Shannon Whitworth & Barrett Smith Release “Bring It On Home” on Nov 20th

Shannon Whitworth & Barrett Smith’s “Bring It On Home”

A Duo Album Featuring:
The Songs of Paul Simon to A.C. Jobim to Sam Cooke

“Bring It On Home is that hidden diamond that may be the best recording to cross this desk all year.” —C. Michael Bailey, All About Jazz

“From start to finish, Bring it on Home is crafted with love… a timeless collection” —Alli Marshall, Mountain Xpress

National Release Date: November 20th, 2012

(Asheville, NC)– Shannon Whitworth and Barrett Smith are thrilled to announce the release of a new duo album, Bring It On Home. Independently recorded, it is set for National release on November 20, 2012.

In Bring it on Home, Shannon Whitworth and Barrett Smith offer up a collection of their favorite songs by their favorite songwriters. From Paul Simon to A.C. Jobim to Sam Cooke. All About Jazz writes, “Relaxed and confident, Whitworth and Smith work their way across an almost 100-year landscape of music that is the crowning achievement of the song writer’s craft. They do so with quiet percussion and carefully chosen accompaniment that makes this perfect listening music: appealing to both nostalgia and the appreciation of fine music making.”

In this eclectic album, Shannon and Barrett take turns singing lead, backing each other on harmony vocals, and playing various instrumentations with Shannon on ukulele, banjo and Barrett on electric and acoustic guitars, upright bass, and piano. From the jazzy elegance of “Moonglow”, to the mystic folkiness of Paul Simon’s “Duncan”, to the Latin groove of “Corcovado”; this album pays tribute to the art of great songwriting, with fresh arrangements that make for a truly great listen.

Bring It On Home started as a brainstorming session on a late night, cross-Canadian road trip with the Shannon Whitworth Band, which Shannon had been touring and recording with since her days of leading the The Biscuit Burners and Barrett had later joined in 2010 after swapping places with a member of the acclaimed bluegrass band Town Mountain. In this particular tour, Shannon and Barrett were an opening act for Chris Isaak, and they spent the long slow drive from Winnipeg to Saskatoon trying to compile the perfect mix tape. Somewhere in the late night hours, they realized that this mix-tape was actually a compilation of the cover songs that they had both dreamed of someday recording – their own random dream tribute album.

Two months later, Shannon and Barrett were in Asheville’s Echo Mountain Recording Studio with a team of talented friends and musicians from the area who helped to breathe the album to life. Legendary drummer Jeff Sipe (Aquarium Rescue Unit, Leftover Salmon) and master multi-instrumentalist Mike Ashworth formed the core rhythm section, and Justin Ray and Jacob Rodriguez took a break from touring with Michael Buble to contribute on trumpet and saxophone. Virtuoso bluegrass fiddlers Nate Leath and Nicky Sanders (Steep Canyon Rangers) added violins to Melissa Hyman’s cello lines while Michael Libramento, of Grace Potter and the Nocturnals, played keyboards.

In recording Bring it on Home, the Shannon and Barrett looked to songs that inspire them, and hope to pass that inspiration on.

Bring it On Home ~ Track Listing

1) Bring It On Home To Me (Sam Cooke) 3:50 Soulful & Rockin
2) Moonglow (Delange, Mills, Hudson) 3:24 Jazzy & Mellow
3) You Can Close Your Eyes (James Taylor) 3:40 Folky & Mellow
4) Duncan (Paul Simon) 4:13 Folky & Beautiful
5) I Get Ideas (When We Are Dancing)  (Sanders, Cochran) 3:01 Jazzy & Sultry
6) Louise (Paul Siebel) 3:29 Folky & Funky
7) Sway (Molina, Ruiz, Gimbel) 2:52 Saucy & Latin
8) Bird On The Wire (Leonard Cohen) 3:49 Intense & Beautiful
9) Corcovado (Quiet Nights) (A.C. Jobim, Gene Lees) 4:31 Latin & Mellow
10) Green Grass (Tom Waits, Kathleen Brennan) 3:47 Ethereal & Jazzy
11) I’ll Be Your Lover, Too (Van Morrison) 4:59 Rockin Ballad
12) You Are My Sunshine (Jimmie Davis) 3:59 Folky & Mellow

