Photo by Jake Krolick
John Scofield returns with his first studio album since 2009’s Piety Street. Whereas that project focused on music familiar to gospel music lovers, the guitarist turns another corner on A Moment’s Peace and shifts his musical ear on the ballad. Neither too quiet, nor too rambunctious, Sco finds a sweet sonic balance between the notes that makes his original and cover tunes on the even dozen project a pure listening joy. The legendary axe man has been quite busy of late, playing in various configurations and featuring layers of collaborations in the “million bands” he has formed and focused in the past few years.
Jambands.com caught up with Scofield before he takes another variation of his group, a quartet, on the road in the United States for a one month trek which begins on October 18 after numerous international dates in South America and Europe with other outfits. The ballads album showcases another side of his playing while also offering yet another look at the artistic colors in the man’s myriad of stylistic choices. What is so refreshing is that whereas Scofield can play in everything from a Danish orchestra to the Allman Brothers Band to Medeski, Scofield, Martin & Wood, he never loses his consistently powerful voice on guitar. The instrument speaks loudly and softly within the textures of these many musical environments, and he does very well here, too, in our conversation.
RR: There is a very serene and magical quality to A Moment’s Peace —everything is in its right place. How did you choose the songs for this project?
JS: First of all, thanks, man. I think so much of it is a gut feeling when I sit down with my guitar. I have to love the song when I’m choosing songs. But there are a lot of songs that I really like that I don’t particularly play great on the guitar. It doesn’t quite translate. I can be a fan of the song, but it’s not quite right for me, so I just have to sit down with my guitar, and say, “Ah, this is happening.” And it is the same thing as when I write tunes; I write them on the guitar. If that can come alive, when we go to play it, then it works.
I’ve got to say that I picked the songs [on A Moment’s Peace ] thinking of how the musicians that I’m playing with will play it because this quartet is made up of great players that totally vibe people, that go with a feeling, and then, try and make that mood. So many of the arrangements that I came up with, I really did think, “Well, this is how Brian [Blade, drummer] would maybe do it on the drums, or Larry [Goldings, pianist/organist] would approach this on keyboards.” So, I’m thinking of them when I’m picking the tune, as well; first me, then them. (laughs)
RR: Let’s talk about some of those collaborators. This is Brian Blade’s first time on a record with you, but you’ve had Scott Colby on bass for a while, and Larry has played with you for quite some time.
JS: Larry has been with me for many years—on and off. He was in my band for a few years in the 90s, and we made Hand Jive and Groove Elation on Blue Note, so we were together back then and that’s when we really forged a musical relationship. Then, we did a record [ Saudades ] in a project called Trio Beyond with Jack DeJohnette where we toured and did a bunch of stuff and kept it going. I’ve played with him a lot. He’s my favorite. There’s so much we can do with him. He likes to play a little bit of funk and jazz, too, and he can even get into a country tune. He can do everything well. He’s not a Jack of All Trades and Master of None; he’s just a great player, and we happen to have the same stuff that we both like, so I just love him. He was perfect for the date.
Scott Colley, actually, I haven’t played with that much, but I’m a fan of his. He plays with Jim Hall a lot, and plays around New York with his own projects. I thought of a ballads-y kind of record—he can play anything—and he has that beautiful, sensitive thing, too, that everybody in the band was really right for that. Their antennas were up.
I’ve played with Brian a little bit. I’m a huge fan. This is the first recording we’d done, and I haven’t played with him a whole lot, but I’m a huge fan. He’s a magician, really.
RR: I love the contrast between Brian Blade on drums and the way you play with him, and Bill Stewart, who you’ve played with in your other collaborations.
JS: Yeah. Bill—I’ve been so lucky that I’ve gotten to play with all these great drummers. I think, in a way, that drums are the heart of a group. Rhythm is the key to the music. When you’re playing any instrument, you’re playing the drums on that instrument to a certain extent. And drums play melodically. These guys like Bill Stewart and Brian Blade color the music all the time with different sounds, as well as providing the rhythm.
RR: How do you determine who will play with you, for example, the fall tour you are playing that takes you through South America, the States, and Europe?
