jonathan's blog

Post #3: More than you ever cared to know about my thoughts on music.

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 06:40:00 GMT

i was asked to write this artile for Lingua Musica. If you ever wanted to know what goes on in my head when i think about music, here it goes. ............................... In the past few years, I've found myself in the middle of countless arguments about musical tastes. On the majority of these occasions, I'm in the position of having to personally defend music that I genuinely enjoy. I'll spare you from my rattling off of artists that I place in my 'guilty pleasures' category, but instead share my views on sound that have led me to what some would call a too-open-minded approach to listening. Before going any further, I want to stress that this essay is merely a glimpse into my own thoughts about sound. It's not intended to sway anyone's preexisting approaches to music. Oftentimes when a person becomes more educated in the way of an art form, their focus becomes very uni-directional and limited. Examples of this are the jazzer who avoids everything that doesn't vibe with Coltrane and the principle violinist who shrugs off anything written post-Brahms. Of course everyone has the right to take in art in their own way, but in my experience, there have been such great things that I've been exposed to that i wouldn't have even known existed if i had set such limitations. I've found that my personal taste in art expands bidirectionally : the more i learn about progressive techniques in neo-classical and modern jazz, the more i understand and appreciate folk & pop. As emotionally detached as it may seem upon first thought, my approach to listening is based on first breaking music down to it's absolute, simplest form. To me, that musical molecule is simply SOUND over TIME. On this basic level, human ego is completely eliminated and you're faced with the raw material, which is a collection of sounds existing together across a finite amount of time. All of a sudden you have Mozart sharing the same building blocks as Britney Spears and you have the London Philharmonic connecting with the clattering of machines in a factory. The next step, of course, is where the ego finally emerges. At this stage, those previously mentioned bundles of collected sounds are either liked or disliked based on a complicated combination of peoples' life experiences, social surrounding, education, current mood, season, peer & media pressure, etc. Approaching art this way has helped me to keep an open mind with regards to other artist's work and other people's tastes. As if this article wasn't wacky enough.....I like to think about musical elements like an infinite mixing board, where each fader represents a different attribute in the music. I envision faders on this imaginary mixing console determining factors such as: - what instruments are in the song? - how profane is the song? - how much is improvised? - how dynamically varied is the piece? - how much effect does pop culture have on the outcome? For example, on this "magical mixing board", a jazz tune would show the 'improv' fader riding high and the 'profane' fader low. A pop tune on the radio would show the 'pop culutre influnce' fader riding high, but low marks on the 'dynamic variation' fader. I know that's a lot to try to imagine for one session...but the moral of the story is that I won't judge someone's taste in music because their 'fader settings on the imaginary mixing board of possibilities' are set at different levels than mine.

Post #2: Questions & Answers

Thu, 19 Jan 2012 10:30:00 GMT

Q: How often do you all practice?

A: Good question. Well...let's just say not as much as people might assume. Given the technical nature of my music, people think we must play together ALLLL the time, but for the most part each person maintains their parts and practices as individuals...we'll MAYBE have a rehearsal here or there randomly...so the 'togetherness' really comes from playing a lot of shows together. I will admit that Cody ALWAYS wants to rehearse all the time and i ALWAYS happen to be really busy, BUT i'm turning over a new leaf this year and i'm going to start 'crackin the whip' on these fools....rehearsin' all the time! ;-) starting....soon....? Cody, individually, practices upwards of 8 hours a day.

Q: What's each members' favorite JS Fourchestra song.

A: Cody's favorite is "Jay Sanders' Sing Along" from the Character Farm record.
Phill's favorite is also "Jay Sanders' Sing Along"

When i'm writing the setlist before the show , if i asked Phill what he wants to play he says "Whatever. As long as we play Jay...."

As for me....it's like asking a parent which kid is their favorite. I will say i always enjoy playing "Jam We Did"...it's my easist tune definitely, but there's something about it . We often times open the show with it, and it gets the creative juices flowing....ya know...after ALL that time of not rehearsing! ;-)

Q: What is/was your favorite venue to play?

A: Hmmmm...that's a tough one. If you wanna know which ones were my favorite from 2011, see the last blog post. BUT i'll probably have to say the Orange Peel in Asheville NC. I don't get to play there that often, but it's always a good time...especially when you're looking out to a full house!

