Biography
Known for his signature tone laced with subtle distortion, guitarist John Scofield has long ranked among jazz’s most inventive soloists, moving fluidly across post-bop, fusion, funk, and soul-jazz idioms. Alongside Pat Metheny and Bill Frisell, he formed one of the three dominant guitar voices in late-twentieth-century jazz, an influence that deepened throughout the 1990s and has persisted into the present. He first gained notice in the mid-1970s alongside trumpeter Chet Baker and drummer Billy Cobham, then began issuing his own recordings with the pivotal early statements East Meets West in 1977 and Out Like a Light in 1981. During the following decade he became a key participant in Miles Davis’s group while simultaneously advancing his own catalog through albums such as 1986’s Blue Matter and 1998’s A Go Go, the latter recorded with Medeski, Martin & Wood. Well into his fourth decade of performing, Scofield earned Grammy Awards for Past Present in 2015 and Country for Old Men in 2016. He next released Combo ’66—reflecting his age at the time—with a quartet in 2018, followed by the solo-guitar collection John Scofield in 2022. The double-length Uncle John’s Band arrived in 2023, mixing originals, covers, and standards.
Scofield was born in Dayton, Ohio, in 1951 and spent his formative years in Wilton, Connecticut, where he took up the guitar during high school. Between 1970 and 1973 he attended the Berklee College of Music in Boston and performed regularly in local venues. After appearing on recordings with Gerry Mulligan and Chet Baker at Carnegie Hall, he spent two years in the Billy Cobham–George Duke band. In 1977 he recorded with Charles Mingus, later joining the Gary Burton quartet and Dave Liebman’s quintet. His initial dates as a leader—East Meets West (1977), Rough House (1978), and Ivory Forest (1979)—leaned toward funk.
From 1982 to 1985 Scofield toured internationally and recorded with Miles Davis. While with Davis he still found room for independent projects, working with Charlie Haden, Jack DeJohnette, Joe Lovano, Eddie Harris, and numerous others. His own releases from this era, including Flat Out (1988), Meant to Be (1990), and Hand Jive (1993), shifted toward a post-bop orientation. He also participated in the jazz supergroup Bass Desires alongside bassist Marc Johnson, guitarist Bill Frisell, and drummer Peter Erskine.
Scofield began a sustained association with Verve in 1996 via the acoustic album Quiet. He followed with the groove-oriented A Go Go, again featuring Medeski, Martin & Wood, in 1997; Bump (2000) incorporated musicians from Sex Mob, Soul Coughing, and Deep Banana Blackout. Works for Me (2001) returned to a more conventional jazz palette, whereas Uberjam (2002) and Up All Night (2003) revisited fusion textures. The John Scofield Trio—completed by drummer Bill Stewart and bassist Steve Swallow—delivered the live set EnRoute in 2004, noted for its cerebral interplay. In 2005 Scofield honored soul legend Ray Charles with That’s What I Say, recruiting guest vocalists and players such as Dr. John, Warren Haynes, and Mavis Staples.
His first Emarcy release, This Meets That, appeared in 2007; the program again revolved around a chosen theme and placed the guitarist before a sizable horn section of winds, brass, and reeds, performing both originals and material drawn from rock and pop sources. Among the more striking reinterpretations were radically recast versions of Charlie Rich’s “Behind Closed Doors” and the Rolling Stones’ “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction.” Another departure came with 2009’s Piety Street, on which Scofield enlisted Jon Cleary on keyboards, former Meters bassist George Porter, and drummer Ricky Fataar to explore spirituals and gospel songs rendered in a soul-jazz groove. He served as featured soloist on the Metropole Orkest’s 54, issued by Emarcy in 2010.
Scofield revisited the thematic approach for A Moment’s Peace, a 2011 ballad collection spanning Gershwin, the Beatles, and fresh material. The album, recorded with drummer Brian Blade, organist Larry Goldings, and bassist Scott Colley, reached listeners in September of that year. Also in 2011, Indirecto Records issued the double-length MSMW Live: In Case the World Changes Its Mind, drawn from Medeski, Scofield, Martin & Wood’s 2006 world tour and featuring repertoire from both A Go Go and the group’s studio album Out Louder. More than a decade after Uberjam, Scofield reassembled several of its contributors—Avi Bortnick on guitar and samples, Adam Deitch on drums, plus guest John Medeski—along with bassist Andy Hess and drummer Louis Cato for Uberjam Deux, released in July 2013.
Past Present, issued in 2015, reunited Scofield with his 1990s quartet of saxophonist Joe Lovano, drummer Bill Stewart, and bassist Larry Grenadier. The following year he released Country for Old Men, a salute to country music that incorporated a pair of traditional pieces plus songs linked to Hank Williams, Dolly Parton, George Jones, Merle Haggard, and Shania Twain; the album reached number four on the jazz chart and received the Grammy for Best Instrumental Jazz Album. Drummer Jack DeJohnette, a longtime Hudson Valley resident, convened a quartet with Scofield, Grenadier, and John Medeski—each of whom lives in or near the region—to record originals and material associated, directly or indirectly, with the area. Issued in 2017 to celebrate DeJohnette’s seventy-fifth birthday, the resulting album Hudson was followed by a tour. Scofield returned to leading his own band on Combo 66 in 2018, again featuring Stewart, bassist Vicente Archer, and pianist Gerald Clayton. Swallow Tales appeared on ECM in June 2020, capturing a relaxed session with Stewart and bassist Steve Swallow. Two years later the guitarist made his ECM debut as a solo artist with the thirteen-track John Scofield, interpreting jazz, folk, R&B, and country standards alongside reworked originals from his catalog.
