John Scofield (born December 26, 1951), sometimes referred to as "Sco", is an American guitarist and composer whose music over a long career has blended

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...

jazz fusion Jazz fusion (also known as fusion and progressive jazz) is a music genre that developed in the late 1960s when musicians combined jazz harmony and improvisation with rock music, funk, and rhythm and blues. Electric guitars, amplifiers, and ke ...

funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African Americans in the mi ...

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the ...

soul In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being". Etymology The Modern English noun '' soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest att ...

and rock. He first came to mainstream attention in the band of

Miles Davis Miles Dewey Davis III (May 26, 1926September 28, 1991) was an American trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the history of jazz and 20th-century music. Davis adopted a variety of music ...

, and has toured and recorded with many prominent jazz artists, including saxophonists

Eddie Harris Eddie Harris (October 20, 1934 – November 5, 1996) was an American jazz musician, best known for playing tenor saxophone and for introducing the electrically amplified saxophone. He was also fluent on the electric piano and organ. His best-k ...

Dave Liebman David Liebman (born September 4, 1946) is an American saxophonist, flautist and jazz educator. He is known for his innovative lines and use of atonality. He was a frequent collaborator with pianist Richie Beirach. In June 2010, he received ...

Joe Henderson Joe Henderson (April 24, 1937 – June 30, 2001) was an American jazz tenor saxophonist. In a career spanning more than four decades, Henderson played with many of the leading American players of his day and recorded for several prominent l ...

and

Joe Lovano Joseph Salvatore Lovano (born December 29, 1952)"Joe Lovano." ''Contemporary Musicians''. Vol. 13. Farmington Hills, MI: Gale, 1994. Retrieved via ''Biography in Context'' database, May 5, 2017. is an American jazz saxophonist, alto clarin ...

; keyboardists

George Duke George M. Duke (January 12, 1946 – August 5, 2013) was an American keyboardist, composer, singer-songwriter and record producer. He worked with numerous artists as arranger, music director, writer and co-writer, record producer and as a pr ...

, Joey DeFrancesco,

Herbie Hancock Herbert Jeffrey Hancock (born April 12, 1940) is an American jazz pianist, keyboardist, bandleader, and composer. Hancock started his career with trumpeter Donald Byrd's group. He shortly thereafter joined the Miles Davis Quintet, where he hel ...

, Larry Goldings and Robert Glasper; fellow guitarists

Pat Metheny Patrick Bruce Metheny ( ; born August 12, 1954) is an American jazz guitarist and composer. He is the leader of the Pat Metheny Group and is also involved in duets, solo works, and other side projects. His style incorporates elements of progr ...

, John Abercrombie,

Pat Martino Pat Martino (born Patrick Carmen Azzara; August 25, 1944 – November 1, 2021) was an American jazz guitarist and composer. Biography Martino was born Patrick Carmen Azzara in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, to father Carmen "Mickey" ...

and

Bill Frisell William Richard Frisell (born March 18, 1951) is an American jazz guitarist, composer and arranger. Frisell first came to prominence at ECM Records in the 1980s, as both a session player and a leader. He went on to work in a variety of contexts ...

; bassists Marc Johnson and

Jaco Pastorius John Francis Anthony "Jaco" Pastorius III (; December 1, 1951 – September 21, 1987) was an American jazz bassist, composer and producer. He recorded albums as a solo artist and band leader and was a member of Weather Report from 1976 to 1981. ...

; and drummer

Billy Cobham William Emanuel Cobham Jr. (born May 16, 1944) is a Panamanian–American jazz drummer who came to prominence in the late 1960s and early 1970s with trumpeter Miles Davis and then with the Mahavishnu Orchestra. He was inducted into the ''Mode ...

and

Dennis Chambers Dennis Milton Chambers (born May 9, 1959) is an American drummer. He was inducted into the '' Modern Drummer'' Hall of Fame in 2001. Early life Chambers was born on May 9, 1959. He began drumming at the age of four years, and was gigging in Ba ...

. Outside the world of jazz, he has collaborated with

Phil Lesh Philip Chapman Lesh (born March 15, 1940) is an American musician and a founding member of the Grateful Dead, with whom he played bass guitar throughout their 30-year career. After the band's disbanding in 1995, Lesh continued the tradition of ...

