John Scofield / Dave Holland

Vinyl Records and Rare LPs:

Memories Of Home
New Import - ECM 2860
Sealed 2025 original. Recorded in the Catskills at NRS Recording. Recommended listening! "It seems remarkable that Memories of Home is only the first duo offering by guitarist John Scofield and bassist Dave Holland. The pair have played together over the decades on 2003's Oh! with ScoLoHoFo with Joe Lovano and Al Foster; Herbie Hancock's The New Standard quintet in 1996 with Michael Brecker, Don Alias, and Jack DeJohnette; and Joe Henderson's So Near, So Far (Musings for Miles) in 1993. Longtime friends, they assembled a complete tour in 2020, but it was canceled due to the pandemic. They did go out in 2021 and received critical praise for their effort. A second tour in 2024 germinated in the idea of recording. Given their long association, the duo display an easy musical language. Their conversations are warm, open, and rife with stylistic innovations. Five of these nine cuts were composed by Scofield; four by Holland. Scofield's "Icons at the Fair," is the first of four consecutive compositions (the fifth, "Easy for You," appears later). It was inspired by Hancock's arrangement of "Scarborough Fair" on The New Standard. Fingerplucked minor chords quote from the original melody as Holland creates a more impressionistic foundation and query before they engage a modal progression under the guitarist's fluid yet knotty solo. Scofield originally recorded it on Combo 66, but the duo's take is unique in its earthiness. "Meant to Be" is a midtempo ballad offered in blues and post-bop language. The bassist plays inside the harmony creating rhythm while opening harmonic space for the guitarist. Holland's glorious solo alternately swaggers and swirls. "Mine Are Blues" is distinguished early on by the fleet playing of both men in unison on the head. When Scofield solos, he begins adding shapes to single-string runs, then adds a panoramic tonal array in shapeshifting chord voicings. Holland's solo goes at the changes with tonal phrases and feints. "Memoriette" is a thoughtful, swinging ballad. Holland's "Mr. B (For Ray Brown)" is in homage to the iconic bassist. He initially recorded it for 1997's Points of View. His walking approach winds through keys and modes in a conversation that weds blues, swing, and post-bop. "Not for Nothin'" offers a duo version of the title track from his 2001 quintet offering, while "You I Love" was initially cut for 1984's Jumpin' In on ECM. Here, striated scalar interactions along the harmony zip across jazz eras to display a nearly organic improvisational acumen between players. Scofield gets to display his country/Americana chops on the closing title cut. Holland recorded it on an eponymous 1985 album with progressive bluegrass/newgrass fiddler Vassar Clements and banjo wizard John Hartford. Its lyricism is emotional, almost profound. The bassist's solo reflects a timeless rootsiness as he weds jazz and Americana to Scofield's tender, thoughtful, melodic solo that quotes from the Grateful Dead's "To Lay Me Down." Memories of Home is a gem; its creations reflect intimate dialogue, sophisticated harmony, and rhythmic lyricism -- the hallmarks of innovation in modern jazz." All Music Guide – Thom Jurek more