How I Got From There to Here in 704 Easy Words When I first got into jazz -- around 1969, I came from playing R&B and Soul in High School. Jazz Rock was in its infancy stage and I was lucky enough to be around to experience the Golden Age of both Rock and Soul and see Jazz embrace that movement while I was trying to learn how to play straightahead Jazz. A lot of my early chances to actually gig were in various Jazz/Rock idioms. I got to play "real" jazz with Gary Burton and Gerry Mulligan but my real first "big time" gig was with the Billy Cobham/George Duke band. We got to play in gigantic concert halls and rock venues for excited people who were not necessarily jazz aficionados, but loved the music. After that band ended, I stayed home in NYC and worked on playing acoustic jazz with my own groups and people like Dave Liebman. I also started an ongoing musical relationship with bassist Steve Swallow that continues to this day. As a jazz bassist and real songwriter (not just a composer) Swallow has influenced me as much as anyone. In 1982, I joined the Miles Davis Band, answering the call of funky jazz once again. My stint with Miles made me sure that there really was a kind of music that was both funky and improvised at the same time. After playing with Miles for over three years and making a few more records of my own, I hooked up with ex-P-Funk drummer Dennis Chambers, and we made a group that really utilized funk rhythms. Dennis and bassist Gary Grainger were masters of that "James Brown/ Earth Wind and Fire/ 70's thing". It was great having that underneath my tunes. When I signed with Blue Note Records in 1989, I decided to explore more "swinging" avenues. I got together with my old Berklee School buddy, genius saxophonist Joe Lovano. We had a group and made three albums for Blue Note -- four counting a bootleg from Europe -- that are probably my very best "jazz" endeavors. Part of that can also be attributed to the magnificent drumming of Bill Stewart, who is as good a musician as I've ever met. Then I felt the urge to get into a soul-jazz thing. I'd been really influenced by the music of Eddie Harris and Les McCann from the sixties. I invited Eddie to guest on the album Hand Jive. This was about the same time that Larry Goldings entered my music on Hammond Organ. With the collective possibilities of these musicians, I began to allow jazz to blend with New Orleans type rhythms to make the music groove. Around this period, I also worked and recorded some with Pat Metheny -- one of the great guitarists. He and Bill Frisell are my favorite guitar players to play with and listen to. But then there's also Jim Hall and Mike Stern and Jim Hall and John Abercrombie and Jim Hall and Kurt Rosenwinckle and Jim Hall and Peter Bernstein... not to mention Jim Hall. And then there's also Albert King and Carlos Santana and Tom Morello and all the other ones I can't summon the names of right at the moment. When I heard Medeski, Martin and Wood's record "Shack Man", I knew I had to play with them. They played those swampy grooves and had a free jazz attitude. These guys are serious conceptualists and are able to take the music to beautiful and strange places. I love what they did on AGoGo. In the last couple of years, I've heard some great young players that remind me often of what it is that I like so much about the music of sixties R&B. Now I'm able to take that music and mix it with jazz all over again. I'm having more fun playing now than I ever have and I feel like I can finally really learn to play the guitar. Now, after having the chance to play with many of my musical idols -- I'm getting inspiration from younger musicians. I'm as excited about writing and playing music as I ever have been. -- John Scofield ======================== 以上偷自： http://www.johnscofield.com/bio.html
Thanks Jeff! John Scofield 的style 並不是我最喜歡的，所以也只聽了一些。也許他加了很多 rock 味道在他的音樂中，Jazz rock 可以很對我的胃口如blood sweat and tears，但卻不愛聽Scofield 的東西。或許他少用一點distortion，音色上可能比較吸引我。 BTW，我喜歡的Jazz guitar tone 是clean and 肥肥的humbucker 如Jim Hall 與Abercrombie。 第一次看到他是在Jaco 的教學帶中，一個禿頭看起來毫不起眼的吉他手竟然可與Jaco 玩即興？更不要講他一邊彈一邊扶著土土的眼鏡穿著歐吉桑的衣服... 但看他們玩的這樣起勁，這傢伙必定大有來頭。果然後來才知道他是個有名的fusion 吉他手。 最近聽了他與John Abercrombie 的Solar，我覺得很不錯。可以聽聽Davis (?) 的Solar 與Wes 的four on six 由他們來詮釋會是什麼感覺。 忘了是哪一個"John" 在CD 內頁說的： "This is what happened to two guitarists named JOHN."
