''Country for Old Men'' is an album by American jazz guitarist

John Scofield John Scofield (born December 26, 1951), sometimes referred to as "Sco", is an American guitarist and composer whose music over a long career has blended jazz, jazz fusion, funk, blues, soul and rock. He first came to mainstream attention in th ...

. It earned Scofield a

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pr ...

for Best Jazz Instrumental Album. It features longtime Scofield collaborators

Larry Goldings Lawrence Sam “Larry” Goldings (born August 28, 1968) is an American jazz keyboardist and composer. His music has explored elements of funk, blues, and fusion. Goldings has a comedic alter ego known as Hans Groiner. Life and career Golding ...

on piano & organ, bass guitarist

Steve Swallow Steve Swallow (born October 4, 1940) is an American jazz bassist and composer, known for his collaborations with Jimmy Giuffre, Gary Burton, and Carla Bley. He was one of the first jazz double bassists to switch entirely to electric bass guitar. ...

and drummer Bill Stewart. Impulse! released the album on September 23, 2016.

Background

The album features jazz versions of

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

songs. The title was borrowed from the poem by WB Yeats, "Sailing to Byzantium"; the line was used as the title of the novel ''

No Country for Old Men ''No Country for Old Men'' is a 2007 American neo-Western crime thriller film written and directed by Joel and Ethan Coen, based on Cormac McCarthy's 2005 novel of the same name. Starring Tommy Lee Jones, Javier Bardem, and Josh Brolin, th ...

'' (2005) by

Cormac McCarthy Cormac McCarthy (born Charles Joseph McCarthy Jr., July 20, 1933) is an American writer who has written twelve novels, two plays, five screenplays and three short stories, spanning the Western and post-apocalyptic genres. He is known for his gr ...

which was adapted into a 2007 film; this is also a joke about Scofield's age (he was 64 when the album was recorded; his longtime bassist Steve Swallow was 76). The album was recorded on April 3 and 4, 2016 in the Carriage House Studios in Stamford, Connecticut.

Reception

Evan Haga of ''

JazzTimes ''JazzTimes'' is an American magazine devoted to jazz. Published 10 times a year, it was founded in Washington, D.C. in 1970 by Ira Sabin as the newsletter ''Radio Free Jazz'' to complement his record store. Coverage After a decade of growt ...

'' stated, "John Scofield’s latest project, a set of C&W standards, is full of surprises even if its concept might seem overdue for the guitarist, whose abiding love of American roots music is no secret. Rather than bend toward the idiom he’s exploring, as he did on the fruitful gospel exercise ''Piety Street'', from 2009, here Scofield often pulls his chosen country classics into small-group postbop." John Kelman of ''

All About Jazz ''All About Jazz'' is a website established by Michael Ricci in 1995. A volunteer staff publishes news, album reviews, articles, videos, and listings of concerts and other events having to do with jazz. Ricci maintains a related site, ''Jazz Near ...

'' wrote, "The music is always what matters most, of course; but when it's possible to marry stellar playing with superb sound, the result is something as glorious for the ears as it is the head, the heart and the soul...all of which ''Country for Old Men'' possesses, in spades. And, beyond the lyrical, country-tinged ballads and fiery swingers, ''Country for Old Men'' saves its biggest surprises for its final minutes..."

John Fordham John Fordham (died 1425) was Bishop of Durham and Bishop of Ely. Fordham was keeper of the privy seal of Prince Richard from 1376 to 1377 and Dean of Wells before being named Lord Privy Seal in June 1377. He held that office until December 1381 ...

of ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' added, "Occasionally there’s a disconnect between the convivial lilt of some of these tunes and the jazz grooves, but Scofield at full jazz-improv pelt is always something to behold."

Track listing

Personnel

– guitars,

ukulele The ukulele ( ; from haw, ukulele , approximately ), also called Uke, is a member of the lute family of instruments of Portuguese origin and popularized in Hawaii. It generally employs four nylon strings. The tone and volume of the instrumen ...

(12) *

– acoustic piano (1, 5, 6), Hammond organ (2-4, 7-11) *

– bass guitar * Bill Stewart – drums

Production

* Farida Bachir – executive director, art direction * John Scofield – producer * Jay Newland – recording, mixing * Mikhail Pivovarov – assistant engineer * Mark Wilder – mastering at Battery Studios (New York, NY) * Brian Bacchus – A&R * Susan Scofield – art direction * Françoise Bergmann – design * Nicholas Suttle – cover and liner photography * John Abbott – additional liner photography *

Phil Madeira Philip Kamm Madeira (born 1952) is an American songwriter, producer, musician and singer. He was raised in Barrington, Rhode Island, and attended Taylor University, graduating in 1975. His songs have been recorded by The Civil Wars, Buddy Mill ...

– liner notes

References

{{Authority control 2016 albums Instrumental albums John Scofield albums