John Scofield: Shoe Dog
Musicians:
John Scofield (electric guitar), Steve Swallow (electric bass), Bill Stewart (drums), Bill Frisell (electric guitar),
John Swana (trumpet, flugelhorn), Jim Pugh (trombone), Lawrence Feldman (flute, tenor sax), Roger Rosenberg (bass clarinet, baritone sax)
.Composed by John Scofield
.Recorded: New York, September 2006-April 2007
Rating: 92/100 (learn more)
Jazzmen, from Charlie Christian to Wes Montgomery, defined the sound of the electric guitar: clear, swinging and sophisticated. But as rock 'n' rollers and electric bluesmen gave the guitar a ruder identity, the instrument turned uglier than General Patton's bull terrier Willie. Amplifiers cranked to 11, feedback, fuzzboxes—it was worse than your 2nd-grade teacher scraping her fingernails on the chalkboard to get everyone's attention. Yet, somehow, out of this din emerged John Scofield, who can flirt with electronic debauchery without violating his jazz vows of musicality. "Shoe Dog," by way of sly, easygoing example, slips so snugly and refreshingly into the ear, we wonder how we've gotten along without it all these years.
Reviewer: Alan Kurtz
Tags: electric guitar · shoe dog
2 responses so far
The most unqualified reviewer on this site continues to promote his narrow interpretation of "musicality". For someone who's not a musician himself, he's got a lot of nerve. BOYCOTT ALAN KURTZ!!!
I just happened to hear this cut today on XM radio...and it's everything that the reviewer (Alan Kurtz) said it was. Wow. And I don't know anything abou the agenda evident in the above comment: the music pretty well speaks for itself. Highly recommended.