Music Review: John Scofield Trio - This Meets That - Page 2

"Down D" has a slightly twisted, lonely Americana feel to it, which is another way of saying it sounds a lot like Bill Frisell. Frisell, incidentally, appears later with tremolo guitar in hand on a cover of "House of The Rising Sun." (Note: Bill Frisell's latest record released just last month is a collaboration with Matt Chamberlain called Floratone, and has an overall feel that's very similar to This Meets That; if you like one, you're bound to like the other.)

"Strangeness In The Night" is where Scofield's experimental melding of chamber jam and post-bop is most successful. It's a tale of two sections; the horn-rich first section struts in a idiosyncratic way, then barely more than a minute into the track, the band breaks into an "Impressions" blues-jazz jam and the horns follow along. The first section returns a couple more times as intermissions between the extended improvisational sections. It's like adding a regal accent to the jams.

"Heck Of A Job" has a Big Easy beat, which paired with the horn section, sounds like a cut off of 1995's creole-flavored Groove Elation.

The next track marks the beginning of the covers, the third indicator that Scofeld is in a wistful mood. And of all the covers, this one is the most effective. Sco' gives this Charlie Rich classic an affecting treatment, carefully plucking and bending his strings to squeeze the right amount of emotion out of the tune.

The aforementioned "House Of The Rising Sun" follows with a completely different arrangement than the original. A much faster tempo provides the platform for the leader to trade some spirited fours with Frisell. "Satisfaction" is also covered later in the album, and both of these familiar oldies were chosen because they were among the very first songs Scofield learned to play on guitar.

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