John Scofield with drummer Louis Cato.

The eclectic electric guitarist left college about 40 years ago, and judging from the success of his career to date, it wasn't a bad decision. Berklee welcomes Scofield back to perform new tunes and old repertoire from his raucous, electronic-infused Überjam songbook.

The eclectic electric guitarist John Scofield left Berklee College of Music about 40 years ago to perform with Chet Baker and Gerry Mulligan. Since then, he's found wide success throughout the jazz community, with Miles Davis' band for one, and as a standard bearer of modern jazz-rock. Scofield's 2002 album Überjam merged his cutting guitar with raucous electronic-infused rhythms; Berklee welcomed him back to perform that music. The Überjam quartet plays as part of Boston's citywide First Night celebration, where its leader announced that a second "Über" album is on the way.

Set List

• "Thikhathali" (Scofield, Bortnick, Deitch, Murphy)
• "Snap Crackle Pop" (Scofield)
• "Ideofunk" (Scofield)
• "Jungle Fiction" (Scofield)
• "Boogie Stupid" (Scofield, Bortnick)
• "Cracked Ice" (Scofield, Bortnick)
• "Dubdub" (Scofield)
• "Endless Summer" (Scofield, Bortnick)
• "I Brake 4 Monster Booty" (Scofield, Bortnick, Deitch, Murphy)
• "Tomorrow Land" (Bortnick) [encore]

Personnel

• John Scofield, guitar
• Avi Bortnick, rhythm guitar/sampling
• Andy Hess, bass
• Louis Cato, drums

Credits

Antonio Oliart, recording engineer; Will Roseliep, onstage audio; Gary Mott, producer; Thomas Devlin, operations supervisor; Chika Offurum, marketing; Phil Redo, executive producer, WGBH. Recorded at Berklee Performance Center, Boston, Dec. 31, 2012. Special thanks to Rob Hayes and Berklee College of Music.

Copyright 2013 WGBH Radio. To see more, visit http://www.wgbh.org.

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