feature photo: Lenny Gonzalez
We’ve seen Bay Area drummer Scott Amendola thrive in all sorts of settings from the very large to the very small. Lately, he’s been on a barebones kick, partnering with Wil Blades in a long-running, organ/drums duo.
Continuing in that minimal vein, Amendola hatched an idea for another small combo, one that’s decidedly out-of-box. SticklerPhonics puts his drums together with just two wind instruments, from trombone player Danny Lubin-Laden and saxophonist Raffi Garabedian. Together they recently put forth their first offering, Technicolor Ghost Parade (Jealous Butcher Records).
No bass, no chords? No problem! Where others see challenges, SticklerPhonics sees all sorts of opportunities. Lubin-Laden and Garabedian have already been in a bassless, chordless band together, a Rebirth Brass Band-meets-San Francisco affair called Brass Magic. Amendola’s endless versatility and creativity make this getup a cinch for him, too.
How does this all sound? Well, imagine the Jazz Crusaders with Joe Sample and Max Bennett sitting out, or the Dirty Dozen Brass Band about four members short and you begin to get the idea. But not the whole idea, because in addition to funk-jazz, there’s jazz of other stripes. Think electro-acoustic, avant-garde, even a dash of chamber jazz. SticklerPhonics is a band structured around individuals not styles, so a lot is possible from this group.
“Technicolor Ghost Parade” rides on a second-line groove, the two brass pieces alternating between harmonizing to carry out the harmony and fanning out to improvise single lines that line up with it. They make it easy for anyone to figure out the melody and where it’s headed. “Sharptooth” is more of that Nola funk in a compact package, where Amendola’s irresistible rhythm gives the horns plenty to syncopate with.
Though composing duties are shared among the three, they all share the aim of making their charts adapt to the talent at hand. Garabedian’s spunky “Thursday Night Dinner” feels like a miniaturized version of Brass Magic. Lubin-Laden’s “Skip to A Stop” blazes through several moods and tempos, demonstrating this trio’s deftness at treating through-composed material with the looseness and surprise of improvised music.
Amendola’s “Lion’s Heart” is a rubato trip to Ornette-land, as Lubin-Laden and Garabedian go at a leisurely tempo and Amendola rumbles underneath, while his “Oumou” going at a 12/8 time is hushed by comparison. That makes it easier to appreciate the intricate interplay between Lubin-Laden and Garabedian borne out of a connection that goes all the way back to high school.
As he’s done for other projects, Amendola employs live, processed electronics to expand the range of sounds in intriguing ways that don’t interfere with the acoustic-based mission. He steps away from the drum kit and trots out the electronic effects for “A Courting,” contorting the sounds of the horns that take them to other-worldly realms. “Well Blazed” is a languid strut shaken up by scurrying, rapid-bop moments and odd computer-generated noises. “Unheard” launches with the furthest outside moment of the record, then settles into a low-end theme from the horns. It moves slowly, but that opens up interesting sampling opportunities for Amendola to exploit.
SticklerPhonics may be small, but these guys act like a big band, and that attitude gives them endless possibilities. Their secret weapon isn’t the combination of instruments, but the imagination and wherewithal to make music that’s fresh and fun.
Go grab a copy of Technicolor Ghost Parade from Bandcamp.
*** SticklerPhonics on Amazon ***
*** Scott Amendola CDs on Amazon ***
- Joel Frahm Trio, “Vesper Flights” from ‘Lumination’ (2024): Video premiere - September 27, 2024
- Jupiter – ‘Jupiter’ (2024) - September 26, 2024
- Satoko Fujii Quartet – ‘Dog Days of Summer’ (2024) - September 19, 2024
