EnRoute

John Scofield | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (May 11, 2004)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Verve
• ASIN: B0001EJ7IQ
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (22 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #163,029 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #92 in Music > Jazz > Jazz Jam Bands

Editorial Reviews

SCOFIELD JOHN LIVE EN ROUTE

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Mr. Scofield at his best, and in good company, January 16, 2005

By 

Douglas Groothuis "Douglas Groothuis" - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: EnRoute (Audio CD)

This is pure, brilliant jazz: live improvization by three virtuosi. Mr. Scofield puts aside his funk-rap experimentation (what a relief) and just swings hard and deep--and in very good company.

Scofield's phrasing, tone, and attack are unique, making him recongizable instantly. He makes every note count, never revelling in speed for speed's sake. I have never heard him play any better.

Steve Swallow might be called the Bill Evans of jazz bass guitar. He gently supports the group in a deeply melodic, gentle (and often tender) manner--swinging all the while. That may sound like a strange description for a bass player, but it all works perfectly.

Bill Stewart has a telepathic connection with Scofield, as he did with Pat Metheny in the lastest incarnation of The Pat Metheny Trio. (Those recordings are highly recommended.) The interplay with Scofield is uncanny and aggressive, yet the beat never fades. Steward has amazing capacities dynamically (those quick swells on the snare are most pleasing) and a displays a very active left hand. He, too, is in a class by himself. He takes chances and comes out on top: never safe, but always good.

This is hearty music. Savor it, and be thankful for these gentleman's musical endowments and their collective chemistry--or should I say alchemy?

Douglas Groothuis

12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Dancing the tightrope, May 25, 2004

By 

Jan P. Dennis "Longboard jazzer" (Monument, CO USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: EnRoute (Audio CD)

Jazz is a high wire act.

Especially live. As here.

No net beneath. If you slip, you go splat.

These guys don't go splat.

One supposes it helps to have played together for many years, as these three friends (Sco, guitar; Steve Swallow, e-bass; Bill Stewart, drums) and jazz warriors have. Indeed, as Sco says in his brief liner notes: "The music on this CD was recorded live and I think that's the way jazz is played and heard best. Somehow, we rarely get to these places in the studio." They get to "these places," which are, in short, amazing, because of their individual brilliance and collective knowledge of each other's moves.

The most amazing place they get to is "Hammock Soliloquy," nearly ten minutes of bloozy, junk-yard-dog, shifting rhythms stitched together with some very sophisticated free-boppish passages. Somehow, it all hangs together. The intuitive band interaction combined with killer solos from both Sco and Swallow make for some might tasty listening. Swallow, although perhaps not quite as declamatory as on his recent Damage in Transit disc (but it's not his gig here, is it?), nevertheless provides nearly the perfect foil, becoming, at times, almost like "one big guitar together," as Sco puts it in his liner notes.

Other highlights include the pretty straightforward blues, "Bag," on which Sco proves he's among the greatest jazz interpreter of this music ever, helped, enormously, one must admit, by the walking brilliance of Swallow and the crazy rhythm of Stewart, who's all over his kit; "Wee," a Denzel Best standard given a way skanky treatment (which makes me wish for some more interpretations of jazz standards); and a wistfully atmospheric reading of "Alfie," where Sco proves he knows his way around a ballad by giving it a heartfelt, if slightly wackily idiosyncratic, treatment.

Over the past decade, John Scofield has proved himself to be among the greatest jazz guitarist ever. This disc, catching him in rare form on a live gig, goes a long way toward solidifying that well-deserved reputation.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Scofield Galore!, September 2, 2004

By 

Mark Sampson "MarkMyWords" (St George, UT) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: EnRoute (Audio CD)

For jazz buffs, the live trio record stands as one of the purest representations of the art form. A Jazz trio in a live setting is very challenging, and there's no lifejacket or safety net involved. The John Scofield Trio which consists of John Scofield (Guitar), old friends and longtime musical partners Steve Swallow (Bass) and Bill Stewart (Drums), recorded "EnRoute" live at the legendary "Blue Note" in N.Y.C. For you Scofield fans who get dispirited when his solos are over, you'll take pleasure in this recording, him being the only lead player. It's Scofield galore! And this setting allows him to really display his "chops".
If you're a guitarist looking for some schooling, you'll wear out your rewind button just on track one. Scofield's harmonic and rhythmic versatility from verse to verse stands out. He shows that he has the musical vocabulary to hold his audience captive for a duration of time, while cookin' at burning tempos. It seems to me that Scofield's been "whittling away at his axe", because he's playin' stuff I've never heard him play before. Yet, it's recognizably him...slightly funky with lots of "Montgomery-esque" octaves and dripping chord solos. Bass player Swallow and drummer Stewart are right on target! Any more and they would "step on toes"; any less and they would've needed a 4th person for a quartet.
For you jazz purists, and even those with the jazz bug, this is a "necessity" to add to your "Bop" collection! And for those of you that just discovered John Scofield with Medeski, Martin & Wood and think this may be another "Funk/Hip Hop" album like "A Go-Go" or "Uberjam", don't waste your money, this may be over your head. This is JAZZ, pure and simple. There's nothing really cutting-edge about this recording, but the live trio setting does set it apart as something special. This album should become a "must have" among Jazz Purists.