New York, USA - Jonathan Scales is a highly diversified jazz musician out of North Carolina. His amazing but unique style of jazz music incorporates a variety of fusion jazz mixed with R&B and hip hop beats; and that’s exactly what he produced for a huge audience at the small venue called the Rockwood Music Hall. A room was filled with jazz enthusiasts from various parts of New York and the United States; jazz lovers who would soon be glued to the solos and excitement of the Jonathan Scales Fourchestra.
The Fourchestra hit the stage with a couple of hits from their new album, “Character Farm and Other Short Stories.” One of the songs played on the album, “Muddy Vishnu,” was one that incorporates a fusion-style jazz feel. The off-beat and up tempo jazz rhythm feel had everyone gyrating to the restless sounds of the up tempo beat overflowing in the mind when it was played. When asked how he came up with such a concept, Jonathan Scales mentions how his experiences with a lot of modern jazz and calypso music, took him through a different course in his learning how to mesh a combination of Latin jazz with hip hop and fusion jazz. It’s totally mind boggling!
With the absence of one of his members, the trio gave justice to the powerful chemistry related to the dynamic sound of the Fourchestra's rich style of music. On that particular song, “Muddy Vishnu,” it starts off as a quiet voyage on rough seas, and escalates into a stormy encounter on a rough and stormy ocean. The ship later gets to a peaceful zone where the waves die, short and calm. Scales’ facial expressions show how much he enjoys surfing the rough seas to later arrive at his destination. The song takes a deep breath where Scales and his incomparable bass man weave in a solo, and continues on that same inescapable voyage.
One of the most notable aspects of Scales’ music is his dress code to his performances. He explains to his audience his unique attire of a portrayal of Robin Hood. “I get my boots from an inexpensive store for about five bucks, and my scarves are stolen from my wife’s wardrobe.” Inexplicably, Scales’ dressing defines his unique style of playing the double second steelpan instrument. He seemed very comfortable in his attire and expressing his natural flavor of sounds with the way he presents himself on stage. During his performance one person asked if he gets hot wearing a sweater around his neck while he performed and he replied, “I feel cool inside!”
The Jonathan Scales Fourchestra playing the
Shrine in Harlem in 2009. Scales is on double-second.
Scales’ indescribable way of expressing his emotions with his band members defines how different each of the selections sound. The chemistry between his musicians is electric - especially between Scales and his drummer. They form a dynamic duo and know what each other is going to do next. They even did a brief off-beat segment showing off, and dropping down on various phrases - leaving their audience in suspense, not knowing when the next beat or phrase would “drop”. Scales surely emulates many headliners in jazz and is on the way to bigger and better things in life. His unique style of playing is recognizable and marketable and is commercialized to the steel pan and wider music community around the world.
Jonathan Scales Fourchestra: jonscales.com