Mavis Staples Mavis Staples (born July 10, 1939) is an American rhythm and blues and gospel singer, actress, and civil rights activist. She rose to fame as a member of her family's band The Staple Singers (she is the last surviving member of that band). Duri ...

John Mayer John Clayton Mayer ( ; born October 16, 1977) is an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist. Born and raised in Fairfield County, Connecticut, Mayer attended Berklee College of Music in Boston, but left and moved to Atlanta in 1997 wit ...

, Medeski Martin & Wood, and Gov’t Mule.

Biography

Scofield was born in Ohio but, when he was still a baby, his family moved to

Wilton, Connecticut Wilton is a town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. As of the 2020 census, the town population was 18,503. In 2017, it was the sixth-wealthiest town per capita in Connecticut, the wealthiest U.S. state per capita. Officially reco ...

, where he discovered his interest in music. Educated at the

Berklee College of Music Berklee College of Music is a private music college in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the largest independent college of contemporary music in the world. Known for the study of jazz and modern American music, it also offers college-level cours ...

, Scofield left school to record with

Chet Baker Chesney Henry "Chet" Baker Jr. (December 23, 1929 – May 13, 1988) was an American jazz trumpeter and vocalist. He is known for major innovations in cool jazz that led him to be nicknamed the "Prince of Cool". Baker earned much attention and ...

and

Gerry Mulligan Gerald Joseph Mulligan (April 6, 1927 – January 20, 1996), also known as Jeru, was an American jazz saxophonist, clarinetist, composer and arranger. Though primarily known as one of the leading jazz baritone saxophonists—playing the instrum ...

. He joined the

Band soon after and spent two years playing, recording, and touring with them. He recorded with

Charles Mingus Charles Mingus Jr. (April 22, 1922 – January 5, 1979) was an American jazz upright bassist, pianist, composer, bandleader, and author. A major proponent of collective improvisation, he is considered to be one of the greatest jazz musicians an ...

in 1976 and replaced

Gary Burton Gary Burton (born January 23, 1943) is an American jazz vibraphonist, composer, and educator. Burton developed a pianistic style of four-mallet technique as an alternative to the prevailing two-mallet technique. This approach caused him to be h ...

's quartet. In 1976 Scofield signed with Enja, which released his first album, '' John Scofield'', in 1977. He recorded with pianist

Hal Galper Harold Galper (born April 18, 1938) is an American jazz pianist, composer, arranger, bandleader, educator, and writer. Biography He was born in Salem, Massachusetts, United States. Galper studied classical piano as a boy, but switched to jazz w ...

on '' Rough House'' in 1978 and then on Galper's album '' Ivory Forest'' (1980), where he played a solo rendition of "Monk's Mood" by

Thelonious Monk Thelonious Sphere Monk (, October 10, 1917 – February 17, 1982) was an American jazz pianist and composer. He had a unique improvisational style and made numerous contributions to the standard jazz repertoire, including " 'Round Midnight", ...

. In 1979 he formed a trio with his mentor Steve Swallow and Adam Nussbaum which, with drummer Bill Stewart replacing Nussbaum, became the signature group of Scofield's career. In 1982, he joined

, with whom he remained for three and a half years. He contributed tunes and guitar to three of Davis's albums, '' Star People'', ''

Decoy A decoy (derived from the Dutch ''de'' ''kooi'', literally "the cage" or possibly ''ende kooi'', " duck cage") is usually a person, device, or event which resembles what an individual or a group might be looking for, but it is only meant to lu ...

'', and '' You're Under Arrest''. After he left Davis, he released '' Electric Outlet'' (1984) and ''

Still Warm ''Still Warm'' is a studio album by jazz guitarist John Scofield. It features keyboardist Don Grolnick, bass guitarist Darryl Jones and drummer Omar Hakim. The album was his second for Gramavision and was recorded right after leaving Miles Davi ...

'' (1985) He started what is referred to as his Blue Matter Band, with

on drums, Gary Grainger on bass, and Mitchel Forman, Robert Aries, or Jim Beard on keyboards. The band released the albums '' Blue Matter'', '' Loud Jazz'' and '' Pick Hits Live''. Marc Johnson formed Bass Desires with

Peter Erskine Peter Erskine (born June 5, 1954) is an American jazz drummer who was a member of the jazz fusion groups Weather Report and Steps Ahead. Early life and education Erskine was born in Somers Point, New Jersey, U.S. He began playing the dru ...

