Given the experimental nature of their art, most jazz musicians periodically have cause to reflect that you can't please everyone, so you may as well please yourself.
John Scofield probably wasn't in town long enough to hear about the divided post-performance response of the audience to his Ray Charles tribute shows. The crowd seemed appreciative enough on the night, but it appears to have harboured a significant minority of malcontents. These were of two distinct schools of thought: one couldn't see the point of Scofield; the other couldn't see the point of Ray Charles.
Considering that the concerts were clearly billed as one playing the other, this is a conundrum. I suppose those who didn't enjoy themselves probably hadn't heard the What'd I Say album, but there were a number of admirers of Scofield's fusion work who professed themselves unimpressed with the straight-forward structures of the songs. They were counterbalanced by a smattering of equally dissatisfied Charles fans who objected to the way Scofield blew over the standards.
My own reservations were more straightforward. I liked the show, but could cheerfully have strangled the soundman. The band played well, but were appallingly mixed and no attention seemed to have been paid to the acoustic environment before hiring the gear.
In the Cultural Centre Concert Hall the band could easily have got away with the amplifiers for the individual instruments and a small PA. The drums, which were deafening, didn't need to be miked at all.
Instead, Scofield and his sidemen were flanked by two large speaker stacks more appropriate to a rock gig at the Coliseum, and the man on the desk - Scofield's own - seemed determined to make sure they had plenty to do.
On the credit side of the ledger, Scofield's playing was impossible to fault (although I did wish occasionally that he'd left his effects pedals at home) and vocalist Dean Bowman emerged as a star in the making. At one point, Scofield - who may have had one or two of the guest artists on What'd I Say foisted on him - introduced I Don't Need No Doctor as having been sung on the album by John Mayer and added: 'but we don't need him', gesturing to Bowman, who was applauded warmly. He was right and I look forward to hearing more of the singer.