This mutha swings.. maybe it's the change of label, or the feisty youth like Medeski, Martin and Wood that Sco's hung with of late, but the man is currently mining a rich lode, playing again with a vigour, bite and breadth of musical terrain. And he's done that, ironically, by reaching back into his own musical roots. This Meets That (with its echo in the title of East Meets West, his debut, tummy, 30 years ago) puts Scofield back with his top collaborators, Stewart and swallow who know how to follow - and urge on - his every melodic buck and swerve. This is most obvious on the boppish 'Trio Blues', which has lovely breaks from the bass and drums, but also has the three of them weaving and dancing together in that telepathic way only long time pals can achieve. Swallow, of course, has been a mentor of Sco's for 35 years, but even he doesn't go back to `House Of The Rising Sun' and `Satisfaction', the kind of primordial stuff Scofield taught himself while learning guitar as a kid. But these aren't sentimental rehashes: Scofield sets the latter against a bullish horn section (with echoes of Gil Evans and Mike Gibbs in his arrangements), while the former features Mr Frisell on the twangsome theme. The Frisellian vibe crops up too on the affectionate lope through Charlie Rich's country hit `Behind Closed Doors' and even in the title of the genial meditation `Shoe Dog'. But it's those horn punctuations, tight, tough, harmonically enriching that lift up this impressive release, whether counter-pointing the harsh gnash of Sco's axe on `The Low Road', suggestively colouring `Heck Of A Job' and intriguingly doubling the melodies of the free `Pretty Out'. This Meets That is immediately recognisable Scofield, recalling so many of his musical incarnations over the decades, yet it remains fresh, dynamic and urgent.
Andy Robson
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