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

John Scofield John Scofield (born December 26, 1951) is an American guitarist and composer. His music over a long career has blended jazz, jazz fusion, funk, blues, soul and rock. He first came to mainstream attention as part of the band of Miles Davis; he ...

. It earned Scofield a

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious ...

for Best Jazz Instrumental Album. It features longtime Scofield collaborators

Larry Goldings Lawrence Sam Goldings (born August 28, 1968) is an American jazz keyboardist and composer. His music has explored elements of funk, blues, and jazz fusion, 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! Impulse! Records (occasionally styled as "¡mpulse! Records" and "¡!") is an American jazz record label established by Creed Taylor in 1960. John Coltrane was among Impulse!'s earliest signings. Thanks to consistent sales and positive critiques ...

released the album on September 23, 2016.

Background

The album features jazz versions of

country music Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...

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, directed, produced and edited by Joel and Ethan Coen, based on Cormac McCarthy's 2005 novel. Starring Tommy Lee Jones, Javier Bardem, and Josh Brolin ...

'' (2005) by

Cormac McCarthy Cormac McCarthy (born Charles Joseph McCarthy Jr.; July 20, 1933 – June 13, 2023) was an American author who wrote twelve novels, two plays, five screenplays, and three short stories, spanning the Western, post-apocalyptic, and Southern Got ...

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 Stamford () is a city in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States, outside of New York City. It is the sixth-most populous city in New England. Stamford is also the largest city in the Western Connecticut Planning Region, Connecticut, Weste ...

Reception

Evan Haga of ''

JazzTimes ''JazzTimes'' was an American print 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 ...

'' 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 of ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' 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 ( ; ); also called a uke (informally), is a member of the lute (ancient guitar) family of instruments. The ukulele is of Portuguese origin and was popularized in Hawaii. The tone and volume of the instrument vary with size and con ...

(12) *

– acoustic piano (1, 5, 6),

Hammond organ The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond and John M. Hanert, first manufactured in 1935. Multiple models have been produced, most of which use sliding #Drawbars, drawbars to vary sounds. Until 1975, sound was created ...

(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 April 9, 1952) is an American songwriter, producer, musician, and singer. He was raised in Barrington, Rhode Island, and graduated from Taylor University in 1975. He lives in Nashville, Tennessee. His songs have been ...

– liner notes

References

{{Authority control 2016 albums 2010s instrumental albums John Scofield albums