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Thread: Gov't Mule featuring John Scofield, Sco-Mule

  1. #1

    Gov't Mule featuring John Scofield, Sco-Mule



    My review of Gov't Mule featuring John Scofield's Sco-Mule, today at All About Jazz.

    Since the news came out that Gov't Mule--the power trio that began as a part-time side project for then-Allman Brothers Band guitarist/singer Warren Haynes and bassist Allen Woody but which, along with drummer Matt Abts, was so well-received that the southern-roots jam band ultimately took on an unexpected life of its own--was finally releasing Sco-Mule, a collaboration with broad-minded jazz guitarist John Scofield, there's been plenty of speculation and anticipation. Now that the live recording--first held up and then shelved after the harrowing tragedy of Woody's still-unexplained death six months after the group's third studio album, Life Before Insanity, was released in February, 2000--is finally here as part of Mule's ambitious release and gig schedule to celebrate two decades together, there are only two words that truly apply:

    Who knew?

    There are so many surprises on this two-disc (three if you're one of the people who pre-ordered the release directly from the group), two and a half-hour all-instrumental extravaganza that it's hard to know where to begin.

    First, the more-or-less easy part: Scofield had, by this time, already begun building a new fan base in the jam band community with A Go Go (Verve, 1998), the first of what has since become a number of ongoing collaborations with germinal jazz jam band Medeski, Martin & Wood. Pairing with Mule was a perfect fit; Scofield's blues and soul-drenched version of jazz guitar had separated him from the pack almost from the beginning of his career, when he released the still seminal Live (Enja, 1977), an incendiary date with pianist Richie Beirach, bassist George Mraz and drummer Joe LaBarbera.

    Continue reading here...

  2. #2
    Member Zeuhlmate's Avatar
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    This is great music ! Check that Scofield solo !


  3. #3
    Member nosebone's Avatar
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    Going to see Sco-Mule in march!
    no tunes, no dynamics, no nosebone

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    Member R_burke's Avatar
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    On my buy list

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    Member No Pride's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Zeuhlmate View Post
    This is great music ! Check that Scofield solo !
    Listening now. I always dug that tune! Of course I've always dug most of Wayne Shorter's tunes.

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    Member Jerjo's Avatar
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    I was skeptical at first. It seemed too much like peanut butter in my chocolate for me. I like Mule when they're in blues rock mode, not reggae or jazz. But the vid above sounded fantastic.
    I don't like country music, but I don't mean to denigrate those who do. And for the people who like country music, denigrate means 'put down.'- Bob Newhart

  7. #7
    Member No Pride's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Jerjo View Post
    I was skeptical at first. It seemed too much like peanut butter in my chocolate for me. I like Mule when they're in blues rock mode, not reggae or jazz. But the vid above sounded fantastic.
    Sometimes a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup is more satisfying than Hershey's Special Dark.

    That Sco solo was nice, but hardly his best; I consider him to be one of "the greats."

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    Member FrippWire's Avatar
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    Auto-buy. A release by either artist makes my auto-buy list but them teamed up makes it an auto-auto-buy. Both are on a creative hot streak these days.

  9. #9
    W.P.O.D. Dan Marsh's Avatar
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    Going to 4 of the shows in March!

  10. #10
    Quote Originally Posted by Dan Marsh View Post
    Going to 4 of the shows in March!
    I. Hate. You.

  11. #11
    Member R_burke's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by jkelman View Post
    I. Hate. You.
    I second the emotion, especially since they aren't playing in my area

  12. #12
    Quote Originally Posted by Jerjo View Post
    I was skeptical at first. It seemed too much like peanut butter in my chocolate for me. I like Mule when they're in blues rock mode, not reggae or jazz. But the vid above sounded fantastic.
    Let's not forget this was recorded in 1999 after Sco made his first first into jam band territory with Medeski, Martin & Wood on A Go Go in 1998, and was getting his broader-lineup but similarly inflected Bump ready for release in 2000; he's been a regular touring member of the Grateful Dead's Phil Lesh & Friends; appeared on both volumes of Mule's The Deep End; formed his Überjam band and released Überjam in 2002 (reconvening the group in 2013 for Überjam Deux and touring in support of it, caught at Enjoy Jazz in Germany; and invited Haynes to play on his own That's What I Say: John Scofield Plays the Music of Ray Charles.

    So, while it may come as a surprise if you've not followed Scofield's ultimate dive into (and acceptance by) the jam band community, it's really been pretty inevitable that Sco-Mule would not only finally see the light of day, but that they'd decide to take it on the road.

    It really is that good...and still that surprising, on a number of fronts. But this ain't Reese's Peanut Butter Cup, with two dissimilar things coming together and working. Turns out Sco can rock out with the best of them, which is no real surprise; in my 2011 All About Jazzinterview, he described being a rock, soul and blues guy until he started going to Berklee, where he became a pathological jazz snob until years later when he realized it was ok to be all those things and jazz, too. And while it may seem surprising that Haynes can jazz out (with a more limited language than Sco...but still broader than you might think), the truth is he navigates everything here with total confidence, imagination and attention to building solo that's more than just a bunch of notes.

    The biggest surprise of Sco-Mule, really, is that Allen Woody turns out to have been such a kick-ass upright bassist. His playing on the two versions of Scofield's "Hottentot" - my personal favorite track from A Go Go - really are outstanding...and totally unexpected.
    Last edited by jkelman; 01-22-2015 at 10:01 AM.

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