{"id":37820,"date":"2015-10-02T02:10:55","date_gmt":"2015-10-02T07:10:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/?p=37820"},"modified":"2015-10-02T22:09:06","modified_gmt":"2015-10-03T03:09:06","slug":"john-scofield-past-present","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/2015\/10\/02\/john-scofield-past-present\/","title":{"rendered":"John Scofield: Past Present"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Scofield<\/a>Jazz journeyman John Scofield is back with his latest installment as the illustrious Ohioan with flying fingers continues to do what he was put on this planet to do. With more than four decades in jazz and collaborations with the likes of Miles Davis, Charles Mingus, and Herbie Hancock, Scofield is still recording relentlessly. He joins drummer Bill Stewart, saxophonist Joe Lovano, and bassist Larry Grenadier on Past Present. <\/em><\/p>\n

Scofield reunited the group after nearly 20 years had passed since their last collaboration. Lovano and Scofield were classmates at Berklee College of Music in the \u201870s and Lovano later met Stewart while teaching at William Patterson College in New Jersey. The group previously recorded with bassist Dennis Irwin but recruited Grenadier for Past Present <\/em>due to the passing of Irwin in 2008. The album is Scofield\u2019s debut on Impulse! Records, the label once at the hands Coltrane\u2019s A Love Supreme<\/em>. Past Present <\/em>is the latest work from Scofield since his 2014 release Juice <\/em>as a part of Medeski Scofield Martin & Wood and his first solo release since 2013\u2019s \u00dcberjam Deux. <\/em><\/p>\n

The albums begins to churn with Scofield\u2019s pairing of elite technique and slippery, slurred lines on the opener \u201cSlinky,\u201d a tune taking it back to Scofield\u2019s style in his 1998 release A Go Go<\/em>. John and the guys then pick things up a bit with the speedily swanky \u201cChap Dance.\u201d<\/p>\n

Next is \u201cMuseum,\u201d a track that probably belongs in one the way the jovial jazz master jumps from fret to fret as sax man Lovano relishes the opportunity to get know the listener a little better. \u201cGet Proud\u201d is absolute vintage Scofield as the intro is reminiscent of \u201cGreen Tea\u201d from A Go Go. <\/em>He then takes the back seat to Lovano as the track turns sweet and steamy. Scofield won\u2019t leave without a last word, though, as Lovano trades him back the reigns in exchange for one of the more remarkable solos on the album.<\/p>\n

Proceeded only by the title track \u201cPast Present,” \u201cMr. Puffy\u201d is a cornerstone of the album. Scofield revealed in an NPR Songs We Love<\/a> feature that his relationship with his son shaped most of the Past Present <\/em>material. Scofield\u2019s son Evan passed away from cancer in 2013 and referred to himself as \u201cMr. Puffy\u201d during chemotherapy.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know what I was going through\u201d said Scofield. \u201cI wasn\u2019t thinking about music really. I was thinking about him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Past Present<\/em>, to Scofield, also represents his refusal to remain stagnant as an artist while simultaneously embodying his utmost appreciation for the genre and a desire to pay homage to the artists that shaped him. Failure to embrace evolution despite a storied career like Scofield\u2019s would simply be na\u00efve. The fitting finale \u201cPast Present\u201d showcases a fret-wandering Scofield and the dynamic rhythm section of Stewart and Grenadier in superb form as the nine-track record eases to an end.<\/p>\n

Scofield is nimble by nature in this release and resilient as ever. Now 63 years old, the jazz behemoth shows no signs of scaling back the ferocious clip at which he records. Throughout life\u2019s twists and turns, his performance on this album is a testament to his perseverance. As far as a theme behind Scofield\u2019s Past Present<\/em>, don\u2019t ever stop moving.<\/p>\n

Recommended If You Like: Medeski Martin & Wood, Pat Metheny, Bill Frisell<\/strong><\/p>\n

Recommended Tracks: 8 (Mr. Puffy), 9 (Past Present), 6 (Get Proud), 1 (Slinky), 5 (Season Creep)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Do Not Play: None<\/strong><\/p>\n

Written by Harrison Hipp on 10\/02\/15<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Scofield is nimble by nature in this release and resilient as ever.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1602,"featured_media":37821,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[183,4,3235,3230],"tags":[2639,3657,3658],"class_list":["post-37820","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-jazz-rotation","category-music","category-music-reviews","category-new-music-rotation","tag-harrison-hipp","tag-john-scofield","tag-past-present"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/Scofield-Past-Present.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37820","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1602"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37820"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37820\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/37821"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37820"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37820"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37820"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}