Hey, I was just thinking about John Scofield and how much nearly every aspect of his playing turns my stomach: the cheezy sound, banal pseudo-"hip" jazz fusion lines, innocuous harmonies with forced tensions in the bass to give the impression he's actually doing something interesting... just awful!

There are players I'm not into, but still find impressive on some level. I can't say I "like" them, but they do get my attention even though I don't "get" them. But if I had to play like Scofield I would quit, I really would.

I'm wondering who fits that bill for people around the forum. BTW, I'm not talking about the players you recognize have "something" even if you don't really like it, I'm talking about the players who if someone likes them, you think they must be crazy!

I must be crazy as a football bat or a soup sandwich - I totally dig Scofield. I like the way his playing goes from sounding so relaxed that it can't get off the couch to being frenetic as hell. Some of the lines he trades with sax guy Joe Lavano on Time On My Hands kills me. The post-fusion era records sound pretty dated, I guess, but there's some stuff I like on those records even... particularly slow gospel-tinged tunes like Heaven Hill from Blue Matter. That's something I've always dug about guys like Scofield & Metheny - they weave their non-jazz influences into their tunes without sounding like they're fake, because they grew up on other music as well as jazz. One thing I *don't* care for is that both those guys always seem to throw a super atonal / Ornette Coleman type thing on their releases - I respect it; I just don't want to hear it. I haven't heard any of Scofield's stuff since he's gotten into Tom Morello, whammy pedals, or loopers... don't know if I'd care for it or not. I've heard a lot of guys make similar comments as yours though. Off the top of my head I really can't think of anybody's playing I totally despise at the moment. Other than my own occasionally.

I dig ALL Scofield. Especially the newer stuff, his "feel" is really cool. Who do I "love to hate" ... Trey and Jerry. Sorry, you asked.

It's funny, I never liked him or hated him before recently. I have two records, "Blue Matter" and "Still Warm" which I didn't like at all but didn't bug me out either. I thought maybe I was missing something so I bought a video "master class" with him where he spoke about playing with some patronizing idiot then played with his hip jazz-fuzo buddies for a few tunes that turned my stomach. I love Metheny, McLaoughlin & a lot of Mike Stern, so it isn't a jazz fusion prejudice, I just hate the wanking for wanking sake type of players which I think Scofield fits into. I feel like some players use technique to create tension and some to impress the 8 guitar players sitting in the front row. It is wierd though, there is something about "guitar culture" that cultivates that kind of thing.

Of course, its all just opinion anyway!

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Originally posted by klasaine:
Who do I "love to hate" ... Trey and Jerry. Sorry, you asked.

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THANK YOU!!!!

____________
Lawrence D.

Not a fan of Santana lately.

Steve vai

Yngwie Malmsteen

If it ain't broke,fix it anyways.

Steve Vai--still waiting for the "Passion" in his playing.
Lenny Kravitz--the Britney Spears of arena rock.
Carlos Santana--hasn't learned a new lick since the Nixon administration.
Any of the nu-metal lunkheads who wear makeup, masks, and/or play a seven string.
Reeves Gabrels--nice feather boas, loser.

"Tell me Jesus/Why do they run?/Is it by the way of the woman/Or weight of the gun?"--from "Ball-Peen Hammer" by Chris Whitley

Jerry Garcia - I just don't get it.

Nu Metal (any of it).

Wes Powell.

you guys are bitches. a true musician can appreciate all players. thats what its all about.....having an open mind. even i can hear things that i like from players that i dont paticularly care for.....as for sco, he is an absoulutly fantastic player that ive studied with a number of times. you all wish you knew as much (musically, technically, and chops-wise) as he does. i bet he'd smoke almost anyone on this board. if you cant appreciate him on disc, sitting in front of him is a completely different story.

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Originally posted by esoteric pete:
you guys are bitches. a true musician can appreciate all players. thats what its all about.....having an open mind. even i can hear things that i like from players that i dont paticularly care for.....as for sco, he is an absoulutly fantastic player that ive studied with a number of times. you all wish you knew as much (musically, technically, and chops-wise) as he does. i bet he'd smoke almost anyone on this board. if you cant appreciate him on disc, sitting in front of him is a completely different story.

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That's pretty funny. I don't care how much fast typing the jazz fuzo wankers can do, I still think they suck. My drummer brought over a dvd with Denis Chambers, John Schofield, and the rest of "the crew". All the guys on that dvd could seriously smoke, however I don't think I've ever heard a more insipid self indulgent bunch of musical mastrubation in my whole life. It was so cheezy we were actually laughing. Maybe they can play a Phrygian dominant scale faster than me, but I would quit if I sounded like that, and that's the honest truth like it or not.

I'm sorry (for you) you don't find it "politically correct" to actually have an opinion or an aesthetic value. I guess I won't be admitted into your ashram.

sorry, i should have mentioned that when i said "you bitches" i was being sarcastic....i dont think any of you guys are "bitches" i was just joking around...dont want to piss anybody off....