John Scofield (born December 26, 1951)^[2] is an American guitarist and composer. His music over a long career has blendedjazz,jazz fusion,funk,blues,soul androck.^[1] He first came to mainstream attention as part of the band ofMiles Davis; he has toured and recorded with many prominent jazz artists including saxophonistsEddie Harris,Dave Liebman,Joe Henderson, andJoe Lovano; keyboardistsGeorge Duke,Joey DeFrancesco,Herbie Hancock,Larry Goldings, andRobert Glasper; fellow guitaristsPat Metheny,John Abercrombie,Pat Martino, andBill Frisell; bassistsMarc Johnson andJaco Pastorius; and drummersBilly Cobham andDennis Chambers. Outside the world of jazz, he has collaborated withPhil Lesh,Mavis Staples,John Mayer,Medeski Martin & Wood, andGov't Mule.^[3]

John Scofield
Scofield at theMoers Festival in 2021
Background information
Born	(1951-12-26)December 26, 1951 (age 73) Dayton, Ohio, U.S.
Genres	Jazz,jazz fusion,acid jazz[1]
Occupation(s)	Musician, composer
Instrument	Guitar
Years active	1970s–present
Labels	Enja,Gramavision,Blue Note,Verve,EmArcy ECM
Website	www.johnscofield.com

John Scofield was born inDayton, Ohio; his family moved toWilton, Connecticut, where he discovered his interest in music.^[4] Educated at theBerklee College of Music, Scofield left school to record withChet Baker andGerry Mulligan. He joined theBilly Cobham/George Duke Band soon afterwards and played, recorded, and toured with them for two years. He recorded withCharles Mingus in 1976 and replacedPat Metheny inGary Burton's quartet.^[5]

In 1976, Scofield signed withEnja, which released his first album,John Scofield, in 1977. He recorded with pianistHal Galper onRough House in 1978 and then on Galper's albumIvory Forest (1980), where he played a solo rendition of "Monk's Mood" byThelonious Monk.^[6] In 1979 he formed a trio with his mentorSteve Swallow andAdam Nussbaum which, with drummerBill Stewart replacing Nussbaum, became the signature group of Scofield's career.^[7]

In 1982, he joinedMiles Davis, with whom he remained for three and a half years. He contributed tunes and guitar to three of Davis's albums,Star People,Decoy, andYou're Under Arrest.^[8] After he left Davis, he releasedElectric Outlet (1984) andStill Warm (1985)

He began what is referred to as his Blue Matter Band, withDennis Chambers on drums, Gary Grainger on bass, andMitchel Forman, Robert Aries, orJim Beard on keyboards. The band released the albumsBlue Matter,Loud Jazz andPick Hits Live.Marc Johnson formed Bass Desires withPeter Erskine,Bill Frisell, and Scofield. This "most auspicious [pairing] sinceJohn McLaughlin andCarlos Santana"^[9] recorded two albums,Bass Desires (1986) andSecond Sight (1987).

At the beginning of the 1990s, Scofield formed a quartet which includedJoe Lovano with whom he recorded several albums forBlue Note.^[10]Time on My Hands (1990), with Joe Lovano,Charlie Haden, andJack DeJohnette, showcased Scofield's guitar andMingus-influenced (Charles Mingus)^{[citation needed]} writing. Bill Stewart became the group's drummer and played onMeant to Be (1991) andWhat We Do (1993). In 1992, Scofield releasedGrace Under Pressure, featuring guitarist Bill Frisell, with Charlie Haden on bass andJoey Baron on drums. Stewart rejoined Scofield and Steve Swallow forI Can See Your House from Here, a collaboration withPat Metheny.

Near the end of the time he played with Blue Note, Scofield returned to a sound which included morefunk andsoul jazz.^{[citation needed]} In 1994 and 1995, he formed a group with organist/pianistLarry Goldings, bassistDennis Irwin, and alternating drummers,Bill Stewart andIdris Muhammad. The group toured extensively, and the albumsHand Jive andGroove Elation feature this funk/groove/soul-jazz dimension in Scofield's music with tenor saxophonistEddie Harris, percussionistDon Alias, and trumpeterRandy Brecker. He recorded the 1997 albumA Go Go withavant-garde jazz trioMedeski, Martin & Wood.

