Sometimes, a successful recording is not about the material, the studio, the producer, or even the players involved. Sometimes, it’s about a shared feeling that grows among the players and conjures a groove. Grooves can be hard to find, especially among accomplished players recording together for the first time who have styles, ideas, and egos of their own. But once achieved, this invisible bond, this feeling of being in sync, should sound easy—as if there’s nothing to it. It’s this sort of natural, authentic pace and feeling that makes Hudson, the first recording from the quartet of Jack DeJohnette, Larry Grenadier, John Medeski, and John Scofield, such a success.
The quartet, all of whom live nearby the artistic nexus of Woodstock— whose name was once attached to a 1969 music…
