i ,
Guitar virtuoso shows EMU
he’s worthy of legend status
■ Guitarist John Scofield
gets a warm reception at his
EMU performance Monday
By Eric Pfeiffer
Oregon Daily Emerald
“Thanks for coming, John! ”
An unidentified audience
member enthusiastically summed
up the evening’s performance
even before the first song was un
der way.
“You’re welcome, and thanks
for having me,” Scofield replied.
It was our pleasure, Mr.
Scofield.
Monday night, John Scofield
and his electric guitar were a-go
go, as the crowd in the EMU Ball
room swayed to luscious grooves
drawn heavily from his most re
cent album.
Scofield opened the set with
four songs from his new album
“Bump,” a collection of beat
heavy tracks that put the crowd in
a dancing mood, and filled the
ballroom with eclectic energy.
Scofield and his band responded
well to the crowd, who became
more animated with each succes
sive number. The opening num
ber began with Scofield picking at
seemingly random notes on his
guitar. Over several minutes, the
song evolved into a tour de force
that appropriately set the tone for
the next two hours.
From there, Scofield revisited
songs from his extensive cata
logue that spans over two decades
and twice as many albums.
For close to thirty years,
Scofield has been dazzling listen
ers with his wide array of influ
ences and guitar techniques. Most
recently, Scofield reinstated his
influence with young jazz fans by
collaborating with the trio Medes
ki, Martin & Wood on his 1996 re
lease “A-Go-Go.’’“Bump” is a
continuation of that effort, pro
viding extended jams and further
funky collaborations with the hot
jazz trio.
The crowd at the ballroom was
as diverse as Scofield’s playing
style. College freshmen danced
side-by-side with middle-aged
men and women, and the entire
crowd seemed thoroughly
pleased with the show’s festivites.
His band was also full of di
verse styles, featuring Avi Bort
nick on rhythm guitar, Jesse Mur
phy on bass, and Eric Kalb on
drums. Scofield paused through
out the performance, allowing his
bandmates to highlight their
skills before a receptive crowd.
Overall, it was a rare opportu
nity for students to see one of the
music world’s most skilled per
formers in top form.
Courtesy photo
Legendary guitarist John Scofield rocked the house Monday night in front of a crowd
in the EMU Ballroom, performing several songs from his latest album, “Bump.”
'WYSIWYG' like spiked drink: slips down easily, messes with brain
■Anarchist band
Chumbawamba’s newest
album is filled with social
commentary and deeper
meanings
By Mason West
Oregon Daily Emerald
Chumbawamba, the band that
brought you the hit “Tubthump
ing,” is back with its new album
“WYSIWYG.” The title, an
acronym for What You See Is
What You Get, is anything but
the truth.
On first listen, I found the al
bum to have no extraordinary
tracks and only a few that my
head even bobbed to. But I began
to discover the deeper meanings
of the album when I opened up
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the sleeve notes. The picture of a
dog’s head on the cover unfolded
to become two dogs doing the
forbidden dance.
“Hmmm,” I thought. “This
must mean something.”
The 22 tracks vary in style
from pop to country to almost
classical at times. The band
seems to be very consciously
contrasting hard songs with soft
er songs in the flow of the album.
The songs themselves all seem to
blend together, due to the lack of
pauses between tracks. More
than once I looked down at my
CD player counter and realized
that I was five tracks ahead of
where I thought I was.
The second time around, I was
growing fonder of some of the
tunes, especially the one chosen
to be the first single, “She’s Cot
All The Friends That Money Can
Buy.” Hidden beneath a happy
beat and a chorus of “la la’s” are
such well-crafted, sarcastic vers
es, such as, “both her faces/ so
easy on the eye/ and everyone
worth knowing/ is kissing her be
hind.”
But the beat doesn’t carry the
pop-culture selling power of
“Tubthumping.” The album’s
songs are fast paced, but predom
inantly in the minor key. Songs
like, “Hey Hey We’re The
Junkies,” and “Jesus in Vegas,”
are what a normal pop band
might sound like if heard with
the musical polarity reversed.
Kinda like Superman and Biz
zaro.
The band Chumbawamba recently released their CD “WYSIWYG.” The ban includes members (left-right): Boff, Lou Watts, Dunstan
Bruce, Jude Abbott, Danbert Nobacon, Alice Nutter, Harry Hamer and Neil Ferguson.
Chumbawamba is the most
well-known anarchist band in
the music industry, and their re
bellious nature is just below the
surface of “WYSIWYG.” Con
tained in the sleeve notes is com
mentary by the band on all 22
tracks of the album, some of
which are quite lengthy. When I
read things like, “We don’t have
friends, we watch ‘Friends’,” and
“Revolution, once the catch
phrase of change, is now only
what the ad man’s offering,” I
paused for a second and took a
more objective look at the culture
that I’m in. I’m sure that Chum
bawamba would be proud.
In the sleeve notes they also
mention such current events as
the Columbine shootings, the
controversy in New York over
the elephant dung Virgin Mary as
art, and the World Trade Organi
zation protests in Seattle. The CD
may be worth buying just to read
what the band has to say that
didn’t make it in the songs.
If you are a person who likes
or dislikes albums based on the
tunes, then leave this one alone.
To fully appreciate what Chum
bawamba has done on “WYSI
WYG,” you must enjoy the subtle
stabs at society and pop culture
made in every line on the album.
I think their press release
summed up the album best when
it described the CD as “the sonic
equivalent of a spiked drink. It
slips down easily and then mess
es with the brain.”
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