Blue Matter - John Scofield (1987)

Scofield had already played with the biggest names in fusion and by the 80s was blazing his own path through modern jazz. in the 00s, he’d end up making some great music with my favorite eponymous trio, but that’s a story for another time.

A lot of what makes this great is Scofield’s distictive sound. Not just anyone could get away with the bold arrangements you hear here, because not just anyone could tie it together with brilliantly lyrical leads like he does. In places like So You Say, he builds a harmony-laden voicing that sounds like a choir in places. On the opening title track, he sticks with a single-note voicing but makes it so expressive and melodic that a singer wouldn’t know what more to add.

Producer Steve Swallow, a notable jazz bassist himself, gets a great recording of a well-travelled veteran band.