During the '90s, ever-changing guitarist
John Scofield paired with saxophonist and fellow Berklee alum
Joe Lovano, drummer
Bill Stewart, and bassists
Charlie Haden,
Marc Johnson, and
Dennis Irwin, respectively, for three highly praised albums,
Time on My Hands (1990),
Meant to Be (1990), and What We Do (1992). Those albums found the oft-electrified
Scofield, who played with
Miles Davis in the '80s, investigating songs of a more acoustic, often straight-ahead, pre-fusion jazz style. After an over 20-year break,
Scofield reunited with
Lovano and
Stewart for 2015's
Past Present. Also joining the group this time is longtime
Scofield associate bassist
Larry Grenadier, who replaces the late
Irwin. As with the quartet's previous work,
Past Present is a largely acoustic jazz album, with
Scofield playing on an amped, semi-hollow-body guitar.
Scofield also supplies all of the compositions on
Past Present, some of which, poignantly, were inspired by his son Evan Scofield, who died from cancer at age 26 in 2013. While the music on
Past Present harks back to jazz's pre-rock-influenced golden age, there's nothing retro, staid, or unadventurous about the group's performance. This is propulsive, often angular and kinetic music that touches upon low-down blues ("Slinky"),
Horace Silver-esque soul-jazz ("Get Proud"), and airy, swinging post-bop ("Museum"). In that sense, it brings to mind the '70s work of
Scofield contemporary
Pat Martino. Barring 2003's Oh! by the supergroup
ScoLoHoFo,
Past Present is one of the few times
Lovano has recorded with
Scofield in recent years and it's invigorating to hear them together;
Lovano's warm saxophone dances against the crunchy decay of
Scofield's guitar. It's that burlap-on-velvet combination that gives cuts like the languid "Hangover" and the moody "Season Creep" an organic, tactile quality. There's also a gleeful, almost comedic nature to the quartet's interplay, as if the musicians are sharing an inside joke. "Chap Dance," a bright, Western-swing-meets-soul-bop cut, is clearly a somewhat cheeky nod to saxophonist
Sonny Rollins' take on "I'm an Old Cowhand." However, the comedic quality sometimes takes on a nuanced, melancholic tone, as on "Mr. Puffy." A reference to Evan Scofield's appearance while undergoing chemotherapy, the song starts out sounding sad, then quickly transitions into a tougher, overtly funky midsection anchored by a guttural, low-end riff from
Lovano. Ultimately, the track, as with all of
Past Present, is rife with love and in-the-moment energy inspired by
Scofield's past experience, but created with a hopeful eye to the future. ~ Matt Collar