This double CD set is the ECM debut of the latest version of John Scofield’s trio, with Vincente Archer in Steve Swallow’s stead. It’s his most absorbing and compelling album for a long while, simply because it captures the freewheeling let’s-see-where-the-music-takes-us ethos that characterises Scofield’s playing in live performance, set loose in a variety of compositional moods that all have groove as their bottom line. Part of the reason is the galvanising effect Archer brings to the group; gone is the watchmaker’s precision and craftsman’s logic of Swallow’s lines, and in its place the everyone-sit-up-and-take-notice energy of Archer’s playing as he tramples over any comfort zones that may have been subconsciously erected since Scofield and Swallow first recorded in a trio format back in 1980.

Among the most rewarding tracks that demand instant replay are ‘Mr. Tamborine Man,’ ‘TV Band,’ ‘Budo’ and ‘Stairway to the Stars.’ As the recent film documentary Inside Scofield reveals, he really is a true jazz great and he shows it here.