Also during that time he began to work withBritish composerMark-Anthony Turnage. He appeared as a soloist on Turnage'sBlood on the Floor: Elegy for Andy. They collaborated onScorched, an album of Turnage's orchestrations of Scofield's compositions, largely from theBlue Matter period.John Patitucci andPeter Erskine performed at the live premiere ofScorched at theAlte Oper inFrankfurt in September 2002 with the Radio-Symphony-Orchestra Frankfurt and thehr-Bigband. The performance was recorded and released byDeutsche Grammophon.^[11]

Scofield releasedÜberjam in 2002 andUp All Night in 2003, two albums on which he experimented withdrum and bass. He recorded in Europe with theBugge Wesseltoft New Conception of Jazz in 2001–2002 and 2006. In 2004EnRoute: John Scofield Trio LIVE was released withSteve Swallow on bass and Bill Stewart on drums. It was recorded live at theBlue Note Jazz Club in New York City in December 2003. That was followed the next year byThat's What I Say: John Scofield Plays the Music of Ray Charles which led to performances withMavis Staples, Gary Versace on organ,John Benitez on bass, andSteve Hass on drums. After sitting in for two engagements in December 2005 withPhil Lesh and Friends, Scofield has played numerous shows with the band.

On September 26, 2006, he releasedOut Louder, his second collaboration with Medeski, Martin & Wood.^[12] The group, known collectively as MSMW, toured worldwide in 2006 and 2007. Scofield performed in a duo withJohn Medeski named The Johns and in a trio with Medeski and drummerAdam Deitch (Deitch is also a producer). He recorded music inspired bygospel on the 2009 albumPiety Street withJon Cleary andGeorge Porter Jr.

On September 18, 2007,EmArcy releasedThis Meets That, an album recorded with Steve Swallow, Bill Stewart, and a horn trio. In 2011 EmArcy releasedA Moment's Peace, recorded with pianistLarry Goldings, bassistScott Colley, and drummerBrian Blade. Scofield's 2010 album54 had its origin in the 1990s whenVince Mendoza asked him to play on Mendoza's first album. As director of the Metropole Orchestra, Mendoza collaborated with Scofield on arrangements of Scofield's compositions that were performed by the orchestra.

Scofield has been an adjunct faculty member in the Jazz Department in theSteinhardt School of Education atNew York University.^[13]Inside Scofield, a film by Joerg Steineck, a feature-length documentary about Scofield, was released in 2022.^[14][15]

Scofield's first electric guitar was aHagstrom; his "workhorse" is anIbanez AS200 from 1982.^[16] He endorsesIbanez and the company has a line of semi-hollow bodied guitars named for him.^[17]Steve Vai uses one on the road, for one of the songs fromInviolate.^[18]

• 1997: Honorary Doctorate of Music from Berklee
• 1998: Miles Davis Award,Montreal International Jazz Festival
• 2002: Grammy nomination for Best Contemporary Jazz Album:Überjam^[19]
• 2004: Grammy nomination for Best Contemporary Jazz Album:Scorched, and Best Jazz Instrumental Solo for "Wee"^[19]
• 2006: Grammy nomination for Best Jazz Instrumental Album, Individual or Group: Trio Beyond –Saudades^[19]
• 2010:Grammy nomination for Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album:54 featured withMetropole Orkest conducted byVince Mendoza^[19]
• 2010:Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, French Ministry of Culture^[20]
• 2016:Grammy Award for Best Jazz Instrumental Album:Past Present, and nominated for Best Improvised Jazz Solo: "Past Present"
• 2017:Grammy Award for Best Jazz Instrumental Album:Country for Old Men
• 2017:Grammy Award for Best Improvised Jazz Solo: "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry"

• Slo Sco: The Best of the Ballads (Gramavision, 1990)
• Liquid Fire: The Best of John Scofield (Gramavision, 1994)
• Best of John Scofield (Blue Note, 1996)
• Steady Groovin': The Blue Note Groove Sides (Blue Note, 2000)

Albums listed by year of release. (Links to artists and labels on first appearance.)

• Official site
• Inside Scofield (2022), documentary on John Scofield