John Scofield出生于1951年12月26日，美国俄亥俄洲。被尊称为吉他的三巨头之一，另外两位是Pat Metheny和Bill Frisell。他的影响力不停的向前推进。他的创作力似乎源源不断，令人敬佩又觉得不可思议。John Scofield的吉他演奏节奏感很强，以爵士乐而言，节奏是重要的一个要素，甚至重于旋律，任何爵士乐手假若配合得当的话，那么他几乎可以演奏一切他想要表达的音乐概念。　 John Scofield成长于康乃狄克州的威尔顿镇，从小对音乐就非常有兴趣，11岁的时拥有第一把吉他。之后接触到Little Richard．Chuck Berry的摇滚蓝调音乐，进而是John Lee Hooker民谣蓝调（Folk Blues），B.B King、Otis Rush的都会蓝调（Urban Blues）的风格。当时，威尔顿镇的爵士乐并不盛行，优秀的爵士乐手自然就不多，其中有一位了解约翰之所好，并带领他走向爵士乐之门的人便是他的第一个吉他老师Alan Dean，Alan Dean常与他一起聆听Pat Martino的唱片，或开车到格林威治村去听吉他大师Jim Hall的演奏，在十五岁的时候，约翰便立志要成为一个真正的爵士吉他手，并开始朝这个方向努力。凭着这股对爵士乐的爱好，约翰于1970年进入波士顿的Berkley音乐学院修习爵士乐，在此三年之中，一方面习爵士乐的理论及演奏技巧，课余之时，则到附近的俱乐部观摩一些优秀的乐手演出。结果，终于完成了CTI唱片公司的两张「卡内基音乐厅现场演奏」唱片。两个星期后，另一个机会又出现，那就是他取代了吉他手John Abercrombie的位置，加入由鼓手Billy Cobham所领导的Powerhouse乐团，此后的两年（1975-1977），他跟着Powerhouse到处旅行演出。 1977年，26岁的John推出了生平第一张个人专辑Live，这张作品集合了John之前的音乐影响，混合着bop与蓝调摇滚（Blues-Rock）的风格。这次他带领他的核心四重奏(Steve Jordan鼓/Larry Goldings键盘/Willie Weeks贝司)，并邀请一群客串明星艺人，用他那独特的融合爵士风格演绎了13首Ray不那么著名的作品。One of the big three of current jazz guitarists (along with Pat Metheny and Bill Frisell), John Scofields influence grew in the 90s. Possessor of a very distinctive rock-oriented sound that is often a bit distorted, Scofield is a masterful jazz improviser whose music generally falls somewhere between post-bop, fusion, and soul jazz. He started on guitar while at high school in Connecticut, and from 1970-1973 Scofield studied at Berklee and played in the Boston area. After recording with Gerry Mulligan and Chet Baker at Carnegie Hall, Scofield was a member of the Billy Cobham-George Duke band for two years. In 1977 he recorded with Charles Mingus, and later joined the Gary Burton quartet and Dave Liebmans quintet. His own early sessions as a leader were funk-oriented. During 1982-1985 Scofield toured the world and recorded with Miles Davis. Since that time he has led his own groups, played with Bass Desires, and recorded frequently as a leader for Gramavision and Blue Note, using such major players as Charlie Haden, Jack DeJohnette, Joe Lovano, and Eddie Harris. Scofield started a long-term relationship with the Verve label in 1996 with his acoustic album Quiet. He cut the funky A Go Go with Medeski, Martin & Wood in 1997 while 2000s Bump featured members of Sex Mob, Soul Coughing, and Deep Banana Blackout. 2001s Works for Me featured a more traditional jazz sound, but for 2002s Uberjam and 2003s Up All Night, he was back to playing fusion. Drummer Bill Stewart and bassist Steve Swallow rounded out the John Scofield Trio for 2004s cerebral and complex live album EnRoute. In 2005, Scofield paid tribute to legendary soul man Ray Charles with Thats What I Say.