Jonathan Scales Extends Steel Pan Territory
INTERVIEW, NEWS, FROM THE MAGAZINE, JONATHAN SCALES
By Geoffrey Himes I Jan. 9, 2019
Béla Fleck knows a thing or two about establishing an identity in the jazz world while playing an unusual instrument. So, it made sense that the banjo player would bond with a younger jazz musician whose specialty is an unusual instrument: steel panist Jonathan Scales.
“I see a kindred spirit in him—in his need to be the best he can be,” Fleck said. “I identify with his struggle to learn jazz on an instrument where it’s hard to find the path, because currently there isn’t a clear one for pans or banjo.”
Fleck plays with Scales and his band, Fourchestra, on “Focus Poem,” a track on Scales’ sixth album, Pillar (Ropeadope). The clipped twang of his banjo fits well with the distinctive ping of the steel pan.
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When an artist is recognized and written up in "Downbeat". That person has officially entered the Jazz fraternity. Congratulations, Jonathon Scales.
Recognized: Congratulations and continued success, before the Rolling Stones magazine (1967) there was Drum Beat (1934) for Jazz connoisseurs.
“When I was in college,” Scales said, “I had this idea that I would create a jazz band with steel pans and it would be totally unique. Then my friend told me, ‘Yo, Andy Narell exists.’... I’ve been to Trinidad three times, and I’m definitely not turning my back on tradition. But I’m going to play the music I want to play. I grew up listening to Dr. Dre and Eminem, then studying classical saxophone and orchestral and film score music. I want to get it all in there.” DB