As a leader, guitarist, and composer
John Scofield has made many different kinds of records over the course of his long career, as well as played on dozens more as a sideman to people like
Miles Davis and
Charles Mingus, to mention just two. His last offering, and his first for Emarcy, was This Means That, an adventurous blend of straight-ahead blowing and funk-oriented numbers that worked beautifully and yielded a slew of critical acclaim.
Piety Street is a different story altogether.
Scofield has assembled a crack band of more roots and groove-oriented sidemen to cut his version of a gospel album. He's backed by keyboardist and vocalist
Jon Cleary (from
Bonnie Raitt's fine road band), New Orleans super bassist
George Porter, Jr., drummer
Ricky Fataar (also of the
Raitt band), Crescent City club band session vocalist
John Boutté (whose singing is a staple of the city's vibrant music scene), and New Orleans drummer and percussionist
Shannon Powell (formerly of the
Harry Connick Orchestra). There are 13 cuts on
Piety Street, ranging from well-known gospel standards such as " Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child," "His Eye Is on the Sparrow," "Walk with Me," and "I'll Fly Away" to classics within the genre, such as
Dorothy Love Coates' "That's Enough," and "99 and a Half," the
Rev. James Cleveland's "Something's Got a Hold on Me," and
Thomas A. Dorsey's "Never Turn Back," with a couple of originals thrown in for measure. The temptation on a set like this to insert all sorts of improvisational touches, complex arrangements, and/or jamming opportunities is great, but to his credit,
Scofield resists completely. These are songs and he treats them as such -- the vocalists are an obvious nod to this but the arrangements and instrumental interludes go even further. Everything from post-bop jazz, funk, blues, and reggae are grafted onto these songs and the transition is seamless.
Scofield's own playing is ever present but understated, and
Cleary and
Porter are such an intensely focused rhythm team that their backdrops are drenched in grooves and soul. While it's true this is gospel music re-visioned by
Scofield, it's still a gospel record, and carries within it the heart of that music's great traditions -- melody, complex harmonics, and lyricism. This is a winner all the way through. ~ Thom Jurek