The two camps are inching closer and closer together. Wynton Marsalis’s epic All Rise may have been hampered by its weakness for the monumental — the trumpeter has a habit of making Mahler look like some triangle-tinkling minimalist — but it showed at least that jazz and classical musicians are becoming more and more confident in each other’s company.
Mark-Anthony Turnage’s 1996 suite Blood on the Floor proved an even more convincing fusion of the two traditions, jagged strings intricately constructed around the gutsy yet sophisticated guitar soloing of John Scofield, the man responsible for the few moments of genuine inspiration in Miles Davis’s 1980s bands.
Which is why expectations were so high for this sequel. Using the guitarist’s compositions as a launch pad (the enigmatic title means “Scofield Orchestrated”) Turnage has again delivered some startling exercises in a new vernacular.
Unlike most of his peers, the composer has an instinctive grasp of jazz phrasing. If only he had reined in his energy a little. Stringing together no fewer than 14 pieces — immaculately performed by Scofield’s trio and the Scottish Chamber Orchestra conducted by Stefan Asbury — made for a daunting experience, especially coming after A Man Descending, Turnage’s overlong and politely academic response to A Lark Ascending. An unusually restrained Joe Lovano took the soloist’s role.
The saxophonist broke loose afterwards in a quartet performance with Scofield, the drummer Peter Erskine and virtuoso bass player John Pattitucci. Lovano is just about the best exponent of ultra-precise neo-bop, but the flatter, brisker tone that Scofield adopts for this kind of setting lacks the ripe soulfulness of his fusion work.
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It was the electric trio sequences, in fact, that stood out in Scorched. Pattitucci’s playing, which can be too much of a good thing on his own recordings, proved a brilliant match for the leader’s inspirational forays. There is a superb piece of music lurking inside this suite. A good editor would be able to find it.