 Recorded at Echo Mountain Recording in Asheville, NC
Engineered by Julian Dreyer
Mixed by Neilson Hubbard
Mastered by Jim DeMain
Produced by Barrett Smith
Released November 20, 2012

BarrettSmith.com
ShannonWhitworth.net

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Shannon Whitworth & Barrett Smith’s CD Release Party @ The Altamont Theatre on July 26th

Shannon Whitworth & Barrett Smith
Local Release Party for “Bring it on Home”
The Altamont Theatre
Thursday, July 26th

$12/$10adv
7pm door/  8pm show
18 Church St 28801
828-348-5327
myaltamont.com

(Asheville, NC)– Shannon Whitworth and Barrett Smith are thrilled to announce the release of a new all-covers duo album, Bring It On Home. To celebrate, a local release date is set for Thursday, July 26th at the Altamont Theatre in downtown Asheville. They will release the album nationally this fall.You can listen to and purchase the album at BarrettSmith.com.

In 2010 Barrett joined The Shannon Whitworth Band after swapping places with a member of the acclaimed bluegrass band Town Mountain. Shannon had been touring and recording successfully with this solo project since her days of leading the The Biscuit Burners. Barrett’s contributions quickly developed into a full time touring and recording job, and he and Shannon have been making music  with one another ever since, whether in the band or just for fun… which is how this duo project came into being.

In Bring it on Home, they have taken a departure from their original music to offer up a collection of their favorite songs by their favorite songwriters. From Paul Simon to A.C. Jobim to Sam Cooke, the album features beautiful arrangements of great tunes which are all performed by an all-star cast of musicians from Asheville, NC.

Bring It On Home started as a brainstorming session on a late night, cross-Canadian road trip.  Shannon and Barrett were on tour as an opening act for Chris Isaak, and they spent the long slow drive from Winnipeg to Saskatoon trying to compile the perfect mix tape. Somewhere in the late night hours, they realized that this mix-tape was actually a compilation of the cover songs that they had both dreamed of someday recording – their own random dream tribute album.

Two months later, Shannon and Barrett were in Asheville’s Echo Mountain Recording Studio with a team of great friends and musicians, bringing the album to life. Legendary drummer Jeff Sipe and multi-instrumentalist Mike Ashworth formed the core rhythm section. (Sipe and Ashworth will also be performing at the album release show amongst other special guests.) Justin Ray and Jacob Rodriguez took a break from touring with Michael Buble to contribute to the album on trumpet and saxophone. Virtuoso violinists Nicky Sanders and Nate Leath added string parts to Melissa Hyman’s cello lines. Michael Libramento, of Grace Potter and the Nocturnals, stopped in to add keyboard parts.

The result is an eclectic collection of great arrangements. Shannon and Barrett take turns on the lead vocals, backing each other up with harmony vocals and instrumental support. The performances are superb. From the jazzy elegance of Moonglow, to the mystic folkiness of Paul Simon’s ‘Duncan’, to the latin groove of ‘Corcovado’, this album pays tribute to the art of great songwriting, with fresh arrangements that make for a truly great listen. Enjoy!

Bring it On Home ~ Track Listing
1) Bring It On Home To Me (Sam Cooke)
2) Moonglow (Delange, Mills, Hudson)
3) You Can Close Your Eyes (James Taylor)
4) Duncan (Paul Simon)
5) I Get Ideas (When We Are Dancing)  (Sanders, Cochran)
6) Louise (Paul Siebel)
7) Sway (Molina, Ruiz, Gimbel)
8) Bird On The Wire (Leonard Cohen)
9) Corcovado (Quiet Nights) (A.C. Jobim, Gene Lees)
10)Green Grass (Tom Waits, Kathleen Brennan)
11) I’ll Be Your Lover, Too (Van Morrison)
12) You Are My Sunshine (Jimmie Davis)

Recorded at Echo Mountain Recording in Asheville, NC
Engineered by Julian Dreyer
Mixed by Neilson Hubbard
Mastered by Jim DeMain
Produced by Barrett Smith

