John Scofield Uncle John's Band 2LP

TAS Rated 4.5/5 Music, 4.5/5 Sonics in the December 2023 Issue of The Absolute Sound!

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Named for the Grateful Dead song that concludes this inspired double album, Uncle John's Band features masterful guitarist John Scofield at his most freewheeling. Wide ranging repertoire finds his trio with Vicente Archer and Bill Stewart tackling material from Bob Dylan to Neil Young, from Leonard Bernstein to Miles Davis. The red thread through the programme is the trio's improvisational verve. "I feel like we can go anywhere," says John Scofield of the group's multi-directional versatility.

The interactive trio demonstrates a high degree of flexibility and empathy, whether swinging effortlessly on Irving Berlin's 'How Deep Is the Ocean,' Bud Powell's 'Budo,' and Ray Brown's 'Ray's Idea,' exploring new harmonic terrain on Bob Dylan's 'Mr. Tambourine Man' and Neil Young's 'Old Man,' or putting a gentle, beguiling stamp on the Grateful Dead ditty, 'Uncle John's Band.' On their expansive version of 'Mr. Tambourine Man,' Scofield incorporates a backward guitar loop throughout the nine-minute piece, a callback to his self-titled 2022 solo guitar outing on ECM. As the piece heads into adventurous rubato territory midway through, the guitarist wails freely and in fluid fashion, even nonchalantly dropping in a bebop quote along the way. And while Scofield may burn with audacious flair throughout this collection of 14 tunes, he caresses ballads like 'Stairway to the Stars' and Leonard Bernstein's gorgeous 'Somewhere' (from West Side Story) with uncommon sensitivity and elegance.