Customer Reviews

Time On My Hands

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I bought this album because it just... well... it was in a bargain bin. There. I've said it.
It just about took my head off, though. I've always loved Jack
DeJohnette, and Charlie Haden just seems to magically appear on so much that interests me. Joe Lovano is marvelous... but this mix confused me in concept - Scofield's electric style, the nature of the tunes, and acoustic bass (the no-brainer on this stuff would have been electric bass).
I've listened to it several hundred times now, and the fluidity, grit and warmth that Scofield puts behind a horn line is just amazing. Understated, but really powerful. And the DeJohnette and Haden work with it is prime.
I'd say get this, because it's WONDERFUL. But also, if you want to hear something a little different that a guitar can do while backing up a tenor - and playing off a tenor - check it out. I can't imagine being let down.
(Sorry about the bargain bin thing, John. I got nothing but love for you.)

From the opening be-bop tune "Wabash III" to the acoustic(!) fushion-ish "Fat Lip", Scofield's amazing depth in both composition and technique are all on display on this 1989 outing. Lovano's passionate solos (check out "Let's Say We Did") shows why he is quite possibly the best tenor man of the last ten years. DeJohnette puts in his usual excellent work on the drum kit, but it is Charlie Haden who manages to outdo himself here. His dead-on bass lines nicely fills the void left by the lack of keyboards and stretches out without going too far on "So Sue Me".

Overall, a record that hits the mark in every aspect; a must purchase if you like the straight-ahead jazz side of John Scofield. Or if you like straight-ahead jazz at all, for that matter.

This underrated (2 reviews?) calibrated gem has in fact aged like a fine wine, that rare jazz release whose production transcends placement, allowing the guitar genius to shine in his own right while maintaining fascinating interplay with this great quartet.