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Local Guitarist Vincent Sims asks the question "Is That Jazz?"
CD Reviews: Dirty Dozen Brass Band "Medicated Magic"
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John Scofield "Bump" (Verve) by Philip Booth
"Bump," as with "A Go Go," John Scofield's 1998 collaboration with Medeski,
Martin and Wood, might lead cynics to accuse the versatile guitarist of
simply glomming onto a commercially viable movement, albeit one located in
the great nether land of contemporary music that attracts thousands of
loyalists but refuses to fit into any niche readily recognized by radio
programmers. Let 'em rage.
The longtime connoisseur of groove music again has aligned himself with the
jazz-funk-jam band genre, and the match is as natural as the relationship
between Sco's fingers and the fretboards of his electrics and acoustics:
They belong together. The result is a deeply organic affair, occasionally
reminiscent of the Meters, that has the six-stringer navigating a variety of
soulful soundscapes with the help of MMW bassist Chris Wood and members of
Sex Mob, Soul Coughing and Deep Banana Blackout.
"Blackout," about midway through the disc, is the kind of grabber sure to
pull listeners into the rest of "Bump." Sco churns up the wah-wah for a few
bars, and then drummer Eric Kalb, percussionist Johnny Durkin (both of DBB)
and bassist David Livolsi lay down a rubbery backbeat under the leader's
catchy melody line. The leader's overdriven, slightly distorted six-string
slips over and under the grooves, sticking to all the cracks and crevices
here and on the slinky opener "Three Sisters" and "Drop and Roll," all of
which feature the same rhythm section.
A similar approach is taken throughout the disc, with Wood and Kalb teaming
for "Beep Beep," the novelty-ish "Kelpers" and the more thoughtful "Fez,"
and Soul Coughing's Mark De Gli Antoni adding a variety of ethereal
keyboard swirls and sampled special effects to the proceedings.
"Swinganova," with Sex Mobsters Tony Scherr on bass and Kenny Wollesen on
drums, hints at Santana (but without the musty classic-rock vibe), and
Scherr and Wollesen also show up for the bluesy "Chichon," the chunky "Groan
Man" and the gloomy "Kilgeffen" (a message to a major label?)
Sco, as ever, manages to confound expectations and simultaneously sound
right at home. With "Bump," he's built a comfortable house that makes for a
great hang.
(This review originally appeared in Jazziz. The magazine is available
online at http://www.jazziz.com)
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