, and Scofield. This "most auspicious airingsince John McLaughlin and

Carlos Santana Carlos Humberto Santana Barragán (; born July 20, 1947) is an American guitarist who rose to fame in the late 1960s and early 1970s with his band Santana, which pioneered a fusion of Rock and roll and Latin American jazz. Its sound feature ...

" recorded two albums, ''

Bass Desires ''Bass Desires'' is a studio album by jazz acoustic bassist Marc Johnson released in 1985 on the ECM label.Second Sight'' (1987). John scofield 2004-07-23

At the beginning of the 1990s, Scofield formed a quartet that included

with whom he recorded several albums for Blue Note. '' Time on My Hands'' (1990), with Joe Lovano,

Charlie Haden Charles Edward Haden (August 6, 1937 – July 11, 2014) was an American jazz double bass player, bandleader, composer and educator whose career spanned more than 50 years. In the late 1950s, he was an original member of the ground-breaking ...

, and

Jack DeJohnette Jack DeJohnette (born August 9, 1942) is an American jazz drummer, pianist, and composer. Known for his extensive work as leader and sideman for musicians including Charles Lloyd, Freddie Hubbard, Keith Jarrett, Bill Evans, John Abercrombie ...

, showcased Scofield's guitar and Mingus-influenced writing. Bill Stewart became the group's drummer and played on '' Meant to Be'' (1991) and '' What We Do'' (1993). In 1992, Scofield released '' Grace Under Pressure'', featuring guitarist Bill Frisell, with Charlie Haden on bass and

Joey Baron Bernard Joseph Baron (born June 26, 1955 in Richmond, Virginia) is an American avant-garde jazz drummer who plays frequently with Bill Frisell and John Zorn. Music career Baron was born on June 26, 1955, in Richmond Virginia. When he was nine, ...

on drums. Stewart rejoined Scofield and Steve Swallow for '' I Can See Your House from Here'', a collaboration with

. Near the end of his time with Blue Note, Scofield returned to a sound that included more

and soul jazz. In 1994 and 1995, he formed a group with organist/pianist Larry Goldings, bassist Dennis Irwin, and alternately drummers, Bill Stewart and

Idris Muhammad Idris Muhammad ( ar, إدريس محمد; born Leo Morris; November 13, 1939 – July 29, 2014) was an American jazz drummer and bandleader. He had an extensive career performing jazz, funk, R&B, and soul music and recorded with musicians such a ...

. The group toured extensively, and the albums '' Hand Jive'' and '' Groove Elation'' feature this funk/

groove Groove or Grooves may refer to: Music * Groove (music) * Groove (drumming) * The Groove (band), an Australian rock/pop band of the 1960s * The Groove (Sirius XM), a US radio station * Groove 101.7FM, a former Perth, Australia, radio station ...

/soul-jazz dimension in Scofield's music with tenor saxophonist

, percussionist Don Alias, and trumpeter Randy Brecker. He recorded the 1997 album ''A Go Go'' with

avant-garde jazz Avant-garde jazz (also known as avant-jazz and experimental jazz) is a style of music and improvisation that combines avant-garde art music and composition with jazz. It originated in the early 1950s and developed through to the late 1960s. Ori ...

trio

Medeski, Martin & Wood Medeski Martin & Wood (or MMW) is an American jazz fusion band formed in 1991, consisting of John Medeski on keyboards, Billy Martin on drums, and Chris Wood on bass. The band is influenced by musical traditions including funk and hip hop and ...

. Also during this period he began to work with British composer Mark-Anthony Turnage. He appeared as a soloist on Turnage's ''Blood on the Floor: Elegy for Andy''. They collaborated on ''Scorched'', an album of Turnage's orchestrations of Scofield's compositions, largely from the ''Blue Matter'' period. John Patitucci and Peter Erskine performed at the live premiere of ''Scorched'' at the Alte Oper in

Frankfurt Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , " Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on it ...

in September 2002 with the Radio-Symphony-Orchestra Frankfurt and the

hr-Bigband The hr-Bigband is the big band of Hessischer Rundfunk, the public broadcasting network of the German state of Hesse. Founded 1946 as Tanz- und Unterhaltungsorchester des Hessischen Rundfunks it was renamed to hr Big Band in 1972. Since 2005 it is ...

