop-like and a funky number. He opens with the contemplative Coral, an early ballad by Keith Jarrett from 1973. He ends with You Win Again by country great Hank Williams, a quiet blues ballad, a treat for the ear.
Scofield plays delicately and smoothly, but keeps biting accents and bending notes. You can hear that this music is all his own.
John Scofield solo
Living guitar legend
19:00 Tickets
John Scofield solo
Living guitar legend
21:00 Tickets