John Scofield

Biography

John Scofield was born in Dayton, Ohio before his family moved to Wilton, Connecticut. Educated at the Berklee College of Music, Scofield left school to record with Chet Baker and Gerry Mulligan. He joined the Billy Cobham/George Duke Band soon afterwards and played, recorded, and toured with them for two years. He recorded with Charles Mingus in 1976 and replaced Pat Metheny in Gary Burton's quartet.

In 1976, Scofield signed with Enja, which released his first album, John Scofield, in 1977. He recorded with pianist Hal Galper 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. 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 Miles Davis, with whom he remained for three and a half years. He contributed tunes and guitar to three of Davis's albums, Star People, Decoy, and You're Under Arrest. After he left Davis, he released Electric Outlet (1984) and Still Warm (1985)

He began his Blue Matter Band with Dennis Chambers 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, Bill Frisell, and Scofield. They recorded two albums, Bass Desires (1986) and Second Sight (1987).

At the beginning of the 1990s, Scofield formed a quartet which included Joe Lovano with whom he recorded several albums for Blue Note. Time on My Hands (1990), with Joe Lovano, Charlie Haden, and Jack DeJohnette, showcased Scofield's guitar and Charles 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 on drums. Stewart rejoined Scofield and Steve Swallow for I Can See Your House from Here, a collaboration with Pat Metheny.

Near the end of the period when he was recording for Blue Note, Scofield returned to a sound which included more funk and soul jazz. In 1994 and 1995, he formed a group with organist/pianist Larry Goldings, bassist Dennis Irwin, and alternating drummers, Bill Stewart and Idris Muhammad. The group toured extensively, and the albums Hand Jive and Groove Elation feature this funk/groove/soul-jazz dimension in Scofield's music with tenor saxophonist Eddie Harris, percussionist Don Alias, and trumpeter Randy Brecker. He recorded the 1997 album A Go Go with Medeski, Martin & Wood.

Also during that time 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 in September 2002 with the Radio-Symphony-Orchestra Frankfurt and the hr-Bigband. The performance was recorded and released by Deutsche Grammophon.

Scofield released Überjam in 2002 and Up All Night in 2003, two albums on which he experimented with drum and bass. He recorded in Europe with the Bugge Wesseltoft 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 in New York City in December 2003. That was followed the next year by That's What I Say: John Scofield Plays the Music of Ray Charles which led to performances with Mavis Staples, Gary Versace on organ, John Benitez on bass, and Steve Hass on drums. After sitting in for two engagements in December 2005 with Phil Lesh and Friends, Scofield has played numerous shows with the band.

On September 26, 2006, he released Out Louder, 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 named The Johns and in a trio with Medeski and drummer Adam Deitch (Deitch is also a producer). He recorded music inspired by gospel on the 2009 album Piety Street with Jon Cleary and George Porter Jr.

On September 18, 2007, EmArcy released This Meets That, 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. Scofield's 2010 album 54 had its origin in the 1990s when Vince Mendoza asked him to play on Mendoza's 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. Inside Scofield, a film by Joerg Steineck, a feature-length documentary about Scofield, was released in 2022.

Guitars

Scofield's first electric guitar was a Hagstrom; his "workhorse" is an Ibanez AS200 from 1982. He endorses Ibanez and the company has a line of semi-hollow bodied guitars named for him. Steve Vai uses one on the road, for one of the songs from Inviolate.

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: Überjam
• 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 conducted by Vince Mendoza
• 2010: Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, 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
• 2017: Grammy Award for Best Improvised Jazz Solo: "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry"

Discography

As leader/co-leader

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)

As a sideman

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

References

References

1. "John Scofield Music, News and Photos – AOL Music".
2. Stern, Chip. (March 2001). "John Scofield: Will the Real John Scofield Please Stand Up?".
3. Small, Mark. "Berklee | Berklee College of Music". Berklee.edu.
4. "All About Jazz Bio". Allaboutjazz.com.
5. Yanow, Scott. "Yahoo Music artist Bio". Music.yahoo.com.
6. Yanow, Scott. "Ivory Forest – Hal Galper, Hal Galper Quartet". [[AllMusic]].
7. "John Scofield Trio featuring Steve Swallow & Bill Stewart". Jazz St. Louis.
8. Kelman, John (2011). [http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=40431&page=1#4 Interview.] ''[[AllAboutJazz]]''. Retrieved August 10, 2013.
9. {{AllMusic
10. Cole, Tom. (27 December 2015). "For John Scofield, Everything Old Is New Again — Even The Hard Parts". [[NPR]].
11. Cf. credits on album.
12. Tamarkin, Jeff. "Out Louder – Medeski, Scofield, Martin & Wood". [[AllMusic]].
13. "Jazz Faculty: John Scofield". [[Steinhardt School of Education]].
14. "INSIDE SCOFIELD – A film about John Scofield".
15. (November 25, 2022). "'Inside Scofield' (film by Joerg Steineck)".
16. Yates, Henry. (May 12, 2015). "John Scofield on his workhorse Ibanez and advice to his younger self". Music Radar.
17. (July 1, 2020). "John Scofield Ibanez JSM-100". Jazz Guitar Today.
18. Horsley, Jonathan. (September 15, 2023). "'It's like John Scofield took acid': Steve Vai's tech shares the story behind the virtuoso's psychedelic semi-hollow". Guitar World.
19. (June 4, 2019). "John Scofield".
20. "The 50 GIANTS of Jazz Guitar in alphabetical order – Saban Jazz & Bossa School".
21. Lea, Nick. (November 20, 2025). "Review: John Scofield / Dave Holland – Memories of Home".