JS: Well, you know, I have about a million bands. (laughter) And this is cool for me, man. I really feel that I’m lucky to break it up and play a bunch of different projects because they get me excited and keep me fresh. I’m going with my jazz quartet, which is with Bill Stewart, a young piano player named Michael Eckroth, and another great bass player named Ben Street.
RR: Your crew on the 2010 DVD New Morning: The Paris Concert.
JS: Yeah, that’s the group from New Morning. They were with me in South America.
RR: And you went to Denmark, as well.
JS: Bill Stewart and I went to Denmark to play with a big band that is Danish musicians playing all my tunes for big band.
RR: A different band than your collaboration with Metropole Orkest.
JS: The band is called Klüvers Big Band. They just found me. It’s great. They’ve done a bunch of projects. Kurt Elling, the singer, just did a thing with them. They bring over soloists like the Metropole Orkest. I had Bill with me playing my tunes with big band. When I went back to Europe, I went with a completely different quartet, which has never recorded, but I call it the John Scofield R&B Quartet. You know Nige; he’s played with Warren [Haynes]. Nigel [Hall] sings and plays piano and Terence Higgins, who was playing with me in my Piety Street band, who has also played with Warren, plays drums, and Andy Hess on bass. So, it was a bunch of Warren Haynes alumni. We did some completely different music for a three-week Europe tour.
The tour of the States, which lasts a month [mid-October through mid-November], has the same quartet from the DVD [ New Morning: The Paris Concert ], except Bill Stewart can’t do it because he’s going out with [Pat] Metheny, so Greg Hutchinson is going to play drums. I’m lucky to get to play with all these great musicians. What can I say?
RR: Speaking of great musicians, A Moment’s Peace has Scofield originals that are real gems, but there are also inspired covers such as “I Will,” which was was written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney. Has that one been close to your heart?
JS: All the Beatles songs are really close to my heart. It’s funny. When I looked back, I actually looked at the timeline, and I was 11, almost 12 years old when I got my first guitar. My mother got me an acoustic guitar. I had my guitar for four or five months, and the Beatles came on television in America [January 1964]. This was this big thing where they came on the Ed Sullivan Show, and I had just turned 12 years old. So, that music for the next four years, that music took over the world, and took me over, too. And I learned to play music from learning to play those songs when they were new hits on the radio. I learned a D chord in order to play “Love Me Do,” or something. This is like some really little kid stuff, and when you’re that age, it’s actually the beginning of puberty, and that music stays with you for every generation, and everybody says the same thing. The Beatles—those songs, they are just so there that I don’t have to think about it.
This is funny, though. I have a story about “I Will.” My wife, Susan, years ago had said, “Why don’t you play that tune? It would work well as a tune for you to play on guitar.” I thought, “Oh, O.K., I’ll check it out.” And I actually transcribed it, and I wrote it down on a piece of music paper. I had been thinking when I was making this record that I wanted to have some kind of contemporary tune, not all just originals and jazz tunes. I actually listened to a whole bunch of stuff, stuff that I like like Elliot Smith and stuff by a bunch of real contemporary groups and, again, songs I love, but nothing that really just clicked with me just playing on a guitar. I thought, “What the hell; I just won’t have anything like that.” As I was leaving to the rehearsal with the band, that piece of music that I had written four years before appeared before me on the floor of my studio.
RR: WOW. There’s your synchronicity.
JS: (laughter) I swear to God. It was like “Oh, what is this?” A cosmic thing happened. And, you know, you can get a little bit of a groove going on that tune. I always thought of it as a…you know the way Brian plays on that tune, when I first started to get into New Orleans music playing with guys from New Orleans, the first guy that I met was Johnny Vidacovich, the drummer. You know him.
RR: Yeah, I know him.
JS: Yeah. This was like 1980, and I went down and played with those guys. Vidacovich’s playing is and still is—I love it—and after I played this tune with Brian, I thought, “God, I hear some of the way like the way Johnny V. would play, and then Brian said, “I was his student.” Brian studied with him years ago in New Orleans because Brian was from down there in Louisiana, not New Orleans. That was cool on that tune.
RR: “I Will” is the second track on the new album, and it is interesting to swing all the way to the end and you frame the piece with Gershwin’s “I Love You Porgy.” It’s another example of how you put your own trademark on a track.