In October 2023 the double-length Uncle John’s Band, recorded with Archer and Stewart, surfaced on ECM, presenting an open-textured program of folk-rock covers, jazz and pop standards, and original compositions.
Scofield was born in Dayton, Ohio, in 1951 and spent his formative years in Wilton, Connecticut, where he took up the guitar during high school. Between 1970 and 1973 he attended the Berklee College of Music in Boston and performed regularly in local venues. After appearing on recordings with Gerry Mulligan and Chet Baker at Carnegie Hall, he spent two years in the Billy Cobham–George Duke band. In 1977 he recorded with Charles Mingus, later joining the Gary Burton quartet and Dave Liebman’s quintet. His initial dates as a leader—East Meets West (1977), Rough House (1978), and Ivory Forest (1979)—leaned toward funk.
From 1982 to 1985 Scofield toured internationally and recorded with Miles Davis. While with Davis he still found room for independent projects, working with Charlie Haden, Jack DeJohnette, Joe Lovano, Eddie Harris, and numerous others. His own releases from this era, including Flat Out (1988), Meant to Be (1990), and Hand Jive (1993), shifted toward a post-bop orientation. He also participated in the jazz supergroup Bass Desires alongside bassist Marc Johnson, guitarist Bill Frisell, and drummer Peter Erskine.
Scofield began a sustained association with Verve in 1996 via the acoustic album Quiet. He followed with the groove-oriented A Go Go, again featuring Medeski, Martin & Wood, in 1997; Bump (2000) incorporated musicians from Sex Mob, Soul Coughing, and Deep Banana Blackout. Works for Me (2001) returned to a more conventional jazz palette, whereas Uberjam (2002) and Up All Night (2003) revisited fusion textures. The John Scofield Trio—completed by drummer Bill Stewart and bassist Steve Swallow—delivered the live set EnRoute in 2004, noted for its cerebral interplay. In 2005 Scofield honored soul legend Ray Charles with That’s What I Say, recruiting guest vocalists and players such as Dr. John, Warren Haynes, and Mavis Staples.
His first Emarcy release, This Meets That, appeared in 2007; the program again revolved around a chosen theme and placed the guitarist before a sizable horn section of winds, brass, and reeds, performing both originals and material drawn from rock and pop sources. Among the more striking reinterpretations were radically recast versions of Charlie Rich’s “Behind Closed Doors” and the Rolling Stones’ “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction.” Another departure came with 2009’s Piety Street, on which Scofield enlisted Jon Cleary on keyboards, former Meters bassist George Porter, and drummer Ricky Fataar to explore spirituals and gospel songs rendered in a soul-jazz groove. He served as featured soloist on the Metropole Orkest’s 54, issued by Emarcy in 2010.
Scofield revisited the thematic approach for A Moment’s Peace, a 2011 ballad collection spanning Gershwin, the Beatles, and fresh material. The album, recorded with drummer Brian Blade, organist Larry Goldings, and bassist Scott Colley, reached listeners in September of that year. Also in 2011, Indirecto Records issued the double-length MSMW Live: In Case the World Changes Its Mind, drawn from Medeski, Scofield, Martin & Wood’s 2006 world tour and featuring repertoire from both A Go Go and the group’s studio album Out Louder. More than a decade after Uberjam, Scofield reassembled several of its contributors—Avi Bortnick on guitar and samples, Adam Deitch on drums, plus guest John Medeski—along with bassist Andy Hess and drummer Louis Cato for Uberjam Deux, released in July 2013.
Past Present, issued in 2015, reunited Scofield with his 1990s quartet of saxophonist Joe Lovano, drummer Bill Stewart, and bassist Larry Grenadier. The following year he released Country for Old Men, a salute to country music that incorporated a pair of traditional pieces plus songs linked to Hank Williams, Dolly Parton, George Jones, Merle Haggard, and Shania Twain; the album reached number four on the jazz chart and received the Grammy for Best Instrumental Jazz Album. Drummer Jack DeJohnette, a longtime Hudson Valley resident, convened a quartet with Scofield, Grenadier, and John Medeski—each of whom lives in or near the region—to record originals and material associated, directly or indirectly, with the area. Issued in 2017 to celebrate DeJohnette’s seventy-fifth birthday, the resulting album Hudson was followed by a tour. Scofield returned to leading his own band on Combo 66 in 2018, again featuring Stewart, bassist Vicente Archer, and pianist Gerald Clayton. Swallow Tales appeared on ECM in June 2020, capturing a relaxed session with Stewart and bassist Steve Swallow. Two years later the guitarist made his ECM debut as a solo artist with the thirteen-track John Scofield, interpreting jazz, folk, R&B, and country standards alongside reworked originals from his catalog.
In October 2023 the double-length Uncle John’s Band, recorded with Archer and Stewart, surfaced on ECM, presenting an open-textured program of folk-rock covers, jazz and pop standards, and original compositions.
Albums
Singles
