Robben Ford Discussion

[roadwarriorfortheblues]

[grant420]

[jbear]

I don't always love Sco's writing, but Electric Outlet, Still Warm, Blue Matter, and Loud Jazz are fusion staples, and the Ray Charles thing is smoky. Bump has some killer tunes too. There's a lot of RF stuff out there that bores me to pieces and a lot that I find inspirational. These cats are badass, and I recognize that whether I care for the particular recording/concert or not. That' my take anyway.

[PaulG]

[Three Chord Monte]

I refuse to overthink this: Robben and Scofield with Panos and Hess, one hour's drive on the evening of my birthday. It's a must-attend for my wife and me.

[tedro]

Scofield was the first guitar player i met as i "registered" for classes at Berklee in '72.

in the Mass ave building (mostly a dorm) i was going around looking into rooms where i heard music, through the slot like glass windows in those classroom type doors. i finally found one with a guitar player.. it was a bigger band type thing... obviously an upper-class (junior/senior) type thing.. it was probably Gary Burton leading it.

i waited to approach this guitar player when he came out. it'd be the first actual guitar student i would talk to. loads of new ones standing around common areas but our classes has started yet. i wanted to meet someone already doing it, boy did i.

it was John Scofield. unfortunately, he in a hurry so the conversation was brief.

later, Scofield's (first) teachiing tape on VHS was/is still one my faves. as is also Jaco's first.

Scofield started in blues, like most of us, Albert King, B.B. King, etc.
btw i think that clip of hi playing a little impromptu, simple, blues on that tele is excellent, raw, pure, masterful... great sound too.

i habve not followed his entire career, i.e, i never had all his albums as i did many players, even drummers.

i also absolutely love John Abercrombie, you see, i like what i *used to* call east coast guitar A LOT. and, Pat Martino.

a year later i decided to change schools and i went to univ of miami - i transferred right back a semester later. however, when there, though having sent a jazz audition tape (that i worked on for a very long time) in and being accepted to the jazz guitar program, i registered late and they only had one jazz guitar teacher, a student (my age, 19) turned teacher. that student went up to Berklee to teach (and play with Burton) same time i went back mb you all know who i'm talking about.

Scofield is sort of like Coryell, some ppl love to hate them.

Bass Desires (Marc Johson), Uberjam, all great great stuff. yeah, it's a "different" thing, i guess. it's certainly not as rock, or rock at all, but yes we can talk about funk... that and swing they do have -- a little -- in common... but that is also the difference in what was happening on the two coast back then... until that "LA lawn party jazz" came to its fusion fruition... Chick moving out there probably helped a lot. lol.

oh, and btw, that late registration thing? yeah, i had tom as told to me by dean, go find "that guy" -- that one "new" jazz teacher -- and take an audition.
when i went, immediately, and walking down the hall the very first guy i asked if he knew where i could find this guy; was he. i said that i had to take an audition with him. then, as followed on down the hall to his office, then i noticed all the guys and guitar cases waiting for him outside his office. i went on in and he said, "Play me some blues."

(i "failed", btw. he said: guys had it all over me and to go woodshed. thus, i was supposed to take classical. i didn't, hardly ever attended class and left, as i said, back to Berklee next semester. i was, still am, dumb and immature, never toom advantage of my talent or opportunities, and thus acquired lots of bad "life" habits.)
his first record, seminal guitar recording, came along in '74. he played with another "student" of Burton during some of that time, Dave Samuals (vibes at the time, not marimba. i have some radio recordings from Boston Jazz Week '73.. with some very familiar tunes on it).

leaving my complete story, now i'm pushing 60 (56)... and tried to leave the guitar, but after a while i couldn't, and as Steve Swallow once said, i play music not becaue i want to, but because i have to. i learned not to care iof anyone even refers to it as music, much less "guitar playing."

here's bit of my musical history, may as well link it:
http://www.math.fsu.edu/~trogers/music/TR/

[PierreL]

Very cool story Tedro, thanks for sharing it.

By the way, about John Scofield, he has a new CD out with Metropole Orchestra and Vince Mendoza doing the arrangements which is just great.

[Funkifized]

I'd heard that they may do a disc together. That would be friggin' amazing. Both of these players tend toward blues, but have incredible vocabulary through jazz scales and great jazz concepts. Scofield's one of the guitar greats of all time. The only thing that could be better would be to add Larry Carlton to the mix.