Loud Jazz - John Scofield

Jul

25

Loud Jazz - John Scofield

≡ Category: 1980s, Essential, Fusion, Music Reviews |
≅ Written by: Michael Kydonieus

JAZZBO NOTES ESSENTIAL RECORDING

Rating:

The operative word for Loud Jazz is fun. Without sacrificing formal sophistication or wickedly incisive solos, Scofield has written tunes that are witty and full of life. His band has incredible vitality, and the grooves all but jump for joy.

For Loud Jazz (issued on the Gramavision label), Scofield is uses his regular band from that time consisting of Gary Grainger on bass, Dennis Chambers on drums, Robert Aries on keyboards, and the great Don Alias on percussion. On half of the numbers, Scofield adds the synthesizer stylings of George Duke.

I’m not usually all that fond of George Duke, but his squirrely lines and somewhat cheesy tone fit beautifully with Scofield’s concept, which kind of has a funky New Orleans feel to it.

At this point in his career, Scofield wasn’t yet concentrating almost exclusively on tone, attack, and groove. He was still interested in harmony, especially in regard to improvisation. The result is a perfect balance between sound quality, composition, groove, raw power, and as I mentioned before, fun.

The CD reissue adds something like twenty minutes worth of tunes that were left off of the LP release for reasons of length. All of the new tunes are just as great as the ones on the original release.

For my money, Loud Jazz is probably the best release John Scofield has ever recorded, and that’s saying something.