The pairing of electric guitarists Bill Frisell and John Scofield had to be one of the most auspicious since John McLaughlin and Carlos Santana. Acoustic bassist Marc Johnson's stroke of genius in bringing the two together on Bass Desires resulted in a sound that demonstrated both compatibility between the guitarists and the distinctiveness of the two when heard in combination. Add drummer Peter Erskine and you had a bona fide supergroup, albeit in retrospect a short-lived one, before Frisell and Scofield would establish their own substantial careers as leaders. The guitarists revealed symmetry, spaciousness, and a soaring stance, buoyed by the simplicity of their rhythm mates. This is immediately achieved on the introductory track, "Samurai Hee-Haw," as hummable, head-swimming, and memorable a melody as there ever has been, and a definite signature sound.

In a career spanning six decades and nearly 40 albums as a leader or co-leader, revered Swiss trumpeter Franco Ambrosetti has finally realized his dream project. Anchored by a core of world-class musicians (guitarist John Scofield, bassist Scott Colley, pianist Uri Caine, drummer Peter Erskine) and featuring a 22-piece string orchestra conducted by Grammy-winning pianist-arranger Alan Broadbent, Ambrosetti's Nora is his answer to Charlie Parker with Strings and Clifford Brown with Strings, both cherished albums from his youth.

Named for the Grateful Dead song that concludes this inspired double album, Uncle John’s Band features masterful guitarist John Scofield at his most freewheeling. Wide ranging repertoire finds his trio with Vicente Archer and Bill Stewart tackling material from Dylan’s “Mr Tambourine Man” to Neil Young’s “Old Man”, from Leonard Bernstein’s “Somewhere” to the Miles Davis Birth of the Cool classic “Budo”. And jazz standards including “Stairway to the Stars” and “Ray’s Idea” rub shoulders with seven Scofield originals that are variously swing, funk and folk-inflected. The red thread through the programme is the trio’s tremendous improvisational verve. “I feel like we can go anywhere,” says John Scofield of the group’s multi-directional versatility. Uncle John’s Band was recorded at Clubhouse Studio in Rhinebeck, New York, in August 2022.

After their previous excursions into the outer cosmos - the highly acclaimed studio albums "Reflections and Odysseys", "Space Sailors" and the powerful live album "RYMDEN+KORK" - RYMDEN have returned to Earth with their new album, “Valleys and Mountains”. However, as one might expect from the trio of Bugge Wesseltoft, Magnus Öström and Dan Berglund, the music is not strictly earthbound - the inner cosmos, dreams and visions offer new spaces to explore, alongside bucolic rambles and treks. The instrumentation and techniques are once again diversified, the styles multiplied; yet all remains indisputably the music of RYMDEN.

Guitarists John Abercrombie and John Scofield join forces for these early-'80s sessions, mostly duets while occasionally adding bassist George Mraz and drummer Peter Donald. They delve into the jazz canon with an intricate duet of "Solar," a driving, Latin-fused take of "Four on Six" (in which Abercrombie overdubs an electric mandolin), and a dreamy duo interpretation of "If You Could See Me Now." The sole standard, "I Should Care," fares just as well in their hands, which settles into a relaxed exchange between the two players as if they are playing for themselves alone. Scofield's "Small Wonder" is scored for the quartet, a bristling post-bop vehicle with a feature for Mraz as well.

Many highlights of Scofield's work from his late 1980s-early 1990s tenure on Blue Note are included in this collection, which features cameos from Pat Metheny, Joe Lovano, Randy Brecker, and Bill Frisell among many other all stars. Also included is material from Hand Jive, Scofield's collaboration with Eddie Harris, and an unreleased take on Wayne Shorter's "Tom Thumb".