BarrettSmith.com
ShannonWhitworth.net

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Moses Atwood CD Release Co-Bill with Johnson’s Crossroad at the LAB March 30th

Moses Atwood CD Release

Co-bill with Johnson’s Crossroad

Friday, March 30th

$10, Doors is 9:30 / Show is at 10pm

Lexington Ave Brewery

39 North Lexington Avenue

Asheville, 28801

(828) 252-0212

lexavebrew.com

mosesatwood.net

johnsonscrossroad.com

Asheville’s Moses Atwood will be teaming up with Johnson’s Crossroad for a Co-Bill at the Lexington Ave. Brewery on Friday, March 30th.

Moses will be celebrating the release of his NEW album One Bright Boat. Joining Moses for his set will be Dave Mack on bass, Jacob Baumann on Drums, Evan Martin on Guitar, and other special guests! Moses will also be sitting in with Johnson’s Crossroad (JXR) for a song or two.

Johnson’s Crossroad has a lot in store this year and are going to be heading back in the studio to record a 3rd album. Their 2011 release Mockingbird was voted #7 on WNCW’s Top 20 Regional Albums! Having played around 140 shows in 2011, they continue on their travels and are performing Merlefest for the 3rd year in a row and were added to the John Hartford Memorial Fest in IN and Band Lands Bluegrass in WV in 2012!

***     *****     ***

Moses Atwood sets sail with sophomore effort, One Bright Boat
It’s been four years since singer/songwriter Moses Atwood (also known for his work with Johnson’s Crossroad and The Overflow Jug Band) released his self-titled debut. That was in 2008; suddenly last fall Atwood decided it was time to put together his new collection of songs, One Bright Boat. So he rounded up a group of musicians and headed to Waking Studio, the new digs of Bill Moriarty (Dr. Dog) in Philadelphia. There, Atwood and company knocked out the nine tracks in a mere week. The songs, he says, were culled from the years since his first album. While some date back to when he lived in Maine, most were written in North Carolina over the last few years.

Atwood choose Waking Studio because he wanted to take his musicians (including Michael Libramento of Floating Action) out of their routines. And it was time: “I’d found so many ways of circumventing the actual making of the record that I was like, ‘book the dates, get the people and do it.'” A week is a push, but, Atwood says, “Limitations are a really valuable thing in any artistic process — how many limitations and how you impose them is the trick.”

One Bright Boat doesn’t sound pressured or hurried. It opens with rollicking piano, the easy jingle of tambourine and tasteful flourishes of guitar. Atwood’s voice is what colors in the picture, relaxed and rich, rising effortlessly in a warm baritone.

“I’m tired of being the sad man, tired of all the sad songs. I’m tired of living my life like I’ve done something wrong,” he imparts on the spirit-lifting, cloud- parting title track.

If Atwood’s first record paid homage to his troubadour heroes (Woody Guthrie, Utah Phillips), One Bright Boat is less road-weary and more refined as Atwood leaves the minstrel role for that of bandleader in the style of Van Morrison and Randy Newman.

Running like a current through the record is Atwood’s talent for telling a story in fleeting images and washes of sound. These aren’t ballads but modern song-sketches of places longed for and passed through, people met and parted with, time passing. There’s space on each track — an easy flow of tides and waltzes (“California”), of pedal steel accents and Atwood’s comfortable flannel- and-bourbon vocal polished with (on “At Last”) gospel and brass.

“In recording, I feel like you’re recreating or capturing a moment in time,” says Atwood. “With modern recording you’re at constant great risk of losing the value of the moment, losing the essence of what you’ve got going on. But if you go all for capturing the moment, you don’t have a record, you just have a live performance. There’s a balance that the best records achieve.”

For a young artist, Atwood comes admirably close to that balance. It’s an album that rings both fresh and familiar, of-a-time and timeless. With One Bright Boat, Atwood’s ship comes in.

***          *****          ***

Johnson’s Crossroad has been described by friends and fans as everything from “Appalachian Soul” to “Hillbilly Metal.”

