Next up was "Toogs," from the CD, which Scofield confessed to having named for his two dogs. The tune started out slowly but got frisky, Scofield and Stewart refusing to let sleeping dogs lie. They kicked up the energy level while Swallow provided a steady bottom beneath them, then slowed things back down at the end. Silly name aside, the pair of pooches inspired a nice little romp.
Scofield played an unaccompanied intro to lead off the untitled piece that came next, and Swallow followed the leader's solo with an especially lyrical one, showing why his instrument is also called bass guitar. Then came the set's highlight: Scofield's exquisitely constructed solo on the Burt Bacharach/Hal David ballad "Alfie." Stewart backed him on this one with brushes, and Swallow's bass was also perfectly in synch.
The pace picked back up with Swallow's very uptempo "Name That Tune," which the basses built upon the changes of the Duke Ellington classic "Perdido." The next tune was also from the new CD and involved writing over an existing piece, in this case Scofield creating "Over Big Top" from his own "Big Top" from the 1995 CD "Groove Elation." Scofield's use of electronic effects and a funk-inflected melody conjured up the guitarist's days with Miles Davis.
Scofield thanked outgoing Regattabar booker Fenton Hollander for "a great run" before stepping back for a slow rendition of Louis Armstrong's "Do You Know What It Means to Miss New Orleans?" Swallow followed Scofield's solo with a lovely understated one, then Scofield picked up the melody again and had some harmonic fun with it before closing the set.
As an encore, the trio returned to bebop for the tune that opens its CD: Denzil Best's "Wee."
"Wee" indeed. Scofield's new trio is a worthy successor to the ones that inspired it.
John Scofield Trio
At: Regattabar, first set, Monday night
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