Commissioned by the Society of Friends and Patrons of the Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra and recorded at its premiere performance in September of 2002, Scorched is an extended suite of large-scale reconceptions of guitarist John Scofield's jazz compositions, scored for big band, symphony orchestra, and guitar trio. English composer Mark-Anthony Turnage has been working in the borderland between jazz and classical music since his early days at the feet of Gunther Schuller, and his orchestral elaborations on Scofield's original themes are surprisingly insightful and exciting. Scofield himself leads the trio, which also includes the legendary drummer Peter Erskine and electric bassist John Patitucci. Turnage avoids the standard classical-jazz crossover error of trying to make an ensemble this large actually swing…

Known for his distinctive, slightly distorted sound, jazz guitarist John Scofield is a masterful jazz improviser who has straddled the lines between straight-ahead post-bop, fusion, funk, and soul-jazz. One of the "big three" of late 20th century jazz guitarists (along with Pat Metheny and Bill Frisell), Scofield's influence grew in the '90s and continued into the 21st century. He first emerged in the mid-'70s playing with trumpeter Chet Baker and drummer Billy Cobham before launching his solo career with albums like 1977's East Meets West and 1981's Out Like a Light. He was an integral member of Miles Davis' ensemble in the '80s, and continued to issue his own albums like 1986's Blue Matter and 1998's A Go Go with Medeski, Martin & Wood. Well into his fourth decade as a performer, Scofield continues to garner critical acclaim, including winning Grammy Awards for 2015's Past Present and 2016's Country for Old Men.

John Scofield’s first guitar-solo-recording ever gives a résumé of all the influences and idioms he has cultivated over his career in performances on guitar, accompanied by his own rhythmic pulse and chordal backing using a loop machine. Besides jazz, John is known to have always also had a soft spot for the rock and roll and country music he grew up with, revealed here in unencumbered renditions of Buddy Holly’s “Not Fade Away” and Hank Williams’ “You Win Again”. Between elegant and personal readings of standards, like “It Could Happen To You”, the traditional “Danny Boy” and Keith Jarret’s “Coral”, Scofield presents his own timeless compositions – some new, others known. For the guitarist, it’s all about “the way you get the sound out of the string and what you do with it after you attack it.”

In a neatly symmetrical fashion, Gramavision chose two tracks from each of Scofield's half-dozen albums for the label, sequenced them chronologically, cross-faded or ran many of them together, and ended up with an exciting hourlong summary of his mid-'80s output (would that more best-of albums be assembled with such consistency). After the jagged electric jazz-rock of the first two albums, Electric Outlet and Still Warm, "Make Me" and "The Nag" from Blue Matter inject a funk element into the Scofield bag, which becomes even nastier on "Wabash" (from Loud Jazz) before resolving into the potently jazzier direction of Flat Out ("The Boss's Car" is a gas). Amidst all of the electric bluster and energy, there is a dignified, quietly bluesy Scofield solo take on "Georgia on My Mind" (from Pick Hits Live) at the dead center of the CD…

One of guitarist John Scofield's best sessions for Gramavision, this live date features his regular band of the period, a quartet with keyboardist Robert Aries, electric bassist Gary Grainger and drummer Dennis Chambers, who had been playing together regularly for a year at that point. The close communication between the musicians on such numbers as "Pick Hits," "Protocol" and "Blue Matter" could only come from the players fully understanding each other's musical personalities. The music, electric but adventurous, funky but definitely exploratory jazz, is difficult to describe, but easier for Scofield's fans to enjoy.

Dayna Stephens is a contemporary jazz tenor saxophonist whose sound is roundly hailed as warm, effusive, and sophisticated, much like his admitted influences Joe Henderson and Wayne Shorter. As a performer in the neo-bop post-Michael Brecker tradition, he'll also be compared in blindfold tests alongside Joe Lovano, Bob Mintzer, Chris Potter, and Seamus Blake. Nonetheless, Stephens has come out of the gate with a collection of original modern mainstream compositions backed by some established heavyweights of American music to support him. "Contagious" is the best track on the date to feature the young and brilliant pianist Taylor Eigsti, a chip off the ol' Chick Corea block. His complex, probing intricate rhythm changes spur the band on to a high level, while in a modal and beautifully spiritual area during the standard "But Beautiful," Eigsti coaxes Stephens to a cozier radiance tempered by restraint…