Choose artist...
Home   >   Projects   >   Past Present
John Scofield

Past Present

Impulse!

Press Release

Read press

Artist Details

Read bio

Tour Dates

View

Website

Visit
'Inside Scofield' trailer
zZounds.com: An Interview with John Scofield
John Scofield Interview with Rick Beato
Elbphilharmonie Sessions
1 Slinky
2 Chap Dance
3 Hangover
4 Museum
5 Season Creep
6 Get Proud
7 Enjoy The Future!
8 Mr. Puffy
9 Past Present
Show all tracks
Hide

John Scofield updates his early-'90s quartet with drummer Bill Stewart and saxophonist Joe Lovano by recruiting bassist Larry Grenadier for his fetching, appropriately titled impulse! debut, Past Present. Between 1990 and 1992, the celebrated guitarist released three well-received discs – Meant to Be, Time on My Hands and What We Do – for the Blue Note label as the John Scofield Quartet. On those records, either Marc Johnson or Dennis Irwin played bass. Nevertheless, Grenadier also has history playing with Scofielld; he toured with Scofield in support of the 1996 disc, Quiet.

The nine exciting tunes Scofield penned on Past Present also reflects his philosophy on playing jazz music. He stresses the importance of being knowledgeable of the music's deep, complex roots while simultaneously being spontaneous and in the moment while performing it. For an artist with such a multifaceted discography as Scofield's, getting to the root of jazz means channeling the blues, as demonstrated on the disc's closing, titled-track. 

  • 'Inside Scofield' profiles the compulsively creative lifestyle of a road dog master / NYS Music
    Posted At: December 13, 2022 12:00 AM
    NYS Music's Sal Cataldi writes…With his new documentary, INSIDE SCOFIELD, filmmaker Joerg Steineck has crafted one of the truest representations of the compulsively creative lifestyle of a “road dog” jazz master – in this case, the always superlative guitarist John Scofield. 

    Steineck makes the incredibly wise decision of letting Scofield tell his story in his own words. This comes via voiceover...
    Bookmark and Share

  • John Scofield and Dave Holland at the Blue Note. What two lifetimes of musical excellence can sound like / relix
    Posted At: September 29, 2022 12:00 AM
    Jazz Icons John Scofield and Dave Holland at the Blue Note Jazz Club (A Gallery)

    relix writes…Last night, jazz icons John Scofield & Dave Holland continued their six-night run at the Blue Note Jazz Club in New York City. During the two performances, the American guitarist and composer and English jazz double bassist, composer and bandleader showcased what two lifetimes of musical excellence can s...
    Bookmark and Share

  • Watch Nigel Hall rip 'Hey Joe' with John Scofield at Brooklyn Comes Alive / LIVE FOR LIVE MUSIC
    Posted At: September 15, 2022 12:00 AM
    LIVE FOR LIVE MUSIC's Andrew O'Brien writes……Today, fan-favorite soul-funk keyboardist/vocalist Nigel Hall celebrates his 41st birthday. Hall has kept busy over the last several years touring and recording with Lettuce, releasing another stunning solo record, Spiritual, and participating in various other collaborative projects. One such memorable collaboration came during the 2017 edition of Brooklyn Comes ...
    Bookmark and Share

  • John Scofield joins JAZZ88 - Minneapolis - The Afternoon Cruise ahead of Dakota shows
    Posted At: September 6, 2022 12:00 AM
    Guitarist/composer John Scofield is out on the road with his band to support his new, self-titled release, and they’re taking the stage of the Dakota on Thursday evening, September 8th.  He was nice enough to take some time out of his busy schedule to visit with Sean McPherson on JAZZ88: The Afternoon Cruise…..Minneapolis.LISTEN TO THE SEGMENTWith a career spanning over half a century, marked by influe...
    Bookmark and Share

