John Scofield, Past Present (Impulse!)
For an album with such a sad backdrop, guitarist John Scofield’s debut for the mega-historical jazz label Impulse! is tremendously uplifting and optimistic. Scofield’s son, Evan, died from cancer in 2013 and three of these tracks directly reflect the guitarist’s fatherly love, two of them being called after catchphrases Evan used and a third, Mr Puffy, being the nickname Scofield gave Evan to lift his spirits during treatment. The album revives Scofield’s early 1990s quartet with saxophonist Joe Lovano and drummer Bill Stewart, with the equally celebrated Larry Grenadier a new addition on bass, and the music has the easy geniality of old friends playing new tunes. Blues and soul are phrases that keep springing to mind as Scofield and Lovano share and swap simple, easily remembered waltzing, shuffling and strutting melodies before taking solos that express raw emotion with elegant, eloquent, quietly exciting and affectingly dirty turns of phrase. A superb session by players who lend years of jazz experience to warm, spontaneous, masterly music-making.
Rob Adams
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