Groove Elation follows in the footsteps of Scofield’s earthy organ trio album Hand Jive, but omits Eddie Harris and augments the lineup with some very tasteful and subtle horn backgrounds. Scofield is still the chief soloist, however, with secondary contributions from Larry Goldings.
It’s good to have Scofield back in the firmly groove-oriented mode reintroduced on Hand Jive, and the timing, orchestration and dynamics are superb, nowhere more so than on Kool. On the solo front, Scofield continues to hone his blues playing, displaying a strong line in squawking harmonics and squealing blues bends. There’s something distinctive in his treatment of this familiar idiom, but one can still wonder what happened to the richly spiced chromaticism which so distinguished his writing and playing from the late seventies to the mid-eighties. The album also marks the departure of Scofield protégé Bill Stewart and the arrival of r’n’b legend Idris Muhammad and has Scofield’s first recorded appearances on non-electric guitar for some while. It’s also the first Blue Note album I’ve encountered which fails to give a recording date. That given below is surmised from the copyright date, which may, of course, refer to year of manufacture or release rather than recording.
Discography
Lazy; Peculiar; Let The Cat Out; Kool; Old Soul; Groove Elation; Carlos; Soft Shoe; Let It Shine; Bigtop (60.22)
Scofield (g, elg); Larry Goldings (org); Dennis Irwin (b); Idris Muhammad (d); plus Don Alias (pc); Howard Johnson (tu); Steve Turre (tb); Billy Drewes (ts, f); Randy Brecker (t, flh). Recorded NYC, 1995.
(Blue Note CDP 7243 8 32801 2 4)