  • The venerable Sco has recorded an album completely by himself / JazzTimes
    Posted At: August 26, 2022 12:00 AM
    With a career spanning over half a century, marked by influential collaborations with jazz greats like Miles Davis and Joe Henderson as well as several dozen genre-bending leader dates, it’s all the more striking that this is in fact John Scofield’s first ever guitar-solo recording. The long wait, however, pays off, as John is able to benefit from his decades of experience and charts an intimate path throug...
    Bookmark and Share

  • John Scofield on playing guitar with a looper / UltimateGuitar.com Q&A
    Posted At: August 11, 2022 12:00 AM
    Jazz Legend John Scofield on Playing Guitar With a Looper: 'It's the Same as When You're Playing With Human Beings'
    "The difference is that you really hear what you're doing".UltimateGuitar.com writes…..A one-of-a-kind guitarist, John Scofield rose to prominence for his work with such influential artists as Chet Baker and Miles Davis, but he quickly distinguished himself with his own solo work, where he ...
    Bookmark and Share

  • The long wait pays off on John Scofield's first ever guitar-solo recording / Different Noises
    Posted At: July 19, 2022 12:00 AM
    With a career spanning over half a century, marked by influential collaborations with jazz greats like Miles Davis and Joe Henderson as well as several dozen genre-bending leader dates, it’s all the more striking that this is in fact John Scofield’s first ever guitar-solo recording. The long wait, however, pays off, as John is able to benefit from his decades of experience and charts an intimate path throug...
    Bookmark and Share

  • John Scofield's first ever solo guitar recording makes JAZZIZ: The Week in Jazz
    Posted At: May 24, 2022 12:00 AM
    With a career spanning over half a century, marked by influential collaborations with jazz greats like Miles Davis and Joe Henderson as well as several dozen genre-bending leader dates, it’s all the more striking that this is in fact John Scofield’s first ever guitar-solo recording. The long wait, however, pays off, as John is able to benefit from his decades of experience and charts an intimate path throug...
    Bookmark and Share

  • John Scofield's 'Since You Asked' makes All About Jazz / Mondo Jazz: New Releases
    Posted At: May 21, 2022 12:00 AM
    With a career spanning over half a century, marked by influential collaborations with jazz greats like Miles Davis and Joe Henderson as well as several dozen genre-bending leader dates, it’s all the more striking that this is in fact John Scofield’s first ever guitar-solo recording. The long wait, however, pays off, as John is able to benefit from his decades of experience and charts an intimate path throug...
    Bookmark and Share

  • John Scofield serves up an inventive, intimate set of solitary music making / jazz & blues report
    Posted At: May 11, 2022 12:00 AM
    With a career spanning over half a century, marked by influential collaborations with jazz greats like Miles Davis and Joe Henderson as well as several dozen genre-bending leader dates, it’s all the more striking that this is in fact John Scofield’s first ever guitar-solo recording. The long wait, however, pays off, as John is able to benefit from his decades of experience and charts an intimate path throug...
    Bookmark and Share

  • John Scofield is alone with himself and the guitar on new ECM solo album / NDR
    Posted At: May 9, 2022 12:00 AM
    After a long time alone at home due to the pandemic, jazz guitarist John Scofield is releasing a solo album.

    NDR's Sarah Seidel writes….John Scofield turned 70 last December. The guitarist is one of the big names in American jazz, and his career has spanned more than 50 years. He has played with Miles Davis, George Duke, Billy Cobham and Steve Swallow. A musician at home in blues, rock, hard bop and ...
    Bookmark and Share

  • John Scofield offers intimate self-portrait on first solo guitar album / Live For Live Music
    Posted At: May 9, 2022 12:00 AM
    With a career spanning over half a century, marked by influential collaborations with jazz greats like Miles Davis and Joe Henderson as well as several dozen genre-bending leader dates, it’s all the more striking that this is in fact John Scofield’s first ever guitar-solo recording. The long wait, however, pays off, as John is able to benefit from his decades of experience and charts an intimate path throug...
    Bookmark and Share

