Classy Jazz: John Scofield and the CSO

By Alexander Hough in Arts & Entertainment on May 21, 2009 6:00PM

Members of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra loosen their cummerbunds tonight and Saturday as they share the stage with jazz guitar legend John Scofield, playing a piece by Duke Ellington and a piece co-written by Scofield and CSO Composer-in-Residence Mark-Anthony Turnage.

Ellington was one of the few genuinely genre-defying musicians, and his jazz tunes, while terrific and archetypal, are only the tip of the Ellington iceberg. Although the piece on this concert, "Three Black Kings," isn't entirely Ellington's - he was working on it at the time of his death in 1974, leaving his son Mercer to complete it, who then handed it to Luther Henderson to arrange it for big band and orchestra - it's still a great example of the breadth and depth of Ellington's music. Meant as a eulogy for Martin Luther King, Jr., "Three Black Kings" consists of three movements, each representing a different black king: Balthazar, the king of the Magi; King Solomon; and Dr. King.

The second half of the concert is "Scorched," a Grammy Award-winning compilation of Turnage's interpretations and arrangements of Scofield's compositions. The two began working together in the mid-1990s, when Scofield played Turnage's "Blood on the Floor." On the same concert, Turnage arranged one of Scofield's pieces, and their relationship developed from there. The composition method is a bit undefined: the pieces are Scofield's, but Turnage had free reign to alter the music, although Scofield was involved in the process to an unspecified degree. As a result of this nebulous and interactive collaboration, the piece consists of several movements that vary in both tone and style, as well as in instrumental combinations, from jazz trio to big band to orchestra.

Other musicians appearing on the concert are bassist John Patitucci, drummer Peter Erskine, saxophonist Donald Harrison, and Chicago-based pianist Willie Pickens.

In addition, Turnage, Scofield, and "Beyond the Score" mastermind Gerard McBurney will hold lectures one hour prior to each concert.

Symphony Center, 220 S. Michigan, tonight at 8:00 p.m. (free lecture in the Armour Stage at 7:00 p.m.) and Saturday, May 23, at 8:00 p.m. (free lecture in the Grainger Ballroom at 7:00 p.m.), tickets range $10 for students up to $199 for rich people