Steel pan player, composer and bandleader Jonathan Scales is the innovative, ambidextrous talent whose interest in the instrument led him to break with the saxophone after graduating from North Carolina’s Appalachian State and ultimately form the Fourchestra. Citing musical influences from gospel to rap, rock and classical music, Scales applied the sonic palette of his youth and a penchant for taking creative risks to the steel pan. Combining his talents with those of core group members, bassist E’Lon JD and drummer Maison Guidry, he has since refined the rich and singular compositional voice responsible for previous releases.
Following the band’s self-titled Fourchestra album and the more recent Mixtape Symphony, Scales prepares for the release of his forthcoming sixth album, PILLAR. Due to arrive via Ropeadope Records on September 14th, his fourth release on the label boasts features from a who’s who of musicians, including banjo pioneer Béla Fleck, bassists Victor Wooten, Oteil Burbridge and MonoNeon, trumpeter Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah, saxophonist Jeff Coffin, keyboardist Shaun Martin and percussionist Weedie Braimah. Jonathan Scales sat down with Revive to look back over the last eleven years at the road to PILLAR and debut the video for “We Came Through The Storm” [Live At Lexington Glassworks].
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