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Thursday, 29 July 2010

A Week in the West with the John Scofield Quartet

Written by Ronaldo Oregano

Sunday, 07 March 2010

John Scofield © John Whiting

The John Scofield quartet with Mulgrew Miller on piano, Ben Street on bass, and Kendrick Scott on drums will be hitting the west coast from north to south in a week. Scofield is taking a break from his Piety Street tour to hit the west coast with this fine jazz quartet. They will perform on March 9th and 10th at Jazz Alley in Seattle. Then on Tuesday, March 11th through Sunday, March 14th they are at Yoshi's in Oakland. For a single night each they play the Kuumbwa Jazz Center in Santa Cruz on March 15th and at Anthology in San Diego on Tuesday, March 16th.

John Scofield is considered one of the "big three" of current jazz guitarists — along with Pat Metheny and Bill Frisell. His influence began in 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.

Born in Ohio and raised in suburban Connecticut, Scofield took up the guitar at age 11, inspired by both rock and blues players. He attended Berklee College of Music in Boston. After a debut recording with Gerry Mulligan and Chet Baker, Scofield was a member of the Billy Cobham-George Duke band for two years. In 1977 he recorded with Charles Mingus, and joined the Gary Burton quartet. He began his international career as a bandleader and recording artist in 1978. From 1982-1985, Scofield toured and recorded with Miles Davis. His Davis stint placed him firmly in the foreground of jazz consciousness as a player and composer.

Since that time Scofield has prominently led his own groups in the international Jazz scene, recorded over 30 albums as a leader (many already classics) including collaborations with contemporary favorites like Pat Metheny, Charlie Haden, Eddie Harris, Medeski, Martin & Wood, Bill Frisell, Brad Mehldau, Mavis Staples, Government Mule, Jack DeJohnette, Joe Lovano and Phil Lesh. He’s played and recorded with Tony Williams, Jim Hall, Ron Carter, Herbie Hancock, Joe Henderson, Dave Holland, Terumasa Hino among many jazz legends. Throughout his career Scofield has punctuated his traditional jazz offerings with funk-oriented electric music. All along, the guitarist has kept an open musical mind.

Touring the world approximately 200 days per year with his own groups, Scofield is an Adjunct Professor of Music at New York University, a husband and father of two.

Mulgrew Miller Trio © Andrea Canter

Renowned jazz pianist Mulgrew Miller has recorded with almost every known Jazz artist in the scene, from Joe Lovano to Nicholas Payton. In fact, he remains one of the most recorded pianists in the scene today (second only to Kenny Barron), with over 400 recording sessions to his credit. Miller will appear with his trio at the Jazz Showcase in Chicago on Wednesday, July 15th through Sunday, July 19th.

Mulgrew Miller professional career started, aged twenty, with the Duke Ellington Orchestra, led by the late Mercer Ellington. During his formative years as a sideman, Mulgrew also worked with Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers, Woody Shaw's Quintet and Betty Carter's group. He was also one of the founding members of Tony Williams' Quintet.

In 1995 Mulgrew toured Europe and the US sharing the stage with fellow pianist Kenny Barron. Mulgrew has also been noticed in various all star groups, such as The New York Jazz Giants, One Hundred Golden Fingers or the early editions of Jazz at the Philharmonic Revisited. In 1999 Mulgrew started working with virtuoso bassist Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen. Together they recorded Duets, a wonderful CD for Bang & Olufsen featuring the music of Duke Ellington and Jimmy Blanton.

Mulgrew Miller's latest releases on MaxJazz include: The Sequel (2003), featuring his sextet Wingspan; Live at Yoshi’s volume 1 and 2 (2004 & 2005), with Derrick Hodge and Karriem Riggins; and Live at Kennedy Center volumes 1 and 2 (2006 & 2007), featuring Derrick Hodge and Rodney Green.

On May 20, 2006, Miller was awarded the honorary degree of Doctor of Performing Arts at Lafayette College's 171st Commencement Exercises. As of 2006 he is the Director of Jazz Studies at William Paterson University.

A highly original composer, Mulgrew has moved, as an interpreter, from such influences as McCoy Tyner, Oscar Peterson and Wynton Kelly to become very recognizably his own man, powerful, lyrical, and imaginative.

John Scofield quartet tour schedule