  • John Scofield chats with radio france
    Posted At: May 9, 2022 12:00 AM
    With a career spanning over half a century, marked by influential collaborations with jazz greats like Miles Davis and Joe Henderson as well as several dozen genre-bending leader dates, it’s all the more striking that this is in fact John Scofield’s first ever guitar-solo recording. The long wait, however, pays off, as John is able to benefit from his decades of experience and charts an intimate path throug...
    Bookmark and Share

  • On this album of smartly chosen songs, John Scofield could soundtrack the rest of your life / THE BIG TAKE OVER
    Posted At: May 4, 2022 12:00 AM
    With a career spanning over half a century, marked by influential collaborations with jazz greats like Miles Davis and Joe Henderson as well as several dozen genre-bending leader dates, it’s all the more striking that this is in fact John Scofield’s first ever guitar-solo recording. The long wait, however, pays off, as John is able to benefit from his decades of experience and charts an intimate path throug...
    Bookmark and Share

  • Now that he's 70, its only right that John Scofield takes a victory lap with his first solo album / the arts fuse
    Posted At: May 3, 2022 12:00 AM
    the arts fuse - Allen Michie writes…John Scofield is one of those guitarists whose sound is identifiable within three notes, no matter whether he’s playing mainstream jazz, fusion, country, rock, or experimental music. He’s always had his own distinctive identity, even from his earliest recordings, which now date from almost 50 years ago. Scofield has a characteristic attack: he hovers his way into and out ...
    Bookmark and Share

  • John Scofield - Trance De Jour is featured track on JazzFM: Mark Walkers Dinner Jazz
    Posted At: April 29, 2022 12:00 AM
    With a career spanning over half a century, marked by influential collaborations with jazz greats like Miles Davis and Joe Henderson as well as several dozen genre-bending leader dates, it’s all the more striking that this is in fact John Scofield’s first ever guitar-solo recording. The long wait, however, pays off, as John is able to benefit from his decades of experience and charts an intimate path throug...
    Bookmark and Share

  • John Scofield stripping down for socially distanced solo sets at the Ridgefield Playhouse / The Newtown Bee
    Posted At: April 8, 2021 12:00 AM

    The Newtown Bee - John Voket writes.....Multiple Grammy-winning jazz guitar icon John Scofield describes his upcoming socially distanced shows at the Ridgefield Playhouse like the musical equivalent of a tightrope walk. But instead of balancing himself with a bar - he is doing it with a single guitar. While over the past few years, and for the first few times since he took up guitar and began serious...
    Bookmark and Share

  • Steve Swallow wins JazzTimes: Critics Poll for 'Best Electric Bassist'
    Posted At: February 1, 2021 12:00 AM

    For this annual companion poll to our Top 50 Critics' Picks, our regular contributors participated in this survey based on our yearly Readers' Poll. Contributors were asked to focus on artists' achievements during 2020 rather than assessing entire careers. Steve Swallow wins for 'Best Electric Bassist.' A lauded bassist and composer, Steve Swallow is an influential performer who helped define...
    Bookmark and Share

  • John Scofield - Swallow Tales makes 'JazzTimes: Top 40 New Jazz Releases of 2020'
    Posted At: January 11, 2021 12:00 AM

    JazzTimes writes......For our 2020 Year in Review section, we calculated the top 40 new releases and top 10 historical/reissue recordings of 2020 based on year-end lists by our writers. They were asked to choose the 10 best new releases and five best historical titles-i.e., albums and box sets consisting primarily of music recorded 10 or more years ago. Some discs may have slipped through the cracks, but...
    Bookmark and Share

  • John Scofield - Swallow Tales makes 'Jazz Police: 20 from 2020 - the New Music that Helped'
    Posted At: December 23, 2020 12:00 AM

    2020 was the Year of the Rat which seems fitting for this year of plague. Concerts have been canceled, jazz clubs closed and it was a time when we needed music more than ever. If this dark cloud has a silver lining there must be serious wood-shedding going on right now and in 2021 after some normality returns we will witness a creative explosion of new music. But for now live streaming events help and bo...
    Bookmark and Share

