JAZZBO NOTES ESSENTIAL RECORDING
Rating: 
It would have never occurred to me that John Scofield and Pat Metheny had a lot in common, but from the evidence of I Can See Your House From Here, they apparently do.
When I think of Pat Metheny, at least as a guitarist, I think of elegant, long scalar lines and a lack of emphasis on variations in tone. John Scofield, on the other hand, is all about tone and attack, especially these days.
But Scofield takes a break from his ceaseless exploration of groove and tone on I Can See Your House From Here (on the Blue Note label), in favor of harmony for the most part.
Both Scofield and Metheny are excellent composers, so I Can See Your House From Here is stacked wall to wall with nothing but great tunes. They also have an ideal rhythm section backing them up: Steve Swallow, who has played bass with both musicians, and Bill Stewart, who provides rollicking or sensitive rhythmic support, as needed.
It’s hard to pick favorite tunes. The entire release is a joy. For fans of John Scofield or Pat Metheny, I Can See Your House From Here is a must have. Even if you think you don’t like Pat Metheny because of his sometimes sentimental work with his main group, you should be pleasantly surprised by his playing on this release.
I’m at a bit of quandary when attempting to analyze this album. The title track has a 26.5 bar form.
Can anyone comment on this? Then I can’t tell what they’re soloing over, because the solo form doesn’t match the head, and Steve Swallow is playing weird stuff.
Help me.
Interesting observation, Nathan.
Here’s what I think. For the title tune, I Can See Your House From Here, Scofield came up with a really sneaky way to allow the soloists to play free. Improvisationists love to play free, but it’s find to find an opportunity because listeners are generally so hostile to it.
On the head, Swallow is playing ascending lines that are probably written out.
On the solos, Swallow is playing free, with the restriction that he has to play ascending lines. For the average listener, that gives the impression that he’s playing over the form, which listeners are more comfortable with.
Again, drummer Bill Stewart sticks with the basic patterns he plays on the head, to give the illusion of a form.
Then Scofield and Metheny play free, of course paying attention to what Swallow’s doing. When they get back to the head, my guess is that they’re signaling each other in a pre-arranged manner so that it seems that the form is being maintained.
If not, what they’re doing is way beyond my ability to analyze.
Update: I wasn’t entirely sure of my answer, so I emailed Scofield himself. Here’s what he said:
Missed it by THAT much.
I was right that they were playing free, but they were playing the same numbers of bars on the solo as they were on the head, which I completely missed. It amazes me that they could keep track, but that’s why these guys are jazz masters, and I’m just writing about it.
One more thing, and then I’ll shut up. Another reason it isn’t immediately apparent that these guys are playing free is because the solos have an internal logical consistency. Ironically, if you play free, you have to be even more concerned than usual about being coherent or you just end up with noise.