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JOIN ME IN MAKING A DIFFERENCE
Hi Everyone:
I'm home now and readying for holiday time with family. This is a particularly special time of the year for giving - a time when we can help alleviate the pain and suffering of others as a means of recognizing and appreciating our own good fortune. I don't want to be preachy but as global economic woes increase, the slide for many into poverty and despair increases proportionately. For those of us who live in and near big cities, that suffering is often visible right out on the streets. I've been thinking about the power of small actions and how, if done collectively, small donations will make a powerful impact. Looking here at my Myspace page, I am honored to have over 40,000 friends. If each of my friends made as little as a $1. donation to one charity - what a difference that alone would make! YES, WE CAN.
Our family's holiday charity this year (as in years past) is The NY City Rescue Mission. NY City Rescue Mission is in it's 136th year - the oldest service of this kind in the United States. This winter alone, they will provide over 15,000 meals to the homeless (including big holiday meals), 2700 warm beds, drug and alcohol counseling, emergency aid to transients and an extensive rehabilitation program for 40 men at a time. A gift as small as $2.00 provides a holiday meal to a homeless person. The more you can give, the more people you help.
I urge you to join me in making a donation this December. You can give online at www. nycrescue. org or by mail to
New York City Rescue Mission
PO Box 275 Canal Street Station
New York, NY 10013-0275
Send them a few dollars in cash if you want to be anonymous and don't want to be added to solicitation lists, etc. Send them a big check! Send what you can.
Anything we all do will help - no matter how small or large the gift .
Thanks for your time. I wish you all a happy holiday season, peace, love and a very happy new year to come.
John
John Scofield
www. johnscofield. com
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AUTOBIOGRAPHY
When I first got into jazz -- around 1969, I came from playing R&B and Soul in High School. Jazz Rock was in its infancy stage and I was lucky enough to be around to experience the Golden Age of both Rock and Soul and see Jazz embrace that movement while I was trying to learn how to play straightahead Jazz. A lot of my early chances to actually gig were in various Jazz/Rock idioms. I got to play "real" jazz with Gary Burton and Gerry Mulligan but my real first "big time" gig was with the Billy Cobham/George Duke band. We got to play in gigantic concert halls and rock venues for excited people who were not necessarily jazz aficionados, but loved the music.
After that band ended, I stayed home in NYC and worked on playing acoustic jazz with my own groups and people like Dave Liebman. I also started an ongoing musical relationship with bassist Steve Swallow that continues to this day. As a jazz bassist and real songwriter (not just a composer) Swallow has influenced me as much as anyone.
In 1982, I joined the Miles Davis Band, answering the call of funky jazz once again. My stint with Miles made me sure that there really was a kind of music that was both funky and improvised at the same time.
After playing with Miles for over three years and making a few more records of my own, I hooked up with ex-P-Funk drummer Dennis Chambers, and we made a group that really utilized funk rhythms. Dennis and bassist Gary Grainger were masters of that "James Brown/ Earth Wind and Fire/ 70's thing". It was great having that underneath my tunes.
When I signed with Blue Note Records in 1989, I decided to explore more "swinging" avenues. I got together with my old Berklee School buddy, genius saxophonist Joe Lovano. We had a group and made three albums for Blue Note -- four counting a bootleg from Europe -- that are probably my very best "jazz" endeavors. Part of that can also be attributed to the magnificent drumming of Bill Stewart, who is as good a musician as I've ever met.
Then I felt the urge to get into a soul-jazz thing. I'd been really influenced by the music of Eddie Harris and Les McCann from the sixties. I invited Eddie to guest on the album Hand Jive. This was about the same time that Larry Goldings entered my music on Hammond Organ. With the collective possibilities of these musicians, I began to allow jazz to blend with New Orleans type rhythms to make the music groove.
