Featured Artist: Scott Amendola Band

CD Title: Believe

Year: 2005

Record Label: Cryptogramaphone

Style: Progressive

Review:

Drummer Scott Amendola reaps the dividends of having forward thinking guitarists, Nels Cline and Jeff Parker’s multipurpose and polytonal stylizations infused into this cleverly envisioned set. And with violinist extraordinaire Jenny Scheinman rounding out the front line, this quintet pulls out the proverbial stops here. 

Complete with brooding rhythmic endeavors, snaky guitar lines and dabs of suspense tossed into the mix, the band covers disparate angles via a hard-edged schema.  On “Oladipo,” they delve into Sly Stone branded funk territory with snippets of an Afro-Cuban vibe layered with Scheinman’s catchy melody lines and staccato-drenched phrasings.   At times, the ensemble engages in a bit of frenzied improvisational episodes, where the gods seemingly become a bit restless.  In addition, the guitarists often slam  their EFX pedals to the metal, topped off with sleek jazz voicings and climactically generated solos.

The band tones it down during the piece titled “If Only Once,” where Scheinman’s sonorous passages ride atop a primary theme spiced with Asian modal characteristics. Then on “Resistance,” Amendola and bassist Schifflett whip up a prodding backbeat, amid a song-line that touches upon Industrial rock, flavored with bluesy lines and phased-out guitar chords.  In sum, Amendola acts as yet another successful catalyst for this West Coast-based record label that seems hell bent on redefining the future of jazz-rock and other related genres.  (Indubitably Recommended…)

Record Label Website: http://www.cryptogramaphone.com

Artist's Website: http://www.scottamendola.com

Reviewed by: Glenn Astarita

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