Scofield Gets Around!!!

John Scofield is a fantastic jazz guitar player who got his start in 1974 playing on Gary Mark's debut album, "Gathering." Since then, Scofield has gone on to play with some of the biggest names in modern music from Phil Lesh to Miles Davis and Charles Mingus. Below are a few sonically pleasing cuts featuring John Scofield and some of the greats of jazz and funk.



This collaboration is one that I just discovered today. It features John Scofield as a guest guitarist for Jaco Pastorius on his tune "The Chicken," off of the album Stuggart Aria. This cut also features some very funky drumming from Kenwood Dennard. The video comes from a 1985 instructional bass playing video. All I can say is that this jam is HOT.



Both of these jams are Scofield playing with drummer Billy Cobham (of Mahavishnu Orchestra fame)and they are taken from videos of their 1976 tour. Other notable players on these cuts are George Duke and Alphonso Johnson (Weater Report, Jazz is Dead...) In the video above, the band is playing a tune called Hip Pockets, while below they are playing Red Baron. Both are songs composed by Billy Cobham. Also, Red Baron is sampled by multiple Hip Hop artists including Common on the track "Two Scoops of Raisins."



If you like any of the above Billy Cobham material, the following are Cobham albums that you should most definitely check out:

Spectrum (Atlantic, 1973)
A Funky Thide of Sings (Atlantic, 1975) (Featuring John Scofield)
"LIVE" On Tour in Europe (Atlantic, 1976) (This one features the band you see and hear above. The group is called the Billy Cobham and George Duke Band)