Around this period, I also worked and recorded some with Pat Metheny -- one of the great guitarists. He and Bill Frisell are my favorite guitar players to play with and listen to. But then there's also Jim Hall and Mike Stern and Jim Hall and John Abercrombie and Jim Hall and Kurt Rosenwinckle and Jim Hall and Peter Bernstein... not to mention Jim Hall. And then there's also Albert King and Carlos Santana and Tom Morello and all the other ones I can't summon the names of right at the moment.
When I heard Medeski, Martin and Wood's record "Shack Man", I knew I had to play with them. They played those swampy grooves and had a free jazz attitude. These guys are serious conceptualists and are able to take the music to beautiful and strange places. I love what they did on AGoGo. In the last couple of years, I've heard some great young players that remind me often of what it is that I like so much about the music of sixties R&B.
Now I'm able to take that music and mix it with jazz all over again. I'm having more fun playing now than I ever have and I feel like I can finally really learn to play the guitar. Now, after having the chance to play with many of my musical idols -- I'm getting inspiration from younger musicians. I'm as excited about writing and playing music as I ever have been.
-- John Scofield
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DISCOGRAPHY AS MAIN ARTIST
*''Piety Street" (2009 - John Scofield - Emarcy)
*''This Meets That" (2007 - John Scofield - Emarcy)
*''Out Louder" - MSMW (MMW/John Scofield)' (2006 - Indirecto Records)
*''Saudades" - Trio Beyond (Jack DeJohnette/Larry Goldings/John Scofield)' (2006 - ECM)
*''Thats What I Say - John Scofield Plays the Music of Ray Charles'' (2005 - John Scofield - Verve Records)
*''EnRoute: John Scofield Trio LIVE'' (2004 - John Scofield Trio - Verve Records)
*''Up All Night'' (2003 - John Scofield Band - Verve Records)
*''Überjam'' (2002 - John Scofield Band - Verve Records)
*''Works For Me'' (2001 - John Scofield - Verve Records)
*''Steady Groovin': The Blue Note Groove Sides'' (2000 - John Scofield - Blue Note)
*''Bump'' (2000 - John Scofield - Verve Records)
*''A Go Go'' (1998 - John Scofield - Verve Records)
*''Quiet'' (1996 - John Scofield - Verve Records)
*''Groove Elation'' (1995 - John Scofield - Blue Note)
*''Summertime'' (1994 - John Scofield/Pat Metheny - Bugsy Records)
*''I Can See Your House From Here'' (1994 - John Scofield/Pat Metheny - Blue Note)
*''Summertime'' (1994 - John Scofield - Blue Note)
*''Liquid Fire: The Best of John Scofield'' (1994 - John Scofield - Gramavision)
*''What We Do'' (1993 - John Scofield - Blue Note)
*''Grace Under Pressure'' (1991 - John Scofield - Blue Note)
*''John Scofield Quartet Plays Live'' (1991 - John Scofield Quartet - Jazz Door)
*''Meant To Be'' (1990 - John Scofield - Blue Note)
*''Slo Sco:The Best of the Ballads'' (1990 - John Scofield - Gramavision)
*''Time on My Hands'' (1989 - John Scofield - Blue Note)
*''Best of John Scofield'' (1989 - John Scofield - Blue Note)
*''Flat Out'' (1988 - John Scofield - Gramavision)
*''Pick Hits Live'' (1987 - John Scofield - Gramavision)
*''Loud Jazz'' (1987 - John Scofield - Gramavision)
*''Blue Matter'' (1986 - John Scofield - Gramavision)
*''Still Warm'' (1985 - John Scofield - Gramavision)
*''Electric Outlet'' (1984 - John Scofield - Gramavision)
*''Shinola'' (1981 - John Scofield - Enja Records)
*''Out Like a Light'' (1981 - John Scofield - Enja Records)
*''Bar Talk'' (1980 - John Scofield - Novus Records)
*''Who's Who?'' (1979 - John Scofield - One Way Records)
*''Rough House'' (1978 - John Scofield - Enja Records)
*''First'' (1978 - John Scofield - Venus Records)
*''John Scofield Live'' (1977 - John Scofield - Enja Records)
*''East Meets West'' (1977 - John Scofield - Enja Records)
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