Jazz News: Matt Smiley awarded the MacDowell Fellowship; John Scofield’s 10 career-defining tracks

This is Jazz News, a look at what’s news in jazz, music, and the arts. Matt Smiley, Bassist, composer, Jazz Studies educator, and alumnus of the CU Boulder College of Music has been awarded the MacDowell Fellowship. This is one of the most prestigious, cross-disciplinary artist residency programs in the country. He plans to use his fellowship to advance his compositional goals with his primary focus on composing a suite of octet music. Along with composing, he currently teaches a 370-student jazz history class and a jazz combo at CU Boulder College of Music.

As a composer, Smiley’s work sits at the intersection of Jazz and contemporary classical music and is usually composed for smaller groups like trios, quartets, and quintets. A flexible, open form of composition has become a hallmark of Smiley’s approach. The MacDowell Fellowship offers Matt Smiley an opportunity to compose for larger ensembles, a challenge he is ready to embrace while maintaining the intimate improvisational spirit he is known for. His fellowship is set to take place over fall break so he will be able to maintain his commitment to his students. He told CU Boulder “I have never had planned time off from teaching, performing, and working to sit down and focus solely on writing music,” Smiley notes. “I have a lot of goals to accomplish while I’m there.”  (SOURCE: Colorado Edu/Matt Smiley/Jazz Studies)

Master guitarist John Scofield has crossed the musical boundaries of Jazz, Funk, Rock, and Blues during his lengthy career. His love of collaboration has led him to perform alongside legends like Miles Davis, Charles Mingus, Chet Baker, and the late Phil Lesh among many others. With over 100 albums released as both a lead and a sideman, he is a multi-decade influence on many young guitarists. In an interview with NPR, he said “When I was a teenager, I was ready to just work in a guitar store. I just wanted to do anything to be around it.. I had no idea that it would be as wonderful as it has been.”

In November, Scofield celebrates 50 years of recorded music and to honor this great achievement, NPR’s Jazz Night in America gave the musician a unique challenge: narrow down his expensive discography to just 10 career-defining tracks. In this episode, Scofield shared stories with NPR as he laid out his 10.

Set List:
(All songs composed by John Scofield unless otherwise noted)

1. “Blue Matter” from the album Blue Matter (Gramavision, 1986)
2. “Eiderdown” (Steve Swallow), from the album Swallow Tales (ECM, 2020)
3. “Hottentot” from the album A Go Go (Verve, 1998)
4. “Away with Words”, from the album Quiet (Verve, 1996)
5. “Since You Asked”, from the album Time on My Hands (Blue Note, 1990)
6. “Just Don’t Want to Be Lonely” (Vinnie Barrett, Bobby Eli, John Freeman), from the album Überjam Deux (EmArcy, 2013)
7. “I Don’t Need No Doctor” (Jo Armstead, Nick Ashford, Valerie Simpson), from the album That’s What I Say: John Scofield Plays the Music of Ray Charles (Verve, 2005)
8. “Honest I Do” from the album Grace Under Pressure (Blue Note, 1992)
9. “Mrs. Scofield’s Waltz” from the album Works for Me (Verve, 2001)
10. “I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry” (Hank Williams), from the album Country For Old Men (Impulse!, 2016)

You can listen to this episode of Jazz Night in America at npr.org. (SOURCE: NPR/Jazz Night in America-John Scofield-50 Years)

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