Combo 66

2018 studio album by John Scofield

Combo 66

Studio album by

John Scofield

Released

28 September 2018

Recorded

9–10 April 2018

Studio

Carriage House Studio (Stamford, Connecticut)

Genre

Jazz

Length

69:22

Label

Verve

Producer

John Scofield

John Scofield chronology

Hudson
(2017)

Combo 66
(2018)

Swallow Tales
(2020)

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
All About Jazz	^[1]
AllMusic	^[2]
Mojo	^[3]
PopMatters	7/10^[4]
The Times	^[5]
Tom Hull	B+^[6]

Combo 66 a studio album by American jazz musician John Scofield. The album was released on 28 September 2018 by Verve label. The “66” in the album title refers to Scofield's age at the time of recording. The combo themselves include keyboardist Gerald Clayton, bassist Vicente Archer and longtime Scofield drummer Bill Stewart.

Reception

Jeff Tamarkin writing for Relix stated, "Scofield prefers clean lines, a marked swing (even notably present in the ballads) to push his melodies ahead and an uncluttered accompaniment that allows his leads to stand out without entirely dominating the proceedings. It’s a formula that has made Scofield one of the most popular artists in contemporary jazz."^[7] Bill Meredith in his review for JazzTimes noted, "Combo 66 may be named for Scofield’s age, but it sounds as timeless as he does ageless."^[8] Will Layman of PopMatters stated, "John Scofield makes this kind of album-length delight seem tossed-off, casual, easy-as-pie. He wrote each appealing theme, and his worn-in guitar tone dominates every track like the voice of a favorite actor—his guitar sound is arguably the Morgan Freeman of jazz- wise and great to hear, never tiring but never dull."^[4] Chris Pearson of The Times added, "Don’t expect a nostalgic wallow, though. Sco’s electric guitar is as fuzzy as ever and all the tunes are originals. This is modern music."^[5]

Track listing

All tracks are written by John Scofield

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Can't Dance"	7:32
2.	"Combo Theme"	7:22
3.	"Icons at the Fair"	5:33
4.	"Willa Jean"	7:59
5.	"Uncle Southern"	5:39
6.	"Dang Swing"	6:09
7.	"New Waltzo"	8:52
8.	"I'm Sleeping In"	5:04
9.	"King of Belgium"	6:24
Total length:		69:22

Personnel

John Scofield – guitars
Gerald Clayton – acoustic piano, organ
Vicente Archer – bass
Bill Stewart – drums

Production

John Scofield – producer
Jay Newland – recording, mixing
Brian Montgomery – digital editing
Mark Wilder – mastering at Battery Studios (New York, NY)
Nick Suttle – photography

References

^ Patterson, Ian (October 6, 2018). "John Scofield: Combo 66 album review @ All About Jazz". All About Jazz. Retrieved 31 May 2021.
^ Collar, Matt. "Combo 66 - John Scofield | Songs, Reviews, Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved 17 February 2020.
^ "John Scofield - Combo 66". Album of The Year. Retrieved 31 May 2021.
^ ^a ^b Layman, Will (2 October 2018). "John Scofield's 'Combo 66' Sounds Like You'll Be Hearing It Forever". PopMatters. Retrieved 17 February 2020.
^ ^a ^b Pearson, Chris (28 September 2018). "Jazz review: John Scofield: Combo 66". The Times. Retrieved 17 February 2020.
^ "Tom Hull: Grade List: John Scofield". Tom Hull. Retrieved 19 November 2022.
^ Tamarkin, Jeff (4 January 2019). "John Scofield: Combo 66". Relix. Retrieved 17 February 2020.
^ Meredith, Bill (4 December 2018). "John Scofield: Combo 66 (Verve)". JazzTimes. Retrieved 17 February 2020.