Medeski, Scofield, Martin & Wood: Juice

Jazz guitar star John Scofield dips back into a string-bending funk-blues bag in this fourth collaboration with jamband godfathers Medeski, Martin & Wood. Together they exhibit their shared love of N’awlins second-line grooves, Meters-styled organ-fueled funk, and Albert King bluespower on Eddie Harris’ “Sham Time,” Scofield’s chanky boogaloo “North London,” and an earthy organ quartet take on The Doors’ “Light My Fire.” Keyboardist John Medeski switches from organ to piano on the cool Latin-tinged swinger “Louis the Shoplifter” by drummer Billy Martin. “Juicy Lucy,” a mambo-fied riff on The Kingsmen’s iconic “Louie Louie,” has Scofield dialing up wicked wah-wah/delay effects and pulling out his nastiest bent-string licks with a vengeance. On the opposite end of the dynamic spectrum is his mellow and moody “I Know You,” underscored by Martin’s brushwork, which provides some of the most serene moments of the session. Elsewhere they stretch out and experiment with sounds, textures, and psychedelic effects on an expansive 11-minute dub version of Cream’s “Sunshine of Your Love” and deliver a moving gospel-flavored rendition of Dylan’s “The Times They Are A-Changin’,” with Scofield’s warm guitar lines singing the familiar melody over Medeski’s churchy organ, transforming the protest folk song into a transcendent spiritual.