Jazz review: SNJO with John Scofield

Published on Sunday 7 March 2010 21:59

QUEEN'S HALL, EDINBURGH *****

THE so-called electric period in Miles Davis's music presents particular difficulties when attempting to translate what were often very abstract or fairly simple song structures into full band arrangements. Guitarist John Scofield underlined the point when he revealed that What It Is had been an informal guitar improvisation subsequently transcribed for Miles by Gil Evans.

No surprise, then, that for large stretches of another superb concert from the Scottish National Jazz Orchestra, the band's horn sections were spectators while the scintillating Scofield cut loose with the rhythm section, featuring both electric keyboard and bass guitar in deference to the electric theme.

When the band did come in, they played with their now customary verve and intelligence on a series of arrangements commissioned from some now familiar writing collaborators, although Makoto Ozone's fine take on the classic Jean-Pierre brought a new name to the roster.

Joe Zawinul's Directions, arranged by Pino Iodice, was another of Miles's more abstract pieces, while Marcus Miller's slightly later Tutu (Michael Abene) and Splatch (Fred Sturm) were sensational slices of energised funk skilfully enlarged for the band.

Scofield's own music was also on the agenda, filling most of the first half and re-emerging once in the second. Mike Gibbs's Groove Elation is well named, and the loping Green Tea struck an oriental note in arranger Geoff Keezer's use of flute and muted trumpet. On Go Blow, Scofield and saxophonist Tommy Smith did just that.