. The performance was recorded and released by

Deutsche Grammophon Deutsche Grammophon (; DGG) is a German classical music record label that was the precursor of the corporation PolyGram. Headquartered in Berlin Friedrichshain, it is now part of Universal Music Group (UMG) since its merger with the UMG family of ...

. Scofield released ''

Überjam ''Überjam'' is an album by jazz guitarist John Scofield which was released by Verve on January 29, 2002. Track listing Personnel *John Scofield – electric guitar *Karl Denson – flute, saxophone *John Medeski – B3 organ, clavinet, mell ...

'' in 2002 and '' Up All Night'' in 2003, two albums on which he experimented with

drum and bass Drum and bass (also written as drum & bass or drum'n'bass and commonly abbreviated as D&B, DnB, or D'n'B) is a genre of electronic dance music characterized by fast breakbeats (typically 165–185 beats per minute) with heavy bass and sub- ...

. He recorded in Europe with the

Bugge Wesseltoft Jens Christian Bugge Wesseltoft (born 1 February 1964) is a Norwegian jazz pianist, composer, and producer, son of jazz guitarist Erik Wesseltoft. Career In 1989, Wesseltoft collaborated with the Knut Riisnæs Quartet and was soon after ...

New Conception of Jazz in 2001–2002 and 2006. In 2004 '' EnRoute: John Scofield Trio LIVE'' was released with Steve Swallow on bass and Bill Stewart on drums. It was recorded live at the

Blue Note Jazz Club Blue Note Jazz Club is a jazz club and restaurant located at 131 West 3rd Street in Greenwich Village, New York City. The club was opened on September 30, 1981, by owner and founder Danny Bensusan, with the Nat Adderley Quintet being the featur ...

in New York City in December 2003. This was followed the next year by '' That's What I Say: John Scofield Plays the Music of Ray Charles''. This led to performances with

, Gary Versace on organ, John Benitez on bass, and

Steve Hass Steve Hass (born May 11, 1975) is an American drummer based in Los Angeles. Originally from Island Park, New York, born to Greek immigrant parents from Athens. He is notable for his technical skill, time feel, and his musical versatility, havi ...

on drums. After sitting in for two engagements in December 2005 with Phil Lesh and Friends, Scofield has since played numerous shows with the band. John Scofield International Jazz Festival Enschede

John Scofield International Jazz Festival Enschede

On September 26, 2006 he released ''

Out Louder ''Out Louder'' is an album produced as a collaboration between Medeski Martin & Wood and John Scofield. It is the first album released under the name " Medeski Scofield Martin & Wood," since 1998's '' A Go Go'' was released under Scofield's na ...

'', his second collaboration with Medeski, Martin & Wood. The group, known collectively as MSMW, toured worldwide in 2006 and 2007. Scofield performed in a duo with

John Medeski Anthony John Medeski (born June 28, 1965) is an American jazz keyboard player and composer. Medeski is a veteran of New York's 1990s avant-garde jazz scene and is known popularly as a member of Medeski Martin & Wood. He plays the acoustic piano ...

named The Johns and in a trio with Medeski and drummer Adam Deitch. He recorded music inspired by

gospel Gospel originally meant the Christian message (" the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words a ...

on the 2009 album '' Piety Street'' with

Jon Cleary Jon Stephen Cleary (22 November 191719 July 2010) was an Australian writer and novelist. He wrote numerous books, including '' The Sundowners'' (1951), a portrait of a rural family in the 1920s as they move from one job to the next, and '' The ...

and George Porter Jr. On September 18, 2007

EmArcy EmArcy Records is a jazz record label founded in 1954 by the American Mercury Records. The name is a phonetic spelling of "MRC", the initials for Mercury Record Company. During the 1950s and 1960s, musicians such as Max Roach, Clifford Brown, ...

released ''

This Meets That This Meets That is a studio album by jazz musician John Scofield. Featuring longtime collaborators Steve Swallow on bass guitar and drummer Bill Stewart, along with a four piece horn section. Fellow guitarist Bill Frisell appears on one track. ...

