scofield on samplers and buttons

["Julio Moreno" <ciego@ig.com.br>]

http://www.jazzreview.com/articledetails.cfm?ID=679

JazzReview: Yeah. That's an interesting point. I mean, did you recently kind of sense the improvisational possibilities or was that always apparent?

John Scofield: Well to tell you the truth, the improvisational abilities are always there in any kind of music. You just blow. I think that it's become easier to use samples. Yeah, and our band is different because we start a sample up and then we play along in real time. It's not a layered thing with some guys that come to a gig with computers and press some buttons and that's it. The samples are part of a much bigger thing than us playing our guitars and drums and whacking away, you know? So, the sample's not going to improvise by itself, but we improvise along with it and also when it gets turned on and off by Avi Bortnick; which sample gets turned on; which effect he decides to use at that moment. He's throwing that stuff in at the spur of the moment, you know. So, it's great and I think Avi's gotten good at improvising with it; just technically kind of using that instrument. He's got this system of foot pedals (electronic effects units) and he plays guitar at the same time. So he can like, step on a foot pedal that's controlling a sample, and then throw it in and then speed it up or slow it down with another foot pedal…all while he's playing guitar. He's gotten that so together that it makes it possible for it to come into the music. The orchestration possibilities with samples is so interesting.