Piety Street

On his 37th (!) recording as a bandleader, guitar great John Scofield offers his arrangements of classic old-time gospel songs, plus a few of his own compositions inspired by the form. Joined by an outstanding band of New Orleans-based musicians — George Porter, Jr. on bass, Jon Cleary on keyboards and vocals, Ricky Fataar on drums, John Boutté on vocals, and Shannon Powell on percussion — they get a swinging, down-home bluesy feel throughout, and it sounds like all involved are having a grand time. Scofield’s approach to such chestnuts as “Motherless Child,” “Ninety Nine and a Half,” and “I’ll Fly Away” is reverential and tasteful, while on his own tunes, such as “It’s a Big Army,” he gets a bit grittier and funkier, with soaring guitar bends and trilling organ fills riding a muscular shuffle beat. Compared with much of his other work, whether with Miles Davis in the ‘70s or recent releases with Medeski, Martin & Wood, Piety Street is rather straightforward stuff for a jazz fusion pioneer and virtuoso like Scofield, but this album is clearly about passion and feel more than technical complexity. Amen to that.