NEW YORK (Top40 Charts/ Emarcy Records) - A principal innovator of modern jazz guitar,
John Scofield has expressed himself in the vernacular of bebop, blues, jazz-funk, organ jazz, acoustic chamber jazz, electronically tinged groove music and orchestral ensembles with ease and enthusiasm. From early on, his versatility and technical mastery won him sideman gigs with Miles Davis, Charles Mingus, Gerry Mulligan,
Chet Baker and Cobham/Duke among many. Regardless of the stylistic setting, his distinct guitar sound and compositions are unmistakably Scofieldesque, always coupled with an improvisational excellence dedicated to the finest in jazz tradition.
Scofield is proud to release his 36th solo album, Piety Street, which will be available March 31 on Emarcy. It's a blues inflected album with an adapted gospel repertoire.
"I've always wanted to record and tour a blues project,' says Scofield. 'That's where I started as a guitarist and I'm feeling that music more than ever of late. I launched a personal search for musical inspiration beyond the standard 12 bar blues and found it in "old time gospel" music - the closest relative to and inspiration for the R&B that we all love. I've always treasured Gospel but never really dug deep into it. My search led to countless songs that really move me. It's really powerful stuff. Of course, it will be Gospel done my way - all the arrangements are mine."
Joining Scofield on Piety Street are the spectacular musicians, Jon Cleary (piano, keyboards and vocals), George Porter Jr. (bass), Ricky Fataar (drums), John Boutte (vocals) and Shannon Powell (percussion).
Track highlights include Dorothy Love Coates' 'That's Enough', the Thomas A. Dorsey classics, 'Never Turn Back' and 'Old Ship Of Zion', Rev. James Cleveland's 'Something's Got A Hold On Me', and the traditional 'Sometimes I feel Like A Motherless Child.'
Tour Dates
Piety Street Band with Jon Cleary, Ricky Fataar, and George Porter, Jr.
4/2 Port City Music Hall, Portland, ME
4/3 Regattabar, Cambridge, MA
4/4 Regattabar, Cambridge, MA
4/5 B.B. King's Blues Club, New York, NY
4/10 Kuumbwa Jazz Center (2 shows), Santa Cruz, CA
4/11 Palace of Fine Arts Theatre, San Francisco, CA
4/12 Dakota Jazz Club, Minneapolis, MN
4/13 Majestic Theatre, Madison, WI
4/14 Shank Hall, Milwaukee, WI
4/16 The Pour House, Charleston, SC
4/17 The Handlebar, Greenville, SC
4/18 Carrboro Arts Center, Carrboro, NC
4/19 Neighborhood Theatre, Charlotte, NC
Piety Street Band with Jon Cleary, Ricky Fataar, and Donald Ramsey
4/21 Variety Playhouse, Atlanta, GA
4/22 State Theatre, Falls Church, VA
4/23 8 x 10, Baltimore, MD
4/24 McCarter Theatre, Princeton, NJ
4/25 Tri-C Festival, Allen Theatre, Playhouse Square, Cleveland, OH
4/27 Jazz at the Sheraton, Sheraton Hotel, Salt Lake City, UT
4/28 Hodi's Half Note, Fort Collins, CO
4/29 Boulder Theater, Boulder, CO
5/1 Jazz & Heritage Festival Blues Tent, The Fairgrounds, 5:30, New Orleans, LA
