John Scofield
Plays The Music Of Ray Charles - That's What I Say

It happens that in 2005, a year after the passing of Ray Charles, John Scofield decides to lock himself in a recording studio to pay homage to the music of "The Genius." The result is a product at the opposite end of the spectrum compared to the classic tribute one might expect from one of the cornerstones of contemporary jazz guitar. We are indeed facing an unusual Scofield who with this album returns to his blues musician origins lent to soul songs, almost as if the Ohio guitarist wanted to feel like Ray Charles' session man for once, essentially forgetting for much of the recording the complex guitar style of his previous fusion productions under his name.

Recorded in just over a week, this "That's What I Say: John Scofield plays the music of Ray Charles" is a little gem, a work where, for once, taste takes the lead and not the relentless pursuit of some astonishing harmonic solution to dazzle music critics and colleagues. 13 of Ray Charles' most famous tracks, many of which are sung, presented with the utmost respect for the arrangements, sound, and original melodies, enriched by the presence of a dozen prestigious instrumentalists and vocalists of various backgrounds, including guest stars such as John Mayer in the highly successful versions of "What'd I Say" and "I Don't Need No Doctor"; Warren Haynes in "Nighttime is the Right Time" rather than Aron Winter in the poignant "You Don't Know Me." Another prominent presence in a couple of tracks is mainstream tenor saxophonist David Newman, an irreplaceable member of Ray Charles' band during its peak recording success between the '50s and '60s. Scofield only elegantly embellishes, completely serving the song in the album's sung tracks, while also highlighting the funk and blues shades well present in Charles' compositions, as happens in the excellent instrumental versions of "Stick and Stones," "Busted" and "Hit the Road Jack" where both the theme presentation and the solo parts seem to validly echo the attitude of the original recordings. Worthily placed at the end of the album is the ethereal acoustic cameo of the standard "Georgia on My Mind," performed solo by Scofield and enhanced with a refined yet effective harmonization.

Commercial gimmick? Perhaps; as far as I'm concerned, if the quality standard is as high as it is in this album, then let the commercial gimmicks come.