The band blends blues, roots-rock, folk, bluegrass, and Appalachian Old Time for a sound that The Daily Times’ Steve Wildsmith calls “both mournful and jubilant, breezy and graveyard serious.”  He goes on to comment that frontman Paul Johnson’s voice “barely rises above a growl, but he stretches that sound to encompass the experience of a train-hopping hobo and the wisdom of an old man recalling loves lost and wars fought from the porch of a backwoods cabin.”

Their 2011 album Mockingbird puts songwriter Paul Johnson in line with names like Guy Clark or Zac Brown and his powerful voice evokes memories of folk stars like Taj Mahal or Burl Ives. The Wilmington Star News describes, “It’s gruff and easygoing, like a mix of Tom Waits and Ben Knox Miller of The Low Anthem.“  AmericanaUKexclaims, “With ‘Mockingbird’ Johnson’s Crossroad seem to have just proved themselves to be one of the finest Roots rockers around right now.” The album was voted the #7 Regional albums of 2012 by WNCW!

The sincerity of Johnson’s songs and simplicity of his lyrics make you want to pour a brew, put your feet up or head to the hills. Asheville’s Bold Life call the band a “treat to see live” and says that, “Paul Johnson has a knack for creating powerful visuals with straightforward lyrics.” Dobro, mandolin and fiddle back up Johnson’s clean lyrics on some, other times its simple finger picking to a folksong.

“I like to keep the words simple,” said Paul Johnson. “I try and follow Hank Williams as much as possible, let the words tell the story and the music back it up,” Johnson said.  His inspiration is simple yet intently focused. “I was born in the mountains of West Virginia, I’ve always been in the mountains all my life,” said Johnson who now calls Asheville, NC home.

“This is what I’ve always wanted to do, travel around and pick guitar,” said Johnson, who writes the majority of the songs for Johnson’s Crossroad. Watching his back is mandolin player Keith Minguez, a strong friendship at the core of the group.

“In 1998 I met Paul and I saw John Hartford on my first visit to MerleFest, it was life changing” said Minguez.  Then in 2004 he had enough, “I was 30, living in Florida, drinking with my dad’s buddies and they all said the same thing, ‘drink scotch and water and never stop chasing your dream.’”  He called Paul and in 13 hours was at his door with mandolin in hand.  “If Keith wasn’t around nothing would get done,” laughed Johnson. Friends Corey Lee McQuade (Dobro, banjo, harmonies) and Moses Atwood (keyboard, Dobro, harmonies) sit in on variety of gigs, and often other friends join in support Johnson’s constant search for great sound.

The band is returning to Blue Ridge Big Sky Music Studio (appropriately topping a peak above Moravian Falls, NC) to record their 3rd album in 2012.  Who could resist after the experience they had last time around?  It’s where they’re comfortable, it’s where everything is comfortable.  Making music with friends, fans and family. At the studio, it’s a drive to the county line to get a little cell reception and distraction is not so digital, just were they need to be. They are looking for an early 2013 release and will be spending time over the summer and fall getting the next one just right, working again with John Adair as Engineer and Producer.

Since their first album Blood in Black and White they’ve won spots at national events like Merlefest, Floyd Fest, Music City Roots and Bristol Rhythm and Roots, with tours to the Northeast and Midwest that continue throughout 2012. Years playing the road to empty rooms have passed. Johnson’s Crossroad travels on with over 150 shows and a world of mountains ahead to climb.

***     *****     ***

Check out this video of Moses with JXR performing the song “Louisiana” that is on One Bright Boat.

