John Scofield: Uncle John’s Band

Yes, this is guitar icon John Scofield’s album, but the fact is that drummer Bill Stewart shines brightest on this trio album with Vicente Archer. The tunes range between dark blues, funky shuffles, bopping toe tappers and delicate fragrances, with Scofield clean and easy on “How Deep”, delicate on “Stairway To The Stars” and souful on “ M ask”. But it is Stewart that sounds like his is mixing chemistry tubes on each tune, figuring out which mixture will work best, snapping crisply on “Budo”, shuffling on the nifty “ Ray’s Idea” pulsating on “Uncle John’s Band” and brushing softly for “Somewhere”. You get the feel that his inner circuit wheels are spinning to figure out what fits where, and it always fits in. Intuitive wonders.

www.ecmrecords.com

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