An adventurous, Bay Area drummer,
Scott Amendola is known for his eclectic work playing a mix of jazz, rock, funk, and avant-garde improvisation. Since his emergence as a member of guitarist
Charlie Hunter's group in the mid-'90s,
Amendola has distinguished himself, collaborating regularly with
Nels Cline,
Jenny Scheinman, and
Ben Goldberg, and issuing inventive albums, including 2003's
Cry, 2010's Lift, and 2016's Fade to Orange.
Born in Tenafly, New Jersey in 1969,
Amendola first started playing drums at age nine. Initially interested in rock music, he was introduced to jazz by his grandfather, guitarist
Tony Gottuso. Along with swing and bop artists, he developed a love for avant-garde jazz, especially that of
Ornette Coleman and
Pat Metheny's Song X project, which he saw on tour in 1986. After high school, he further honed his skills attending Berklee College of Music in Boston, where he rubbed shoulders with classmates like
Kurt Rosenwinkel and
Seamus Blake. While at school he expanded his approach, digging even deeper into the music of
Coleman, as well as
Steely Dan,
Miles Davis, and
Dave Weckl. Graduating in 1992, he moved to the San Francisco Bay-area where he found a home in the vibrantly eclectic music scene. It was there that he met guitarist
Charlie Hunter, joining him on a regular Friday night gig. Together, they formed the adventurous
T.J. Kirk band with guitarist
John Schott and
Will Bernard, playing the music of
Thelonious Monk,
James Brown, and
Rahsaan Roland Kirk. The group picked up a Grammy nomination for 1996's
If Four Was One.
Amendola was also a founding member of the innovative
Charlie Hunter Quartet with whom he recorded several highly regarded albums for Blue Note, including 1996's
Ready...Set...Shango!, 1997's
Natty Dread, and 1998's
Return of the Candyman.
In 1999,
Amendola made his debut as leader with the
Scott Amendola Band, an eclectic recording featuring violinist
Jenny Scheinman, saxophonist
Eric Crystal, guitarist
Dave MacNab, and bassist
Todd Sickafoose. There were also equally inventive albums with
Paul Plimley,
Will Bernard, Sonya Hunter, and others. In 2003, he issued his sophomore album,
Cry, which found him augmenting his band with guitarist
Nels Cline. Believe arrived two years later and again featured
Cline as well as longtime
Tortoise guitarist
Jeff Parker.
Amendola then paired with clarinetist
Ben Goldberg and bassist
Devin Hoff for 2007's
Plays Monk. Away from his own work, he also contributed to projects by
Hunter,
Tony Furtado,
Jim Campilongo, and
Kelly Joe Phelps, among others. He also came on board as a member of
Cline's L. Stinkbug band with guitarist
G.E. Stinson and bassist
Stuart Liebig.
In 2010, he issued the trio album Lift with guitarist
Parker and bassist
Jeff Schifflett. That same year, he appeared with clarinetist
Goldberg,
Hunter, and cornetist
Ron Miles on
Go Home. He further collaborated with
Hunter on two albums with 2012's
Not Getting Behind Is the New Getting Ahead and 2013's Pucker. He also contributed to the 2014
Nels Cline Singers album
Macroscope, and issued the 2015 duo project
Leaps with guitarist
Henry Kaiser. Also in 2015,
Amendola shifted gears, offering the longform orchestral recording Fade to Orange, featuring contributions by guitarist
Cline and bassist
Trevor Dunn. The following year, he and organist
Will Blades debuted their
Amendola vs. Blades duo project with Greatest Hits, and in 2017 joined bassist
Michael Manring and guitarist
Roberto Zorzi for Facanàpa & Umarells and the World Wide Crash. In 2019,
Amendola reunited with
Blades for their second
Amendola vs. Blades album,
Everybody Wins. ~ Matt Collar