Cue up the title cut and admire John Scofield’s chord-melody approach to the Grateful Dead’s 1971 FM hit. While Sco’ has previously worked in the Dead universe (with bassist Phil Lesh), this is a straight-jazz approach with spartan bass and drum accompaniment.

Uncle John’s Band is not a full album of jazzy Garcia/Weir covers (which would be welcomed at some point – hint!). Instead, it’s a two-CD set with covers of Bob Dylan, Neil Young, and Miles Davis, plus Scofield originals.

On “Mr. Tambourine Man,” the New York fusioneer deploys a looper for atmospherics, delivering improv before hitting that nostalgic melody (which, in 1965, made an impression upon 13-year-old John). Now 72 himself, Sco’s take on Neil Young’s “Old Man” has added poignance, part of the Harvest album that came out when he was 20 years old – looking back from this moment, his soloing sums up his own half-century in music. Vicente Archer also takes a memorable upright-bass solo, directly quoting Young’s vocal melody.

Switching back to standards, the threesome swings on Miles’ 1949 cool-jazz landmark “Budo” for all its worth. It’s glorious – and another high point on this keeper of a Scofield project.

This article originally appeared in VG’s December 2023 issue. All copyrights are by the author and Vintage Guitar magazine. Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.