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A Few Reviews of Steel Pannist Jonathan Scales’ “Character Farm & Other Short Stories”

Steel Pannist, Jonathan Scales recently released a new album entitled “Character Farm and Other Short Stories”. Here are a few reviews that have come in…

Kevin Jones with Exclaim.CA wrote:

Admittedly, the idea of a steel pan virtuoso likely conjures up images of a human carnival dynamo setting festivals ablaze with a mesmerizing display of some hot, hot island heat. Thusly hailed pannist Jonathan Scales, however, offers none of this, instead delivering a far more impressive collection of heady, multi-directional jazz soundscapes that bristle as his Fourchestra bandmates flip, slip and slide through the myriad tempo twists and compositional turns that make up Character Farm & Other Short Stories. Scales showcases his dexterity with a searing torrent of par runs on the devious, guitar-tinged “The Longest December,” while the epic tale told on “Complete,” with its double-time jazz opening descending into a tense, cavernous midsection, and the unconventional, shape-shifting “Science Fair Project” offer a scattershot glimpse at the gathered musicians’ fertile minds at work. Through the album’s countless turns, Scales manages to blend in the very particular sound of steel pan seamlessly with everything from a flute, horn and saxophone to the oft-accompanying electric guitar, all while showing off the easily stereotyped instrument in a new light.

See the post here: http://exclaim.ca/Reviews/SoulFunkAndWorld/jonathan_scales_fourchestra-character_farm_other_short_stories

MyJoog.com wrote:

Just in time for Spring Break, we received Jonathan Scales – Character Farm & Other Short Stories. Scales plays the steel pan – an instrument associated with Trinidad & Tobago, but this is nowhere near conventional Island music. I love this CD, particularly “The Trap” which includes fiddler  Casey Driessen. Other guest artists include Jeff Coffin, Yonrico Scott and Kofi Burbridge. “Hallucinations of the Dream Chasers ” is hypnotic while “Muddy Vishnu” gets rockin’. The title track is as close as you get to an Island sound – can’t wait to listen on the beaches in south Florida with a bottle of rhum.

See the review here: http://myjoog.blogspot.com/2011/04/trying-to-find-room-on-ipod.html?spref=tw

Ashley Wilson with the Mountain Times in Boone writes:

To come across a band with a full-time steel pannist is rare. To come across a band with the steel pan as the central instrument is even more rare.

. . .   . . .    . . .  In April 2011, Scales releases his third album “Character Farm and Other Short Stories.”

“Character Farm” is a collection of nine instrumental “stories.” The album is accompanied by a comic book design sleeve. Scales is depicted on the cover as a superhero wielding pansticks. Inside, artist Gregory Keyzer provides graphic interpretations of each song. With Scales’ music being entirely instrumental, the visual aids are a nice touch that may help listeners better understand his vision.

Scales considers his music “jazz fusion.” The steel pan is not traditionally associated with jazz, but he has adapted well to the style. Scales credits innovative banjoist Bela Fleck with inspiring him to disregard the imaginary boundaries placed on instruments.

The members of the Fourchestra, guitarist Duane Simpson, drummer Phill Bronson and bassist Michael Libramento, are excellent at jazz craft and assist Scales in achieving his distinct sound. The lengthy opener, “Jam We Did,” is an excellent example of the camaraderie of the performers, with Scales opening the floor for everyone to have a solo. Another jam on the album, “Complete,” showcases the members’ jazz abilities and serves as proof that the steel pan can indeed be considered a jazz instrument.

Jonathan Scales does not limit himself to a strict jazz regimen. His penchant for experimentation is most obvious in the last two songs of “Character Farm.” The appropriately titled “Science Fair Project” incorporates the flute of Kofi Burbridge, from the Derek Trucks Band. “The Trap,” with guest Casey Driessen, could very well be the first time a fiddler and steel pannist have performed on the same song.

Other guests on “Character Farm” include Dave Matthews Band saxophonist Jeff Coffin and Derek Trucks Band percussionist Yonrico Scott. They join the Fourchestra on “Hallucinations of the Dream Chasers.” The combination of steel pan, African percussion and the saxophone make it the most diverse song of the album.

Scales is promoting “Muddy Vishnu” as the first single from “Character Farm.” The title is a cross between Muddy Waters and the Mahavishnu Orchestra, a 1970s jazz fusion group. Verging on urban hip-hop territory, it furthers the idea that for Scales, the steel pan has no bounds. He has released a colorful video online, which is well worth checking out.

“Character Farm” solidifies Jonathan Scales’ place as one of western North Carolina’s most innovative and creative artists. Not only as a performer, but as the composer of all the music on the album, Scales is a groundbreaker.

