Mar 4, 2025 1:29 PM
Changing of the Guard at Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra
On October 23, Ted Nash – having toured the world playing alto, soprano and tenor saxophone, clarinet and bass…
John Scofield in a still from a video on the making of Country For Old Men (Impulse!/Verve).
(Photo: )Following his Grammy win in the category Best Instrumental Jazz Album for his 2015 recording, Past Present (Impulse!/Verve), guitarist John Scofield is set to release Country For Old Men, an exploration of country music, on Sept. 23.
The new album, also on Impulse!/Verve, includes 12 songs, including compositions by Hank Williams, Dolly Parton, Merle Haggard and James Taylor.
Produced by Scofield, the album will feature the guitarist alongside Steve Swallow on bass, Larry Goldings on keyboards and Bill Stewart on drums. The ensemble applies a sleek post-bop veneer to Williams’ “I’m So Lonely I Could Cry,” Parton’s “Jolene,” Haggard’s “Mama Tried” and Taylor’s “Bartender’s Blues.”
The compositions on the album span decades, ranging from “I’m An Old Cowhand”—which was written by Johnny Mercer and recorded by Bing Crosby with Jimmy Dorsey & His Orchestra in 1936—to “You’re Still The One,” a 1998 hit that was recorded by Shania Twain (and which she co-wrote with her then-husband and producer, Mutt Lang).
Scofield will promote the album by hitting the road from September to November for an international tour. Dates span major cities in the United States and Europe, including a weeklong run at New York City’s Blue Note jazz club (Sept. 27–Oct. 2).
Prior to the New York dates, Scofield will perform selections from the album at the Esslingen Jazz Fest in Germany (Sept. 16) and the Berklee Performance Center in Boston (Sept. 23).
Scofield, who appeared with saxophonist Joe Lovano on the cover of DownBeat’s November 2015 issue, has recorded more than three dozen albums as a leader. As a sideman, he has toured and recorded with jazz luminaries such as Charles Mingus, Miles Davis, Chet Baker, George Duke, Joe Henderson, Billy Cobham and Herbie Hancock.
When not on the road, Scofield serves as an adjunct professor of music at New York University.
To view a trailer showing some of the recording sessions for Country For Old Men, visit Scofield’s website.
As Ted Nash, left, departs the alto saxophone chair for LCJO, Alexa Tarantino steps in as the band’s first female full-time member.
Mar 4, 2025 1:29 PM
On October 23, Ted Nash – having toured the world playing alto, soprano and tenor saxophone, clarinet and bass…
Larry Appelbaum with Wayne Shorter in 2012.
Feb 25, 2025 10:49 AM
Larry Appelbaum, a distinguished audio engineer, jazz journalist, historian and broadcaster, died Feb. 21, 2025, in…
“This is one of the great gifts that Coltrane gave us — he gave us a key to the cosmos in this recording,” says John McLaughlin.
Mar 18, 2025 3:00 PM
In his original liner notes to A Love Supreme, John Coltrane wrote: “Yes, it is true — ‘seek and ye shall…
The Blue Note Jazz Festival New York kicks off May 27 with a James Moody 100th Birthday Celebration at Sony Hall.
Apr 8, 2025 1:23 PM
Blue Note Entertainment Group has unveiled the lineup for the 14th annual Blue Note Jazz Festival New York, featuring…
“You’ve got to trust that inner child, keep exploring, even though people think it’s wrong,” says Fortner.
Feb 25, 2025 11:20 AM
Every week at the Village Vanguard fosters its own sound. No one really knows how the music might evolve by Sunday, but…