Country for Old Men

Last updated
Country for Old Men
Country for old men cover.jpeg
Studio album by
John Scofield
ReleasedSeptember 23, 2016
RecordedApril 3–4, 2016
StudioCarriage House Studios (Stamford, Connecticut)
Genre Jazz
Length1:02:26
Label Impulse!
Producer John Scofield
John Scofield chronology
Past Present
(2015)		Country for Old Men
(2016)		 Hudson
(2017)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
All About Jazz Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svg [1]
The Guardian Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [2]
PopMatters 7/10 [3]
Tom Hull B+ [4]

Country for Old Men is an album by American jazz guitarist John Scofield. It earned Scofield a Grammy Award for Best Jazz Instrumental Album. [5] It features longtime Scofield collaborators Larry Goldings on piano & organ, bass guitarist Steve Swallow and drummer Bill Stewart. Impulse! released the album on September 23, 2016.

Contents

Background

The album features jazz versions of country music songs. The title was borrowed from the poem by WB Yeats, "Sailing to Byzantium"; the line was used as the title of the novel No Country for Old Men (2005) by Cormac McCarthy which was adapted into a 2007 film; this is also a joke about Scofield's age (he was 64 when the album was recorded; his longtime bassist Steve Swallow was 76). [1] The album was recorded on April 3 and 4, 2016 in the Carriage House Studios in Stamford, Connecticut.

Reception

Evan Haga of JazzTimes stated, "John Scofield’s latest project, a set of C&W standards, is full of surprises even if its concept might seem overdue for the guitarist, whose abiding love of American roots music is no secret. Rather than bend toward the idiom he’s exploring, as he did on the fruitful gospel exercise Piety Street, from 2009, here Scofield often pulls his chosen country classics into small-group postbop." [6] John Kelman of All About Jazz wrote, "The music is always what matters most, of course; but when it's possible to marry stellar playing with superb sound, the result is something as glorious for the ears as it is the head, the heart and the soul...all of which Country for Old Men possesses, in spades. And, beyond the lyrical, country-tinged ballads and fiery swingers, Country for Old Men saves its biggest surprises for its final minutes..." [1] John Fordham of The Guardian added, "Occasionally there’s a disconnect between the convivial lilt of some of these tunes and the jazz grooves, but Scofield at full jazz-improv pelt is always something to behold." [2]

Track listing

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Mr. Fool"Darrell Edwards, George Jones, Herbie Treece5:05
2."I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry" Hank Williams 7:02
3."Bartenders Blues" James Taylor 5:18
4."Wildwood Flower"Joseph Philbrick Webster3:54
5."Wayfaring Stranger"Traditional6:31
6."Mama Tried" Merle Haggard 5:19
7."Jolene" Dolly Parton 7:36
8."Faded Love" Bob Wills, John Lee Wills, Billy Jack Wills6:33
9."Just a Girl I Used to Know" Jack Clement 4:10
10."Red River Valley"Traditional6:17
11."You're Still the One"Shania Twain, John Robert Lange4:21
12."I'm an Old Cowhand" Johnny Mercer 0:31
Total length:1:02:26

Personnel

Production

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References

  1. 1 2 3 Kelman, John (September 19, 2016). "John Scofield: John Scofield: Country for Old Men album review @ All About Jazz". All About Jazz . Retrieved 1 June 2021.
  2. 1 2 Fordham, John (2016-09-22). "John Scofield: Country for Old Men review – jazz guitarist pays tribute to country greats". The Guardian . Retrieved 1 June 2021.
  3. ↑ Layman, Will (7 November 2016). "John Scofield: Country For Old Men, PopMatters". PopMatters . Retrieved 1 June 2021.
  4. ↑ "Tom Hull: Grade List: John Scofield". Tom Hull . Retrieved 1 June 2021.
  5. ↑ "2017 Grammy Awards: Complete list of nominees". Los Angeles Times . Retrieved 2016-12-06.
  6. ↑ Haga, Evan (25 April 2019). "John Scofield: Country for Old Men". JazzTimes . Retrieved 1 June 2021.
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