To：monk兄 我猜你可能比較喜歡傳統一點的 jazz style。你有機會可以聽聽看 John Scofield 和 Pat Metheny 的合作專輯-"I can see your house from here"。這張唱片不論編曲、演奏、風格都很棒，特別是 John Scofield 的 "用音" 明顯比 Pat Metheny 還要來的辣而簡約一點。 John Scofield 算是偏 funk、blues 的樂手；Pat Metheny 則比較寬廣些，甚至還有 new age 等 styles。個人覺得 Pat Metheny 的成就可能更高，但由於換方向挺快，有些樂風顯得不夠深入。 值得一提的兩件事是，有一回 Pat Metheny 在提各樂手時，感嘆到自己要是像 John Scofield 那樣當 sideman 比較久，而不是很年輕就自組團將自己推到第一線，他現在的深度一定不一樣。又比較不瞭的是， 有一回 John Scofield 在 Down Best 雜誌上說他一定要找能 funk 的樂手，因他覺得自己並不是很能 funk。很顯然一流樂手的要求是非常高的。 monk 兄若喜歡傳統一點的 jazz，可以聽聽看 Howard Elden 這位近中年的吉他手。他現在都用七弦琴，有一些二重奏、獨奏和團之類的專輯。雖然我有一些收集，對這類老 style 其實沒有太大興趣，但他的 style 對想學 standards 的人還不錯。我特別喜歡他的音色，和一般悶悶的 jazz guitar 音色不同，顯得比較有木質感和清晰度。 PS：這次 Pat Metheny 去台北應該讓不少人有感想。現在的音樂環境其實已經不差了，像這樣的樂手還有機會到台灣已是不易，特別是即使像 Pat Metheny、Steve Vai 做台灣場其實都是在虧錢，又已往台灣根本沒有這種機會觀摩 (約十年前我印象裡只有 BB King、Tuck 有來過，Tuck 則根本沒秀)。另外，請大家不要隨便用大師這種字眼亂稱呼一些音樂工作者 (他們當然也有職業上值得尊敬的地方)。看過 Pat Metheny 之類應該比較清楚大師的標準是在哪裡吧！
碰巧我昨晚睡覺時也有聽"I CAN SEE YOUR HOUSE FROM HERE" 一年以前剛買時聽完馬上放在一旁 因為聽不懂感覺玩的又很冷(甚至覺得這是JAZZ嗎?) 現在比較會聆聽了 到了昨天拿出來聽聽 哇!!好棒 他的拍型真有味... 我想大家可以從拍子先下手 就能搖了! 搖哩! 搖哩!
<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>原留言人 掌門人: 另外，請大家不要隨便用大師這種字眼亂稱呼一些音樂工作者 (他們當然也有職業上值得尊敬的地方)。看過 Pat Metheny 之類應該比較清楚大師的標準是在哪裡吧！<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> 我最喜歡一句話 忘了是哪一個SAXPHONE手所說的話 "Well , I just do my job " ^^
<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>...好棒 他的拍型真有味... 我想大家可以從拍子先下手 就能搖了! 搖哩! 搖哩!....<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> 裡頭的鼓手 Bill Stewart 就是以擅長 "poly rhythm" 聞名，也曾是 Pat Metheny Group 前任鼓手。我有幸見過他與 Peter Bernstein, Brad Mehldau 的 live trio，是目前為止最讓我佩服的鼓手，unbelievable time feel！ 之所以提到 "poly rhythm" 是因為這樣比較容易理解他的打法，若要用 "拍型" (我想前面朋友是指 "pattern") 去分析可能會焦頭爛額.... 另外掌門人提到的爵士吉他手應該是 Howard "A"lden 以上請參考
提到poly rhythm那我也要推PAUL MOTIAN^^ 今天去溫習一下JOHN SCOFIELD 我覺得大家也可以去聽他的"WORKS FOR ME"蠻不錯的喔...他說這是他的第一次的 DREAM BAND喔! 真的是DREAM BAND!! GUITAR: JOHN SCOFIELD ALTO SAX: KENNY GARRETT PIANO: BRAD MEHLDAU BASS: CHRISTIAN MCBRIDE DRUMS: BILLY HIGGINS 以上的名單對是爵士樂迷的人 一定不陌生吧!!老頭跟小鬼的組合^^ ~~對了 我指的是JOHN SCOFIELD的拍型 不知道大家有沒聽懂我的意思 我的文筆還是太差^^.... 阿!算了音樂本來就無須多加解釋!^^