New York, USA - First off:
Jonathan
Scales is a bad man. He
traveled for 12 hours from South Carolina to drop his brand of Jazz/rock/fusion
in New York at "The Shrine" in Harlem for a six o'clock performance
on September 11.
If you are going to perform musically in the stomping grounds of Max, Bird,
Dizzy, Miles and Gillespie among others you have got to bring it.
Scales’ eclectic performance was thrilling. This
was the first time When Steel Talks had caught a live performance of Mr.
Scales and his company of serious musicians known collectively as the
Jonathan Scales Fourchestra. We were not disappointed. This
cat can play, and his band can perform. Scales has the control and touch of a
Robert Greenidge but the controlled, edgy abandonment and creativity of a Len "Boogsie" Sharpe. If everyone
else is performing Algebra - Jonathan Scales is performing complex math, Calculus -
partial differential equations. We are not talking space cadet stuff. We
are talking
about a Thelonious Monk-like attitude with a Mozart creativity that works.
Jonathan was quite remarkable.
The band is well
rehearsed but not stodgy. He is equipped with an abundance of talent,
but does not take it for granted, with each flick of his steelpan sticks
making a musical point - just on the steelpan. With his three bandmates, the Jonathan Scales Fourchestra was in town for too short a time,
and with not enough fanfare.
For those who are wistful for straw hats,
brightly printed shirts and island fare-styled steelpan, what Jonathan
Scales drops is not for the faint of heart. He takes you to the era
when a serious group of guys would get together for a jam session which was
recorded live, and which, listening to it, makes one to this day, think -
what on earth would music be like if that session was not
captured.
This does not mean that Jonathan Scales has
peaked; by no means. But it is clear that the steelpan in the hands of
Scales is a cutting edge musical tool that demands any serious musician
stand up and take note - and be aware.
Catch him if you can; you will be very
impressed. At the end of the day Scales is going to be a major player in
rewriting the books on steelpan music outside the box. His non-Caribbean approach and roots leave him with
a latitude and freedom not seen or executed by other steelpan players except
for maybe a Boogsie Sharpe. In addition, Jonathan is not locked into
or limited by the instrument configurations as so many other steelpan
instrumentalists are.
Catch him - while he is still within reach of
the masses.
Related articles:
Steelpan standout Jonathan Scales comes to town
Panist Jonathan
Scales is ‘The Real Deal’
www.jonscales.com
In Pictures