Produced
by Scott Amendola and Cookie Marenco
Recorded, mixed and mastered by Cookie Marenco at OTR Studios, Belmont,
CA,
October-December, 1999
The
Album Reviewed:
"If Scott Amendola didn't exist, the San Francisco music scene
would have to invent him. It's tempting to call the flexible New
Jersey native the Rob Burger of the drums, for like Burger (the
ubiquitous accordion/keyboard-player of Tin Hat Trio et. al.), Amendola
crops up on records from innumerable musical niches. Since settling
in San Francisco in 1992, he has played with guitarists Charlie
Hunter, Will Bernard, Bill Frisell and Pat Martino, singer Noe Venable,
koto player Miya Masaoka, bluegrass-fusion picker Tony Furtado,
pianist Paul Plimley, saxophonist Phillip Greenlief, and clarinetist
Ben Goldberg, among others. And he's anchored the bands TJ Kirk,
Oranj Symphonette, and Snorkel. But he obviously has an original
muse pacing around inside his brain, champing at the bit to get
out and express itself. Of Scott Amendola Band's ten tracks, only
three are covers, and those (Jimi Hendrix's "Manic Depression,"
Fela Anikulopo Kuti's "This Is Sad," and Nick Drake's
"One Of These Things First") serve as specific frames
for the edgy and bluesy rock, African polyrhythmic, and wistfully
melodic elements that Amendola integrates into his own compositions.
Guitarist Dave MacNab, saxophonist Eric Crystal, violinist Jenny
Scheinman, and bassist Todd Sickafoose are the empathetic co-conspirators
in Amendola's scheme to undermine expectations at every turn. This
is a "new jazz" recording, but that label falls short
of capturing the difference between, say, the gripping North Oakland
raunchiness of "59th St. Blues," the slinky bounce of
"Slow Zig," the densely orchestrated Ornette Coleman-like
cry of "Hymn," and the spacious and tender violin-centric
poignancy of "Diana Maria," all of which indicate that
Amendola is doing a fine job of inventing himself, and his music,
on his own terms."
-
Derk Richardson, San Francisco Bay Guardian, August 16th, 2000
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