'', an album recorded with Steve Swallow, Bill Stewart, and a horn trio. In 2011 EmArcy released ''A Moment's Peace'', recorded with pianist Larry Goldings, bassist Scott Colley, and drummer

Brian Blade Brian Blade (born July 25, 1970) is an American jazz drummer, composer, session musician, and singer-songwriter. Early life Blade was born and raised in Shreveport, Louisiana. The first music he experienced was gospel and songs of praise at ...

. Scofield's 2010 album ''54'' had its origin in the 1990s when Vince Mendoza asked him to play on his first album. As director of the Metropole Orchestra, Mendoza collaborated with Scofield on arrangements of Scofield's compositions that were performed by the orchestra. Scofield has been an adjunct faculty member in the Jazz Department in the Steinhardt School of Education at

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then- Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, th ...

. With ''Inside Scofield'' by Jörg Steineck, the first feature-length documentary film about the master musician John Scofield was released in 2022.

Awards and honors

* 1997: Honorary Doctorate of Music from Berklee * 1998: Miles Davis Award, Montreal International Jazz Festival * 2002: Grammy nomination for Best Contemporary Jazz Album: ''

'' * 2004: Grammy nomination for Best Contemporary Jazz Album: '' Scorched'', and Best Jazz Instrumental Solo for "Wee" * 2006: Grammy nomination for Best Jazz Instrumental Album, Individual or Group: Trio Beyond - '' Saudades'' * 2010: Grammy nomination for Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album: '' 54'' featured with

Metropole Orkest The Metropole Orkest (Metropole Orchestra) is a jazz and pop orchestra based in the Netherlands, and is the largest full-time ensemble of its kind in the world. A hybrid orchestra, it is a combination of jazz, big band and symphony orchestra. Com ...

conducted by Vince Mendoza * 2010:

Ordre des Arts et des Lettres The ''Ordre des Arts et des Lettres'' (Order of Arts and Letters) is an order of France established on 2 May 1957 by the Minister of Culture. Its supplementary status to the was confirmed by President Charles de Gaulle in 1963. Its purpose is ...

, French Ministry of Culture * 2016: Grammy Award for Best Jazz Instrumental Album: '' Past Present'', and nominated for Best Improvised Jazz Solo: "Past Present" * 2017: Grammy Award for Best Jazz Instrumental Album: ''

Country for Old Men ''Country for Old Men'' is an album by American jazz guitarist John Scofield. It earned Scofield a Grammy Award for Best Jazz Instrumental Album. It features longtime Scofield collaborators Larry Goldings on piano & organ, bass guitarist Steve Sw ...

'' * 2017: Grammy Award for Best Improvised Jazz Solo: " I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry"

Discography

As leader and co-leader

John Scofield Kongsberg Jazzfestival 2017 (190550)

Compilations

*'' Slo Sco: The Best of the Ballads'' ( Gramavision, 1990) *'' Liquid Fire: The Best of John Scofield'' (Gramavision, 1994) *'' Best of John Scofield'' ( Blue Note, 1996) *'' Steady Groovin': The Blue Note Groove Sides'' (Blue Note, 2000) *''

Sco-Mule ''Sco-Mule'' is a live album by the American rock band Gov't Mule, recorded at two 1999 shows in Atlanta, Georgia. It features the band's original members: guitarist Warren Haynes, bass guitarist Allen Woody, and drummer Matt Abts, along with jaz ...

'' (Evil Teen Records, 2015)

As a sideman

Albums listed by year of release. (Links to artists and labels on first appearance.)

References

External links

Official siteInside Scofield (2022), documentary on John Scofield
{{DEFAULTSORT:Scofield, John 1951 births 20th-century American composers 20th-century American guitarists 20th-century jazz composers 21st-century American guitarists American jazz guitarists Grammy Award winners Jazz-funk guitarists Jazz fusion guitarists Lead guitarists American jazz composers American male jazz composers Miles Davis Berklee College of Music alumni Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development faculty People from Wilton, Connecticut Guitarists from Connecticut Musicians from Dayton, Ohio Living people Guitarists from Ohio American male guitarists Trio Beyond members Manhattan Jazz Quintet members Motéma Music artists Verve Records artists Blue Note Records artists Gramavision Records artists African-American guitarists