Lettuce and John Scofield Unite for Harmonic Convergence

Spring has sprung in San Francisco, and there’s a musical bloom occurring at the SFJazz Center here on Saturday, 27 April, as funk stalwarts Lettuce are set to welcome guitar great John Scofield for another team-up. It’s been two great tastes that go together since the guitarist tabbed Lettuce drummer Adam Deitch to join the John Scofield Band more than 20 years ago for recording and touring.

“Adam’s got a real jazz sensibility on top of this super groove thing,” Scofield told Modern Drummer in 2004. “It’s hard to find guys who bring that sort of jazz seriousness, listening, and expertise because most guys are just into hip-hop, funk, or drum ‘n’ bass. Or you have the jazz kids who kind of stay strictly with that; they want to be like Roy Haynes and Elvin Jones and never even consider investigating the hip-hop thing.”

Now, it’s 20 years later, and the mutual appreciation society has only continued to grow with various collaborations when schedules allow. Lettuce crushed two dance party shows at the Fillmore last year, then returned in the summer for a sensational outdoor show at Stern Grove with the San Francisco Symphony, blending the group’s funk power with orchestral majesty. The band’s local fanbase has thus continued to sprout, leading to three shows here, with two on Saturday night and one more on Sunday evening.

The honor of playing with Scofield is highlighted by the building across the street from the SFJazz Center, which features more than 20 portraits of jazz greats through the years. Scofield occupies the top right corner, having earned his spot with decades of cutting-edge guitar exploration with luminaries ranging from Miles Davis to Phil Lesh. His own band kicks down the jams as well, having headlined the two previous nights, leading to this collaboration with Lettuce.

Saturday’s first set begins around 7:00pm as Lettuce hit the stage with the groovy syncopation of “RVA Dance” from 2022’s Unify. Deitch, bassist Erick “Jesus” Coomes, and guitarist Adam “Shmeeans” Schmirnoff lay down a tight groove, with trumpeter Eric “Benny” Bloom and saxophonist Ryan Zoidis throwing down some hot horns on top. Keyboardist Nigel Hall lays back on synth, but it’s only a matter of time before he steps up. Deitch, Coomes, and Smirnoff are coming in hot from the previous weekend’s late-night jam sessions with DJ Logic at the Sand Dollar in Las Vegas, where they provided after-show parties for the all-night party animals following the Phish shows at Sphere on 19-20 April.

It’s about 30 minutes into the 90-minute set when Scofield joins the group to amplify the festivities. Hall’s organ starts to take on a Bitches Brew flavor on a jam, with Coomes popping deep bass notes over a tight beat and some fierce guitar lines from Scofield and Smirnoff.

Miles Davis’ “Black Satin” is a highlight that takes the audience back to the early 1970s era of funky fusion and psychedelia before segueing into Lettuce’s “Pocket Change” from 2015’s Crush for a fabulous combo. The tightly syncopated upbeat groove provides an excellent platform for John Scofield to trade jazzy melodies with the horns as the dance floor ignites. 

The dance floor is only about one-quarter of the venue at SFJazz, with the rest of the audience in the Miner Auditorium mostly staying in their seats. It’s a different vibe from last year’s Fillmore shows, yet there’s perhaps more of a jazzy flair as the band play to attentive listeners who show their appreciation with a big round of applause at the end of the jam. “Back in Effect” from their 2002 debut record Outta Here provides a chance for a bluesy guitar workout before the dynamic “Jungle Fiction” from Scofield’s 2002 album Uberjam. It’s a great combo to display Deitch’s diverse skills, as he lays down some stylish breakbeat percussion on “Jungle Fiction” while Scofield rips off dazzling runs that show off his elite chops and tone science sensibility.

Lettuce close out the dynamic set with “Every Night Is Ladies Night”, an upbeat funky gem from Scofield’s 2003 album Up All Night. Deitch’s ace percussion work here really makes the jam go, propelling stellar chemistry all around as Scofield and the horns weave their melodies over the infectious groove. The set flashs by all too quickly when it ends around 8:30, but there’s more to come for those holding tickets to the second set at 9:30. 

