1988 · Album
Loud Jazz
Featured Musicians: Gary Grainger (bass), Dennis Chambers (drums), George Duke (keyboards), Don Alias (percussion) · Critical Reception: AllMusic: 4 stars (reviewer Scott Yanow)
Gary Grainger's Pocket: The Engine Room
Grainger anchors the band with the kind of bass work that makes everything else possible.
The second time around with Gary Grainger and Dennis Chambers, Scofield had something. Grainger doesn't announce himself—he doesn't need to. On a record called Loud Jazz, the bass player is the one who keeps things from flying apart entirely. His lines are solid, conversational, the kind of playing that sits in the pocket and lets the guitarist do the harder work of sounding like himself. Scofield was still finding his voice at this point, album to album, and Grainger gave him room to do it.
The tracks here—"Tell You What," "Dirty Rice," "Wabash," "Spy Vs. Spy"—don't have the kind of melodies you hum later. They're platforms for playing, and that's the deal this band made with itself. AllMusic reviewer Scott Yanow gave the album four stars and noted the dynamic interplay, though he was honest about what the record wasn't trying to be. Scofield was growing as a stylist, and Grainger's presence made that growth audible. He was the collaborator who understood the assignment: show up, hold the ground, and let the guitarist stretch.
This is a solid mid-career record, not Scofield's peak but worth hearing if you want to track how he developed as a player. Start here if you're curious about what a working jazz guitarist sounded like in his earlier days, before he became the household name in jazz circles he'd become.
Who's playing
Where next?
More by John Scofield
All 40 albums →
The musicians on this record
Their own records, close in time