  • John Scofield - Swallow Tales makes The Guardian '10 best jazz albums of 2020'
    Posted At: December 21, 2020 12:00 AM

    Alongside archive recordings from Sonny Rollins and John Coltrane, and inventive new releases by Maria Schneider and Carla Bley, 2020 had plenty of spectacular fusions The partnership between guitarist John Scofield and electric bassist Steve Swallow goes back a long way, and they both have instantly recognisable identities on their respective versions of a guitar. Scofield plays jazz with a biting, ...
    Bookmark and Share

  • John Scofield - Swallow Tales makes BBC Music Magazine's 'The best jazz recordings released in 2020 so far'
    Posted At: October 23, 2020 12:00 AM

    A list of the greatest jazz albums released so far this year, as chosen by the BBC Music Magazine critics includes; John Scofield - Swallow Tales, featuring; John Scofield (electric guitar), Steve Swallow (bass guitar), Bill Stewart (drums) ECM 2679 The electric guitarist John Scofield comes full circle with this fine trio release, revisiting original pieces from veteran bass player Steve Sw...
    Bookmark and Share

  • HPR's 'All Things Considered' goes 'Off The Road With John Scofield'
    Posted At: September 15, 2020 12:00 AM

    Today All Things Considered Honolulu Host Dave Lawrence continues our Off the Road series of interviews with musicians sharing how the pandemic and other crises have touched them. John Scofield has earned a place in the world of jazz guitar over a career that began decades ago when he started performing professionally while still a student at Berklee College of Music in Boston. He went on to be part ...
    Bookmark and Share

  • The Steve Swallow - John Scofield story / Something Came From Baltimore
    Posted At: August 20, 2020 12:00 AM

    Guitarist John Scofield celebrates the music of his friend and mentor Steve Swallow in an out going and spirited recording, made in an afternoon in New York City in March 2019-"old school" style as Scofield says, acknowledging that more than forty years of preparation led up to it. John was a 20-year-old student at Berklee when he first met and played with bassist Steve Swallow. Something came from B...
    Bookmark and Share

  • 'A Neon Jazz Interview' catches up with John Scofield
    Posted At: July 30, 2020 12:00 AM

    Welcome to a new edition of the Neon Jazz interview series with Legendary Jazz Guitarist John Scofield. We caught up with him to talk abut his newest 2020 CD Swallow Tales that celebrates the music of his friend and mentor Steve Swallow made in an afternoon in New York City in March 2019 .. John was a 20-year-old student at Berklee when he first met and played with bassist Swallow, and they have continue...
    Bookmark and Share

  • John Scofield fits between post-bop, funk, jazz & r&b / Montana Public Radio
    Posted At: July 29, 2020 12:00 AM

    Legendary jazz guitarist John Scofield speaks with host John Floridis and answers questions submitted by Musician's Spotlight listeners through social media. In addition to dozens of recordings under his own name, Scofield's recorded collaborations read like a who's who of jazz royalty: Miles Davis, Chet Baker, Charles Mingus, Gary Burton, McCoy Tyner, Herbie Hancock and his bass-playing mentor, Stev...
    Bookmark and Share

  • WSUM: Madison & GreenArrowRadio chats with Steve Swallow about new John Scofield - ECM release
    Posted At: July 22, 2020 12:00 AM

    Friend of the proGram, John Scofield celebrates the music of his friend and mentor Steve Swallow in an outgoing and spirited recording, aply titled "Swallow Tales" – made in an afternoon in New York City in March 2019. John was a 20-year-old student at Berklee when he first met and played with bassist Swallow, and they have continued ever since, in many different contexts. I had the honor of ch...
    Bookmark and Share

  • Steve Swallow tells tales on Hamilton Ontario's 101.5 The Hawk
    Posted At: July 14, 2020 12:00 AM