READ THE FULL ARTICLE HERE: http://www2.mountaintimes.com/entertainment_focus/Jonathan_Scales_Fourchestra_id_003326

To find out more about Jonathan Scales and get the album, visit: www.JonScales.com

Live footage from the Album Release show in Asheville:

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Archive: ‘Building Character’ Jonathan Scales Fourchestra releases new album!

Jonathan Scales had an amazing album release event this past weekend in Asheville at the Emerald Lounge.  The new album, Character farm and Other Short Stories, is now available on his website and i-tunes. Bold Life did a great interview with Jonathan Scales and below are some excerpts:

Building Character

BY ROBIN TOLLESON in Bold Life www.boldlife.com

For his third album, Character Farm And Other Short Stories, steel drumming frontman Jonathan Scales wanted to imitate long form. “Back in the day the great composers like Wagner wrote complete works from top to bottom as opposed to just a bunch of songs mixed together,” he says. “An epic saga that takes you through all the movements.”

To help tie together the musical fusion of his Fourchestra, Scales called upon the comic book-inspired artwork of Gregory Keyzer. “There’s a different illustration for every song,” Scales says. “It’s cool because you can kind of put a visual image with each piece. The album is packaged like a book of short stories, but there’s an overlying theme. The sonic tapestry, mixed with the congruent artwork, really ties the whole thing together. The pictures help people make their judgments about what it’s about and how they feel about it. It’s not complete long form, but it’s closer.”

. . .    . . .    . . .

“Every time I put out a CD I want to get further along,” Scales says. “It takes a lot of planning to have a successful release. You work hard on the music, and you want people to hear it, so that’s when you have to kick in on the other side and try to get things rolling.” Scales planned a pre-release campaign to build some momentum. In February he released a behind-the-scenes video with footage from the recording session. And last month he released a full-length music video of his song “Muddy Vishnu.” “I’m trying to get people interested,” he says.

The Fourchestra recorded Character Farm at Diana Wortham Theatre in Asheville, in the fashion of classic jazz records. “We all played together,” Scales says. “We got enough separation that we could get some real good sounds, so it comes off like a studio album with a lot of energy, as a mixture between a live recording and a studio album, kind of like the best of both worlds. That was (sound engineer) Michael Hynes’ approach to the thing.

Character Farm features the churning 6/8 “Jam We Did,” the slightly-island strut of “Science Fair Project,” the breakneck steel-drum’n’bass of “The Longest December,” and “Muddy Vishnu,” a dynamic tune filled with plot twists reminiscent of The Flecktones’ classic “Sinister Minister.”

“This set has my same style, as far as some metric complexities and style changes. Different uses of rhythms and timbres and harmonies,” Scales explains. The music is solid, he says, because the lineup was solid. “My other two albums had streams of different people. This album is definitely more focused.”

Guitarist Duane Simpson, drummer Phill Bronson, and bassist Michael Libramento are the main backing cast on the album, with four guests, saxophonist Jeff Coffin, flutist Kofi Burbridge, percussionist Yonrico Scott, and fiddler Casey Driessen.

“Overall it has a pretty edgy sound,” Scales says. “It has highs and lows as far as dynamics and styles. ‘Muddy Vishnu’ is definitely on the more rockin’ side — my take on a mix between Muddy Waters and the Mahavishnu Orchestra. I wanted it to be a subtle thing to where if you understand or if you’ve never heard them, it’s not a big deal and you’ll still enjoy the song.”

. . .    . . .    . . .
READ THE FULL ARTICLE HERE and find out more about Jonathan’s history and the rest of the Fourchestra:  http://www.boldlife.com/gyrobase/Content?oid=oid%3A18113

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Angi West to Release Opportunity Cost at the Grey Eagle February 12

On Saturday, February 12, at 9: 00 pm, local musician Angi West will celebrate the release of her new album, Opportunity Cost, at the Grey Eagle. She will also be celebrating her 30th birthday, with the evening culminating in a dance party with DJ Kipper. For this show, West will be joined by an impressive band – Seth Kauffman, Michael Libramento and Evan Martin, all members of  Floating Action.