Q: If the band could collaborate with another artist(s), who would it be?

A: Of course, you know what I'M gonna say :-) The person who has had, by far, the most influence on my choices as a "jazz" artist. Bela Fleck. i also would love to work with Kanye West, but that's another "artistic taste arguement" for another day!

Phill would love for us to work with Victor Wooten and Cody would love for us to work with Hiromi or Jimmy Herring.

Q: How can i get a hold of some of your sheet music?

A: Well, in a few month, i'm actually having a song book published by Engine Room Publishing which will include the following SMASH HITS (hahaha...just kidding about the 'smash hits' part)

Desert
Heart Engineer
Hallucinations of the Dream Chasers
Complete
Science Fair Project
A Puzzle for Joel
Character Farm
Dish Boy
Do Not Panic
Jam We Did
Jay Sanders' Sing-Along
Just Talkin'
Mind Your 3's and 2's
Muddy Vishnu
Pan Grass
Room of Maps
The Longest December
The Longest November
The Trap
Yep.

be sure to go out and buy all the albums so you'll be ready to learn the sheet music when it comes out!

Post #1: TOP SHOWS OF 2011

Sat, 31 Dec 2011 12:30:00 GMT

We had a great time in 2011 traveling the US and performing for you all. After much thought, i've complied a list of some personal highlights!

Jonathan's top 10 Fourchestra shows of 2011:

10. Charleston SC - The Pour House - Sept 3
we opened for toubab krewe. i remember i had fun standing on the monitors like a real 'rock star' while enjoying Duane's and Cody's solos on Desert. for us being the opener, the crowd seemed to like us alright!
9. Swannanoa NC - Warren Wilson College - April 8
Cody's first 'home show'. the hippie's were packed in for this intimate show! they were goin' crazy. it was great.
8. Indianapolis IN - White Rabbit Cabaret - June 4
we opened for ben sollee here. i remember playing for a full house starring at us, but i couldn't tell if they liked it or not until we played a few tunes. indianapolis was extrememly receptive to us! plus our hosts for the evening had a roof top jacuzzi that overlooked the indy skyline...good times.
7. Nashville TN - The Basement - May 17
it was "new faces" night and we played a 20 minute showcase. i love when we get to just drop in and do our thing for a concentrated short set of music. Futureman from Bela Fleck & the Flecktones showed up, which was crazy!!!! Also, Abigail Washburn stopped by!!!....made me feel all special and stuff.
6. Atlanta GA - Smith's Olde Bar - Dec 28
opened for Rebirth Brass Band. I was very happy about the level at which Cody, Phill, and i played together. just a solid performance. probably the best ever, playing wise.
5. Austin TX - McCallum High School - Nov 7
I'm always blown away by the kids at this school. they have a great steel band. this show was surreal, having kids from half way across the country requesting my tunes by name and being all excited about it! felt good.
4. Asheville NC - UNCA - Sept 17
this show was organized by the school. definitely one of more well-attended shows of the year. it was awesome to step onto the stage and look out at a big sea of listeners that gave us 100% of their curiousity.
3. Asheville NC - The Lab - Nov 12
at this point of the year, this show was a homecoming show. we had been on the road for 3 1/2 weeks straight and it felt good to come home to a supportive hometown crowd. our show was very road-tested so we played well together. plus i wore my shemagh for the first time, which was fun ;-)
2. Lexington KY - Cosmis Charlies - June 6
we opened for the rapper Del, the Funky Homosapien. we got to play to a sold out crowd of 500 people on a MONDAY. by design, we played what we call a 'rock show', where we play a whole set of our most high-engery tunes (muddy vishnu, desert, do not panic, etc.....) we won't get into the craziness that happened after the show and the plush 4-star accomodations. it was a nice reward after all the hardships of road life.
1. Brooklyn NY - Pantonic Steel Orchestra's PanYard - Sept 25
This was like a dream. Pantonic Steel Orchestra hosted an outdoor concert for us in Brooklyn. 3 other steel bands played, and they served food and everything. They made this really nice air-brush, glittery banner for us with 'jonathan scales fourchestra' on it and made us feel really welcome. i was happy to have such massive support from the steel pan community and Trinidadian community. definitely a career highlight