JS: Yeah. Yeah. I try to play them all personally. That’s what you have to do. I had to really learn these tunes to get into them. On that one, I did sort of a different sonic thing that just felt right. I’ve always loved that song. This is the music that when I grew up every old fart was telling me, “Yeah, those Beatles are good, but you should listen to George Gershwin.” I was like, “Whatever. Give me a break.”
And now that I’m an old fart, they were right. (laughter) George Gershwin’s songs…he just wrote incredible songs, and that’s one of the most beautiful songs I’ve ever heard.
RR: And then there is another interesting swing with “Lawns” by Carla Bley, which is great cover and, again, it fits in well with the overall texture of the album.
JS: Yeah. Well, thanks, man. My mentor, really, and great great friend is Steve Swallow, and his partner is Carla Bley, and they’ve been together for forever, and I’m a Carla Bley fan for as long as I can remember. Her tunes, her whole everything about her—I love her music. She’s a giant. I asked Steve, “Do you think Carla has any tunes that would work for me on a ballad record?” And Carla sent me over like ten pieces of music—songs that she had recorded and this one she had recorded in an electric period in the 80s. She was doing some records that have actually been overlooked because people confuse them with smooth jazz, but they are so much more than that genre.
I had the music, and I knew this was on an old record, but I didn’t listen to the original record of it. I just played the music from the page and decided to kind of swing it. It turns
out (laughs) she did it in a completely different way, but I hope she’s not mad at me for changing her tune around. I love that song, “Lawns.” It’s like a rock anthem. The actual song reminds me of something like “Layla.” It just has this anthemic quality to it. I love that song and Larry on organ on it. Jesus.
RR: “Gee Baby, Ain’t I Good To You” by Andy Razaf and Don Redman.
JS: Hey, you know, that’s one of the hippest songs ever written. It’s a blues, but it’s in two keys at once. There’s just this weird musical relationship between the key of C and the key of E-flat. (laughs) It’s got a 4-bar bridge, instead of an 8-bar bridge; it’s just incredible. It’s 8, 8, 4, and 8, bar wise. I just love the song. It gives us a chance to play the blues, too. I tried to, as always, make the record have variety, so this was our little blues thing, and, man, I think we really hit it on this one.
RR: Let’s talk about that. When you wrote your original pieces, were they written for this particular work? How did you structure those tunes with these covers?
JS: The first tune, “Simply Put,” I wrote years ago, so I had that sittin’ around. Now, the other ones—“Johan,” “Mood Returns,” “Already September,” and “Plain Song”—I wrote those recently with the idea of making this record. So I had the idea of making this record a while back. “Johan” just started out and I actually realized after I started writing it that it was really similar in a certain way voicing-wise to this Bach guitar piece that I had learned, again, 40 years ago, and had forgotten. (laughs) And I still had forgotten it. There are certain voicings, so I dedicated it to him, and that just sort of had the feeling to me of classical music. It’s still my shit, and it’s a jazz tune, or whatever, but there are certain little things that remind me of Segovia or something, but very very abstract. So that was one time where there was a certain mood, a ballad that’s a certain flavor.
“Mood Returns” is more of…I called it “Mood Returns” because…it’s very hard to explain this, and I don’t even know what it is, but it’s just a mood that some of my songs used to have a long time ago and I got the feeling of when I used to write tunes 15, 20 years ago and I thought, “That’s back. That’s great” because I’ve written a lot of tunes, but I haven’t been writing that much lately. I haven’t thought that the tunes I had written in a while have been that good, so that’s kind of a…I don’t know…it’s not really a ballad, but it’s got a little bit of a groove to it just like a couple of the songs do because I wanted the record to be quietish, but not be all ballads so that everybody falls asleep.
“Already September”—that’s a jazz tune. I called it that because I wrote it in the fall, and that was a year ago, and I couldn’t believe it was already September, and summer was going away.
“Plain Song”—I wrote last year, too. It’s just so plain. (laughter) I also thought of the Great Plains. It’s got a little bit of “This Land is Your Land” in there—Woody Guthrie.
I just picked tunes that were all a little bit different. It turns out that every tune on every record has to have its own character, I think.