Produced by Seth Kauffman, Opportunity Cost is West’s third release. Though the album makes a sonic departure from her previous recordings, the songs have the depth and beauty she is known for. Opportunity Cost has a darkness that is also uplifting, and West’s unapologetic lyrics are stunning.

“Most of Angi’s previous albums are piano-based, so I wanted this one to have minimum piano on it,” Kauffman explains. “Usually things are more compelling when you’re out of your comfort zone.” A creative producer, Kauffman varied his approach, “She brought in a few songs on harmonium and banjo, so we tried to fully realize those with live, almost field-recording-like takes. This batch of songs was very original and had some cool elements we tried to bring to the forefront; using unique, sometimes bizarre instrumentation and production.” For example, “I have this weird, 1970’s Baldwin Discoverer organ, that cool drum machine beats and Beach House-esque sounds. Most of the songs feature that organ, with her singing and playing live, all on one track.”

Overall Kauffman says, “The album was cut in quite a relaxed, organic nature. Angi usually got songs on their first or second take. I added some overdubs, and she did some of the vocals at Brian Landrum’s Synergy Dynamics studio, the whole album took less that a week total.”

Find out more about Angi West on her website, www.angiwest.com.

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Jonathan Scales Fourchestra ~ Innovative Steel Pan ~ MoDaddy’s October 1st

Photo By Jon Leidel

Show Details at a Glance:

Jonathan Scales Fourchestra

w/ Marley Carroll (DJ Set)
MoDaddy’s
Friday, October 1st, 2010

9pm, $5, 21+
828-258-1550
77-B Biltmore Avenue
Asheville, NC 28801

The steel pan, an amazing musical discovery born in the Caribbean nation of Trinidad & Tobago, is often times associated with sandy beaches, tropical climates, and cruise ships: that’s not exactly what you get at a show by the jazz-fusion quartet, Jonathan Scales Fourchestra.

Here you have a classically trained composer turned steel pan maestro (front man Jonathan Scales), heavily influenced by the complexity of banjo virtuoso Bela Fleck to the hustle of Jay-Z.  Gritty  blues guitar (Duane Simpson) and ‘old-soul’ bass (Michael Libramento) provide the harmonic support for Scales’ sound, while gospel/hip-hop drums (Phill Bronson) drive the time-shifting, modern  grooves.  The cast of Characters hold this mind-bending concoction together with jazz edge and classical sensibility.

Steel pannist and virtuoso composer, Jonathan Scales, formed his ‘Fourchestra’ in 2007 as a means to deliver his musically complex, but somehow accessible ideas to anyone willing to listen. Since then, Scales has released two well received, full-length works (2007’s One-Track Mind and 2008’s Plot/Scheme) featuring the likes of Jeff Coffin (of Dave Matthews Band), Joseph Wooten (of Steve Miller Band), and Jeff Sipe (of Aquarium Rescue Unit). 2011 will usher in the 3rd installment of Jonathan’s musical saga, “Character Farm and Other Short Stories”.  Scales’ versatility and innovative nature have allowed him to share the stage with acts like The Wooten Brothers Band, Larry Keel & Natural Bridge, The Duhks, Everyone Orchestra, Toubab Krewe, Ben Sollee, Casey Dreissen, and Futureman.

Press:

“…A Thelonius Monk-like attitude with a Mozart creativity that works.” –Pan on the net

“At the end of the day, Scales is going to be a major play in rewriting the books on steelpan music outside of the box.” –When Steel Talks

“…rising star of the steel drums…” –Traps Magazine

“…Jonathan Scales makes the pans fit in unconventional musical spaces…” – Modern Drummer

“The innovative Asheville, North Carolina based steel drummer Jonathan Scales brings new vitality to the traditional Caribbean instrument on his sophomore release, picking up where Othello Molineaux left off 20 years ago with Jaco Pastorius.” – JazzTimes

“Jonathan Scales is dropping serious musical conversation. . . Jonathan Scales clearly has something to say – and he is letting his talent and pan instrument do the talking. There are many pretenders, but double second pan player Jonathan Scales is The Real Deal. ” – Pan on the Net

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