The late set follows the same format, with Lettuce rocking out for half an hour before John Scofield returns for the master jam session. “Blast Off” from 2008’s Rage album kicks off the set with a horn-driven afrobeat vibe that spotlights Zoidus and Bloom on the horns. “John Pierre” from Miles Davis’ 1982 We Want Miles album slows things down with an atmospheric exploration, but one that provides a space for some simmering bluesy interplay between Scofield and Smirnoff. Nigel Hall steals the spotlight on “Do It Like You Do”, stepping up with a dynamic performance as he sings a funky love song from the band’s 2012 record, Fly. 

“Filibuster” from Scofield’s 1984 album Electric Outlet finds the ensemble soaring over a propulsive beat for a stellar jam, as the collective are in cohesive unity. This leads into another take on “Ladies Night” as they take the jam even deeper here in the second set, with Hall throwing down some soulful organ work to power the groove higher. The energy level surges into literal “Lettsanity”, a super funky tune with the horns leading the way before the guitars tear it up on a climactic jam.

Nigel Hall has been feeling it in the late set, so it seems fitting that he retakes the lead on the encore, singing his heart out on “Everything’s Gonna Be Alright”. It’s one of the inspiring vocal tunes from 2022’s Unify, and it hits the spot to close out the evening. Hall sings out about fighting for the right to stand up to injustice, with a timely — and funky – message on the strength of democracy and unity for the power of the people to make positive change. 

On Sunday, 28 April, Lettuce and John Scofield return for one more set at 7:00pm. The ensemble emerge, firing on all cylinders with “Get Greasy”, like a funky locomotive steaming down the tracks. Nigel Hall stars again on “Ready to Live”, an empowering tune from 2019’s Elevate album. “You just keep on doing you and do the things that you do,” he sings out over an electrifying groove from Deitch and Coomes. It’s a timely number here in this crazy year of 2024, with the band crushing it from the start. 

Scofield rejoins the team for a jam on his tune “Pick Hits”, a groovy mid-tempo number featuring a big sax solo from Zoidis, psychedelic organ from Hall, and dazzling jazzy guitar over dynamic beats from Deitch. The band hits “Jungle Fiction” again and digs in for an even hotter jam than the night before, with Deitch’s drum ‘n’ bass style beats making it sound sort of like a Sound Tribe Sector 9 jam. Scofield weaves intricate jazzy lead lines here, with Deitch crushing the beats and Coomes providing a minimalist bass line that puts the percussion and guitar out front for a uniquely vibrant jam.

The level of musicianship throughout the set is nothing short of Jedi Master level, with Scofield playing the Obi-Wan Kenobi role to the next generation Rebel Alliance members of Lettuce. On Scofield’s “Whatcha See is Whatcha Get”, the band dig into a sublimely jazzy mid-tempo number that feels groovy yet laid-back all at once thanks to the musical maturity of the unit. 

Toward the end of the set, Coomes takes a moment to speak of how significant it was when Scofield brought Deitch into his band more than 20 years ago and how it wound up changing all their lives with the increased recognition. Scofield adds that Lettuce seemed like little kids when he first heard them but notes how they were already so good at the time.

The set concludes as Coomes powers “The Flu” with a tight grooving bassline for a fiery jam, featuring a big sax solo from Zoidis and Scofield adding his angular guitar leads that seem to dart around all over yet somehow land back in the pocket. The band encores with the weekend’s third performance of “Ladies Night”, but it’s not getting old because of how they approach it. It’s more like a continuation of an ongoing jam that has stretched across all three sets. This performance digs deep, with Scofield and Smirnoff trading hot licks on a showcase jam as the audience grooves out.

It’s been an extra funky weekend at SFJazz and a jazzy weekend for Lettuce in this harmonic convergence with John Scofield that will stand as one of 2024’s top highlights on the Bay Area music calendar.