RR: I love what you said about it being quiet, but not enough where the listener is distracted, or, at worse, nodding off. There is movement in these pieces, and that can be a difficult balance for a musician, especially over an entire album.
JS: Yeah. I’m pretty much in a lot of ways a hot guitar player. I love ballads, and as I get older, I find myself really wanting to play that kind of music. I think the problem with playing a bunch in a row is that it can get sleepy. But what you get when it’s not sleepy, when it’s inspired, is ecstatic. (laughs) So, I don’t know what we achieved on this record. You don’t want it to [make people] fall asleep, but you, also, don’t want to overplay. The worst thing is to play a kind of ballad thing, but just play a bunch of notes. I hate that.
RR: Let’s talk about those notes in a live setting. We touched upon it earlier—last year’s DVD, New Morning: The Paris Concert. There were some rather slow and soft playing, and then the quartet would really pick it up, especially you on your guitar. The New Morning series has been around for a while, but your band seemed a perfect fit for the format—the setting, the group, the audience, the vibe, everything.
JS: Yeah, I’m glad that you know about it because I’m proud of that one. This is what I do really and I’ve been so lucky that I get to do this, tour with my band. Every year, I do two months of touring in Europe. Like I said, I have different projects, but I always go to Europe a lot, and there are gigs there that are so wonderful. We played this club in Paris. I played there more than I’ve played at any club in the United States, I would say. I’ve played there every year for 20-something years and it’s a good venue. When you’re on tour, you play a bunch of days in a row and you get warmed up in a way that you never are when you’re going in the recording studio. This Paris gig came and it was just another gig in probably a run that was 25 concerts. It was towards the end, so we had already done like 15 gigs or something, and we were tired and smelly, but it’s the real deal. That’s what I like—we were able to just capture that with all the mistakes or whatever. We just went and played our two sets in the club, and that’s what’s on the video, and I think the momentum just makes for better jazz.
RR: The band is listening to each other so well it is almost tangible. What I also noticed is that the crowd is both very respectful and quiet, yet engaged.
JS: Yeah, they’re not going ape shit because they’re French, first of all. (laughter) But, man, they are listening. They were wonderful, and God bless the social democracies of Europe because they’ve kept creative music going. It’s not just me; it’s so many people that have found a little niche over there.
RR: “Steeplechase” is better than coffee for me from that gig.
JS: Yeah. (laughs) Rhythm changes, man. God bless rhythm changes. That’s George Gershwin, too.
RR: Speaking of hot guitarists, I wanted to talk about your first collaboration with the Allman Brothers Band at the Beacon this year during their annual run.
JS: Oh, man, it was so much fun. I’ve known Warren and Derek for years, and I’ve played with them a little bit more and more, and a couple times with Derek before, and they’ve always been really nice to me, and I love ‘em. Derek Trucks has changed guitar with the way he plays slide. I don’t know; maybe, there are other people out there that play like that; I haven’t heard ‘em. (laughs) He’s phenomenal. They invited me to play with the Allman Brothers and it was just like guitar love up there.
RR: Seemed appropriate that you were matched with another groundbreaking artist on the first tune, Dylan’s “It Takes A Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry.”
JS: You know what? It’s funny because I got up there, and the stage manager is on the side when you are sitting in with the Allmans, and they’ve been playing for a while before you get up there, and then, they call you up. I got up there and plugged in, and they’re being nice and saying, “Hey, how are you doin’?” and then, Warren yelled to the road manager: “He wasn’t supposed to come up until the next tune!” (laughter) I wasn’t supposed to play on the Dylan tune. So I was there, and they said, “Ahhh, just play.” But that’s a cool tune, man. I always loved that Dylan tune. It’s a funny little blues.
RR: Another collaboration—you played on Eddie Henderson’s record last year, For All We Know. Of course, Eddie used to play with Herbie Hancock.
