Uncle John's Band [LP]

A new trio album from veteran guitarist John Scofield, who released his first career solo album last year. Vicente Archer replaces Steve Swallow on bass, and old friend and stablemate Bill Stewart takes over on drums. A change from his solo work released last year, Scofield, who says he loves bands, plays freely and uninhibitedly throughout the album on this two-disc set. He tackles a wide range of repertoire, from Dylan's "Mr. Tambourine Man" to Neil Young's "Old Man," from Leonard Bernstein's "Sam Whore" from "West Side Story" to Miles Davis' classic "Badu. Jazz standards such as "Kizashi to Hoshi e no Kizashi" and "Raise Idea," along with seven Scofield originals with a variety of tastes including swing, funk, and folk, stand side by side with the album's title song, the Grateful Dead's "Uncle John's Band" to close the show. Uncle John's Band. The red thread that runs through the work is the trio's improvisational momentum. We feel like we could go anywhere," Scofield says of the trio's versatility. This guitar work will appeal to a wide range of jam band fans and jazz fans alike.