Gov’t Mule Featuring John Scofield- Sco-Mule (ALBUM REVIEW)

[rating=9.00]

In their campaign to revivify the power trio concept originated by Cream and the Jimi Hendrix Experience, Gov’t Mule always emphasized improvisation. Five years into that initiative, the band in its initial configuration of guitarist/vocalist Warren Haynes, bassist Allen Woody and drummer Matt Abts, began to alternately fine-tune and expand their approach to jamming by commencing a collaboration with guitarist John Scofield. The esteemed jazz musician, who had worked with Miles Davis and Billy Cobham among others, had just begun his cross-pollination of genres and generations the year prior in recording with Medeski Martin and Wood on A Go Go. So his appearances from two September 1999 Mule evenings, the 22nd at the Georgia Theater in Athens and the 23rd at the Roxy in Atlanta were a natural extension of that effort.

Approximately two hours running time on two CDs, Sco-Mule contains the bulk, though not all, of the four musicians live performances , along with keyboardist Dr. Dan Matrazzo (Col. Bruce Hampton, drummer Jeff Sipe). The serious approach the band took is in evidence on the choice of material alone, including not just originals from Gov’t Mule (“Birth of the Mule”) and Scofield (“Hottentot”), but a remarkable range of covers including selections from James Brown (“Pass the Peas”) and saxophonist/composer extraordinaire Wayne Shorter (“Tom Thumb”).

The musicians are clearly up to their chosen task though, their courage to tackle the songs matched by a fearless willingness to stretch out (and with abandon to boot), plus a sharply intuitive ability to react in the moment. The quintet pushes past eighteen minutes on both versions of “Kind of Bird,” a tribute to Charlie Parker co-authored by guitarist Dickey Betts and Haynes, originally in the repertoire of the early 90’s Allman Brothers Band. And on Mongo Santamaria’s “Afro Blue,” something of a signature song for John Coltrane, the unit goes even further, to the twenty-three minute mark plus, sounding equal parts elegant and limber. Here as elsewhere, the players’ interactions are alternately funky and spacey, but always visceral in their impact, quite likely due to the relish all five share.

That said, the ‘you are right there’ ambiance carried by the presence of the sound quality here also elevates a palpable sense of relaxation evinced by these musicians, no doubt because this music is coming so naturally to them. While the biting tones (occasional with a slide) Haynes prefers are an ideal complement to the more staccato touch of Scofield’s textures. And the rhythm work of Woody and Abts, who never become too busy for their own (respective) good, nevertheless remain almost constantly mobile, mirroring the guitarists’ individual and dual roles. Meanwhile, keyboardist Matrazzo’s contributions contain elements from each of his partners’ styles—he is as surely fluid as he is syncopated on the title tune and levies synthesizer sprays all around– as he demonstrates a humble willingness to find his own level within the ensemble at any given moment.

The sequence of events leading to the release of Sco-Mule has been quite circuitous, as the untimely death of Woody in 2000 put the release on hold while Gov’t Mule reconfigured itself. But as Warren Haynes & Co hit their twentieth anniversary in 2014, the recordings were exhumed to be mixed and mastered for a package distinguished with annotations from Haynes and Scofield themselves and adorned with a striking piece of artwork commissioned specifically for the cover. Often bootlegged and much anticipated, Sco-Mule one high-profile meeting of minds that exceeds expectations.