JS: I’ve known Eddie for many years. I first met him, probably, in like 1980 and have played with him a little bit here in New York. I remember we were playing at the Village Vanguard—I played there for a week with him—and magic mushrooms were somehow involved. That was a long time ago. Anyway, at Jambands.com, I can admit it. (laughter) I have always just loved his playing, and he asked me to play with it on him, and do a record. I had hired him for some gigs, too. He came out and played with my group. He’s a beautiful trumpet player. I think we made that record in four hours. We got there to do the date, and we were just reading down the tunes (laughs), and it was a great band, but Eddie had problems that day. We’d play the tunes, and he’d say, “I can only play each tune once.” (laughter) Yeah, but he’s the real deal, he’s fantastic, and I love his playing.
RR: Earlier, we spoke about Metropole Orkest. Let’s talk about the composer Vince Mendoza, who leads that project in your collaborations.
JS: Oh, yes, Vince, man. He’s another one of these like-minded individuals that we just seem to have a musical hook up that seems to work together. I feel so lucky to get to ride in his Maserati or something. That’s what it feels like when you’re playing as part of a
Vince Mendoza arrangement because of these incredible, lush orchestral things. I’ve played on a bunch of his records, and we did 54 [2010 release] together with the Metropole Orkest. I keep hearing his songs and thinking that if I could write a song, it would be that one that he’s written, and then, hearing him orchestrate my tunes for the record 54 just works together. We have the same something. Turns out he plays guitar, too. I didn’t even realize that until later on. I knew he was a trumpet player who became an arranger, and then, he plays keyboards to write. But it turns out, he was a guitar player from the beginning.
RR: And, we must touch upon another fine and well-chosen collaboration—recently, you played again with Medeski, Martin & Wood.
JS: The concert started with Bachir Attar [from the Master Musicians of Jajouka] playing with them for about a half hour, and then I got up and we did our thing. But, that was amazing. To hear that music, the Moroccan music, wow, that was unreal. We have the live double CD coming out, MSMW Live: In Case The World Changes Its Mind, which is the title of one of the tunes on there. We recorded it in 2006 and 2007 on tour. It’s pretty excessive, man. I love these guys. There’s a 25-minute tune on there. (laughs)
Hey, man, MMW is my favorite band. They have been since I met them in whatever, ’96. They are so special. They are magic and they want to go to a special place and they allow it to happen. And that’s what jambands are all about—what these guys are doing. To me, they’re the ones who carry the legacy of the Dead, but, also, Miles, and the Art Ensemble [of Chicago], and Sun Ra, and all this stuff. There are so many elements of jazz in there. It is jazz, but the J word is…there’s too many kinds of music to call it anything specific, but they are coming out of the tradition of jazz music, as well as all the offshoots. But, mainly, again, they’re just a band. This is a band that speaks a language to each other, and when they play together, magnificent things happen that are completely improvised.
RR: You are going to hit a milestone on December 26. When you think of yourself, if you think of yourself in a chronological way, is it a particular age?
JS: I don’t think of myself until I look in the mirror and I say, “Oh, wait a minute.” (laughter)
RR: Throw away the mirrors.
JS: Then I’m still 12, or 11. (laughter) Yeah, I feel the same as I’ve always felt. It’s actually more fun and more rewarding as I get older. Hopefully, my body won’t completely disintegrate anytime soon, but it’s great to be part of this whole thing and to keep playing with people and playing music. It’s a people thing that becomes more important than anything after a while, and I’m so lucky that people like the way I play the guitar, and I get to play for people and play with people and be part of this whole thing and talk with you on the phone right now. You’ve got to realize how lucky you are. That
happens as you get older; you count your blessings.
I’m probably getting better. At a certain point, you want to just not disintegrate, but I’ve been able to play enough so that I’ve kept my shit in shape. I stopped drinking 15 years ago, so that’s not hangin’ me up. You know. Yeah, I’m getting to play enough so that, hopefully, I can keep going, keep moving. I just want to improve a little bit gradually and keep what I’ve got like we all do, right? (laughs) I’m lucky because I had some friends that I grew up with that don’t work that much, that don’t get to play. And I do.
Also, my wife and kids have put up with this. It’s really really weird to have your husband gone half the time. And the kids had their father gone half the time, and my wife raised them, and I’ve been really lucky there.
RR: Indeed.
JS: Man, I’m glad you dug those sounds. Keep writing. We need you in music.
RR: All right. I’ll do that, John.
JS: (laughs) Yeah.
