John Scofield Announces New, Self-Titled Solo Guitar Album
Scofield's first ever solo guitar effort is set to feature some re-configured original tunes, plus a selection of jazz, country, and rock 'n' roll standards.
Electric guitar legend John Scofield has announced a new, self-titled solo guitar album.
Scofield's first ever solo guitar effort, the LP will feature new versions of select numbers from his back catalog, plus solo guitar interpretations of a variety of jazz, rock 'n' roll, and even country standards.
A spin on Buddy Holly’s formative rock classic, "Not Fade Away," and a version of Hank Williams' "You Win Again" are among the tunes on the album, which is set for a May 6 release via ECM Records.
“When I was a kid the guitar was the instrument of rock and roll and popular music, that’s what I was interested in," Scofield explained of his decision to include the '50s-era rock and country songs in a statement.
Those curious about how Scofield approaches country songs in particular can take a look at GP's two-part examination of the guitarist's harmonically sophisticated version of "Mama Tried."
Among the original tunes on John Scofield is a newly recorded take of his gorgeous ballad, "Mrs. Scofield’s Waltz," and a new version of "Honest I Do." You can hear the latter above.
“I think that there’s a delicateness that I have acquired from playing at home alone,” Scofield told the Boston Herald last year. “I am so used to playing with a slamming band, which is what I love to do, and there’s a certain muscularity to that. That went away and was replaced, I think, by, hopefully, this more delicate approach of pinpointing the beauty of the strings.”
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“When I play solo, I make these little loops on the fly, I don’t do prerecorded loops,” he said in the same interview. “So I am having to respond to some music and it’s almost like I’m playing with another person.”
“I do say almost," he added, with a laugh.
For more info on the album, and Scofield's music, visit johnscofield.com.
Jackson is an Associate Editor at GuitarWorld.com and GuitarPlayer.com. He’s been writing and editing stories about new gear, technique and guitar-driven music both old and new since 2014, and has also written extensively on the same topics for Guitar Player. Elsewhere, his album reviews and essays have appeared in Louder and Unrecorded. Though open to music of all kinds, his greatest love has always been indie, and everything that falls under its massive umbrella. To that end, you can find him on Twitter crowing about whatever great new guitar band you need to drop everything to hear right now.
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