The Scofield trio’s three-night stand in Munich in 1981 has now produced two albums, the first being Shinola (reviewed JJI August 1982). This latest release features more energetic material than its sister, although, that said, Shinola’s title track easily compensates for any lyrical excess on that record.
There is nothing to match Shinola‘s intensity here – rather the energy is distributed across the tracks with the excellent Holidays getting more than its fair share. Scofield is on his best eclectic form here, producing a solo that draws on all his stylistic resources, from country to rock, blues and jazz – a joyously bittersweet mixture. Over light Latin drum figures and a steady harmony based around A major, Scofield has plenty of room to stretch out. The phrasing is considered and paced, the ideas and tone clear. He never just runs scales, and his virtuosity is a mere tool.
Last Week is introduced by an ironically clumsy but controlled drum break before the trio slips into this typically cool and swinging piece. Miss Directions shows Scofield as a dirty player, with an edge of distortion in the bass on his chord work. This tune’s tasteful changes are laid over a big swing beat, and it features a fine Steve Swallow solo. Nussbaum’s impudent drumming is also featured in fours trading with Scofield, and builds into a martial strut at the tune’s climax. This music is not just about hard blowing though: the trio’s empathy is magnificent, and shifts of mood are magically dexterous. Miss Directions ends with a sudden recapitulation of the restrained theme statement and a joke false ending.
The title track is a departure by any standards, and shows that the trio knows the importance of humour, irony and probably anarchy. The central idea here calls on the players’ listening ability as the tune’s time is tossed around the ring, creating at times an atmosphere of precipitate incompetence. In fact the trio is taking risks and challenging itself. Each player has a chance to try his free hand, but this is not allowed to take over, and no excuses are made for real imagination. Melinda is as unambiguous as Scofield can ever be, an almost straight solo rendering of the Alan Lerner tune, but coloured with typical Scofield dissonances.
I cannot imagine hearing a better record this year.
Discography
Holidays; Last Week (17.26) – Miss Directions; Out Like A Light; Melinda (18.12)
John Scofield (elg); Steve Swallow (elb); Adam Nussbaum (d). Recorded at Club Vielharmonie, Munich. 14/12/81.
(Enja 4038)
