Album Review: PILLAR by Jonathan Scales Fourchestra

With a swift fury, I powered through my listen of PILLAR, the latest album by jazz-fusion group Jonathan Scales Fourchestra. It’s a rare feat to create an album that both excites and intrigues, masterfully weaving complex rhythmic intricacies while keeping clear melodic themes present for both the novice and expert listener to enjoy. On top of that, PILLAR manages to capture the quintessencial sound that composer Jonathan Scales has been pursuing since his debut with 2007’s One-Track Mind.

Known for his unique blend of genres – including modern jazz fusion, R&B, and film scores – Scales has long built his reputation on his exciting compositions, talented crew of rotating side musicians and his love of genre-bending super-group, Béla Fleck and the Flecktones, which also comes out in his music. This album in particular features three members (both current and past) of the group with Béla Fleck, Victor Wooten and Jeff Coffin (currently playing saxophone with Dave Matthews Band). Not stopping there, Scales’ all-star cast of musicians features current band members E’lon Jordan-Dunlap (bass) and Maison Guidry (drums), Weedie Braimah, Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah, Shaun Martin and MonoNeon (Prince, Ne-Yo).

The album launches with a thought-provoking piece called “Fake Buddah’s Inner-Child”. With the foundation of a fat groove at your feet and a hypnotic bassline to set the stage, the melody kicks in soon enough to create an abstract yet familiar atmosphere that keeps you guessing, almost to say, “you have no idea what’s coming next in this album.” Mysterious, catchy, and filled with atmospheric presence from a combination of woodwinds and strings, this opening track demonstrates many elements that make up Scales’ unique compositional style while keeping the listening fully engaged.

My personal favorite arrives early on the album at track two with “We Came Through the Storm”. By offering a simple eighth-note ostinato, then adding instruments and gradually building to a climax, this astounding piece of music offers listeners the kind of excitement and complexity that only masters of musical composition and execution can provide. Scales and and his assortment of virtuoso players certainly live up to that here. Filled with a wide array of changes, breaks, tempo changes and even some diminished chords thrown in, the piece never dulls, even with a nearly eight-minute run time. The dark, simple rumble of ideas presented early on converge towards the end with a Hans Zimmer-esque (think Inception) climax that thrills at the right moments and features a dazzling drum solo by Maison Guidry.

The beauty of the album is that it truly lives up to that moniker, as opposed to some records which are merely a collection of songs. If you listen from start to finish, the themes carry on and it’s clear the level of thought that was put into the placement of each song in an effort to create a cohesive story that doesn’t need words to be told.

The momentum continues after track two onward to a frantically-paced jaunt through the unknown with “This is the Last Hurrah!” It’s hard to create music that surprises and keeps you on your toes as much as Scales’ compositions do but he seems to do it on every track. This one has the added benefit of saxophonist Jeff Coffin as a soloist. On the album goes with the emotionally resonant “Cry,” no doubt a reflection of Scales’ personal life over the past year, which he claims was one of the biggest influences for the album.

Enter banjo master Béla Fleck on the album’s first single, “Focus Poem.” An epic meditation of the combined brilliance of both Scales and Fleck, the piece manages to offer up two converging styles at once. The 16th note melodic grace of Fleck meets the odd-ball catchiness of Scales’ composing and staccato playing style. It’s not just that. It’s also catchy as hell.

I’m not going to discuss the remaining tracks, except to say that they are must-listens, especially “The Trap” which features the mad playing of Victor Wooten, Weedie Braimah, MonoNeon and Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah. If you listen to no other jazz fusion steelpan film score-inspired albums this year, not to worry because this one has enough intensity to keep your ears busy until the next Fourchestra release.    

PILLAR is available on Spotify, Apple Music, iTunes, Amazon Music and Bandcamp. Learn more about Jonathan Scales Fourchestra HERE. PILLAR was released on Ropeadope Records.