    Guitarist John Scofield celebrates the music of his friend and mentor Steve Swallow in an outgoing and spirited recording, made in an afternoon in New York City in March 2019 - "old school" style as Scofield says, acknowledging that more than forty years of preparation led up to it. John was a 20-year-old student at Berklee when he first met and played with bassist Swallow, and they have continued ever s...
    Bookmark and Share

  • John Scofield and Steve Swallow... tell tales
    Posted At: July 6, 2020 12:00 AM

    Guitarist John Scofield celebrates the music of his friend and mentor Steve Swallow in an outgoing and spirited recording, made in an afternoon in New York City in March 2019 - "old school" style as Scofield says, acknowledging that more than forty years of preparation led up to it. John was a 20-year-old student at Berklee when he first met and played with bassist Swallow, and they have continued ever s...
    Bookmark and Share

  • John Scofield visits with 'The Paul Leslie Hour'
    Posted At: July 1, 2020 12:00 AM

    John Scofield, known to many in the music world simply as "Sco," makes his debut appearance on The Paul Leslie Hour. He's one of the most influential guitarists around and a composer, performer and recording artist. Scofield has released a trio recording on ECM Records entitled "Swallow Tales." The album consists of 9 compositions by jazz bassist Steve Swallow. It is a great thing to sit down and convers...
    Bookmark and Share

  • John Scofield & Steve Swallow is like one big guitar / CD HOTLIST
    Posted At: July 1, 2020 12:00 AM

    There are a few guitarists who are almost instantly recognizable by their tone: Richard Thompson, Bill Frisell, Pat Metheny - and John Scofield. It's not that his sound is idiosyncratic, it's just that it's personal. There's some chorus in there, and just a touch of distortion to rough up the very edges. But it's also the notes he plays, and the way that the blues are never far from him no matter how com...
    Bookmark and Share

  • John Scofield chats with jazzcast on his 4 decade career
    Posted At: July 1, 2020 12:00 AM

    John Scofield's guitar work has influenced jazz since the late 70's and is going strong today. Possessor of a very distinctive sound and stylistic diversity, Scofield is a masterful jazz improviser whose music generally falls somewhere between post-bop, funk edged jazz, and R & B. Scofield's new ECM album celebrates the music of his friend and mentor Steve Swallow in an outgoing and s...
    Bookmark and Share

  • John Scofield Interviews with 90.1KKFI: Kansas City
    Posted At: June 28, 2020 12:00 AM

    Guitarist John Scofield celebrates the music of his friend and mentor Steve Swallow in an outgoing and spirited recording, made in an afternoon in New York City in March 2019 - "old school" style as Scofield says, acknowledging that more than forty years of preparation led up to it. John was a 20-year-old student at Berklee when he first met and played with bassist Swallow, and they have continued ever s...
    Bookmark and Share

  • John Scofield has great respect for the Steve Swallow compositions / Musicalmemoirs
    Posted At: June 20, 2020 12:00 AM

    John Scofield has long admired Steve Swallow, as a friend, a mentor and for his composer skills. A Libra, Swallow was born October 4, 1940 and is celebrated for his collaborations with Jimmy Giuffre, Gary Burton and Carla Bley.  He is lauded for being someone who stepped away from the upright bass and switched entirely to electric bass long before that was a popular decision for a jazz bassist to ma...
    Bookmark and Share

  • This is an intelligent, inventively performed, be-boppish tribute to a composer I now know better than ever / the arts fuse
    Posted At: May 27, 2020 12:00 AM

    On the 1967 RCA Victor album Lofty Fake Anagram, vibraphonist Gary Burton recorded "Good Citizen Swallow," "in honor of his bassist Steve Swallow." Most bassists could be described in similar terms: they have chosen an instrument that, in jazz, is usually supportive and sits in the background. Bassists routinely tell jokes about people chatting throughout their instrument's solo. In contrast, for almost ...
    Bookmark and Share
Go to artist details