John Scofield
John Scofield ( born December 26, 1951 in Dayton, Ohio ) is an American jazz guitarist and composer.
Life and work
John Scofield was born in Dayton, Ohio and grew up in Wilton, Connecticut on. He began playing guitar at the age of eleven and played in bands in high school and in various rock and blues bands. After he came in contact by a teacher with the music of Wes Montgomery, Jim Hall and Pat Martino, he focused on jazz. From 1970 to 1973 he studied jazz at the Berklee College of Music in Boston. Among his teachers there included not only Mick Goodrick Gary Burton, with the Scofield played together later on.
Getting attention in the jazz scene could arouse Scofield, as Goodrick mediated him as a substitute for a concert with Gerry Mulligan and Chet Baker at Carnegie Hall. The breakthrough came as a member of the Billy Cobham / George Duke Band. As a result, he played with many well-known jazz musicians such as Charles Mingus, Herbie Hancock, Chick Corea, Joe Henderson ( So Near, So Far ( Musings for Miles ), 1992 and Porgy and Bess, 1997), Pat Metheny, McCoy Tyner, Bennie Wallace and Jim Hall. Since the late 1970s, he toured in a trio with Steve Swallow and Adam Nussbaum, which he achieved his breakthrough.
In 1982, a three and a half year-long collaboration with Miles Davis, which was characterized by an improvised funk and jazz. Marc Johnson's Bass Desires In project he performed with his guitar colleagues Bill Frisell. After Scofield had in 1989 signed a contract with Blue Note Records (until 1996, then at Verve ), he founded with saxophonist Joe Lovano, a friend from his time at Berklee College, a mostly acting as a quartet or quintet band, the most exposed to the representatives of the funk-jazz counts. Since 1998, John Scofield plays in a quartet with Joe Lovano (ts ), Dave Holland ( b ) and Al Foster (drums ), but also occurred with Medeski, Martin & Wood, 2012 with Steve Swallow and Bill Stewart.
Following the judgment of jazz journalist Richard Cook Scofield counts with Bill Frisell and Pat Metheny among the most important and influential jazz guitarist since Wes Montgomery. With Metheny Scofield took in 1994 on a duo album.
Sound and playing style
Scofield's sound is characterized by the use of a semi- acoustic electric guitar, often slightly distorted sound and using legato playing style bound melodies.
The extensive and highly skilled use of inside-outside game, ie targeted against each other bodies tonart foreign material and tonart -level material, has popularized this style of play among jazz guitarists and is closely associated with his name.
Pictures
2004 in Warsaw