New York, USA - What do you get when you mix a touch of blues, some jazz, and a little bit of rock? A wonderful performance put together by “The Jonathan Scales Fourchestra” at the Rockwood Music Hall in New York City. It has been four years since the Fourchestra came together in January 2007 to perform songs off of Jonathan Scales’ first album One-Track Mind. Now with the recent release of their third record Character Farm & Other Short Stories Scales says “The Fourchestra is going hard, and planning to keep the show on the road, and tour more to get the music to everyone out there.”
It’s no surprise that Jonathan Scales has come such a long way with his own compositions, stating that his love of writing music started as early as middle school, and that he continued to perfect his craft while studying Music Composition at Appalachian State University in North Carolina. His New York performance was well put together giving a little bit of this, and a little bit of that for the audience to indulge in.
Playing songs with names like Hallucinations of the Dream Chasers, Muddy Vishnu, and Yep amongst others, you come to think: “What is the inspiration behind the music?” Jonathan explains that the root of his music comes from self-experience, and different musical encounters. “Hallucinations of the Dream Chasers was written about the struggle between “living the dream,” and still doing the other things one needs to do to maintain one’s life.” Scales also shares that he was going through some psychological roller coasters when that piece was written.
The Jonathan Scales Fourchestra playing the
Shrine in Harlem in 2009. Scales is on double-second.
When doing music a concern of many musicians is longevity; music that can withstand the test of time. The selection Desert did just that for Jonathan. Desert was an original piece that he wrote during his sophomore year of high school. Jonathan explains “I imagined it on Pan, before I ever laid a stick to Pan; but it converted well once I started playing all my original pieces on Pan.” Reflecting back to 2004 Jonathan Scales recollects seeing Bela Fleck (the banjo virtuoso) perform, and being so blown away by the whole experience. “I figured out right then and there that I wanted to perform my original work and travel the world performing for fans. If you know Bela’s work, you know that he takes the banjo out of the context that people are used to hearing it in and does a modern complex jazz thing with it.”
Now that the release of his third album is underway Jonathan Scales is only looking forward to bigger and better things. A virtuoso in his own right, he plans to keep pushing forward with his style of Pan, and composing. Acknowledging how intense his touring schedule is gradually becoming – The Fourchestra is booked solidly through the end of the year - he knows that he is more than ready to play for fans all over the world. As time goes on, finding new and innovative ways to push the art form is a big goal for The Jonathan Scales Fourchestra. They are now in pre-production for a new video to be released later on in the year. For Jonathan this is a sign of things to come. “I’ve been really excited about how the music video thing has helped me get my art out there in a way that I thought was reserved for pop singers and rappers!”
For more on Jonathan Scales, go to: jonscales.com
