Scott Amendola (born February 6, 1969) is an American drummer from the

San Francisco Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a List of regions of California, region of California surrounding and including San Francisco Bay, and anchored by the cities of Oakland, San Francisco, and San Jose, California, S ...

. His styles include

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...

groove Groove or Grooves may refer to: Music * Groove (music) * Groove (drumming) * The Groove (band), an Australian rock/pop band of the 1960s * The Groove (Sirius XM), a US radio station * Groove 101.7FM, a former Perth, Australia, radio station ...

, and

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...

.Andrew Gilbert
"Exploring New Degrees In Drumming"
''sfgate.com'', October 3, 2004.

Early life and education

Amendola is originally from

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

and studied at the

Berklee School of Music Berklee College of Music () is a private music college in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the largest independent college of contemporary music in the world. Known for the study of jazz and modern American music, it also offers college-level ...

in Boston.

Career

After relocating to California, he rose to popularity in the 1990s as a member of the band T.J. Kirk with

Charlie Hunter Charlie Hunter (born May 23, 1967) is an American guitarist, composer, producer and bandleader. First coming to prominence in the early 1990s, Hunter plays custom-made seven- and eight-string guitars on which he simultaneously plays bass line ...

Will Bernard Will Bernard is a guitarist and band leader. He has led the Will Bernard Band, Will Bernard Trio, Will Bernard 4-tet, and Motherbug. Career In the 1980s Bernard was a member of the Hieroglyphics Ensemble led by Peter Apfelbaum. In the 1990s he f ...

, and John Schott. Their second album, ''If Four Was One'', received a

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious ...

nomination. Amendola has led his own bands and trios, which have included musicians such as

Nels Cline Nels Courtney Cline (born January 4, 1956) is an American guitarist and composer. He has been a guitarist for the band Wilco since 2004. In the 1980s he played jazz, often in collaboration with his twin brother Alex, a percussionist. He has wor ...

Jenny Scheinman Jenny Scheinman is a jazz violinist. She has produced several critically acclaimed solo albums, including ''12 Songs'', named one of the Top Ten Albums of 2005 by ''The New York Times''. She has played with Linda Perry, Norah Jones, Nels Cline, ...

, Jeff Parker, John Shifflett,

Ben Goldberg Ben Goldberg (born August 8, 1959) is an American clarinet player and composer. Career In the early 1990s, Ben Goldberg performed alongside electric bassist Dan Seamans and percussionist Kenny Wollesen as the New Klezmer Trio. They went on to p ...

, and Devin Hoff. He has recorded with

Pat Martino Pat Martino (born Patrick Carmen Azzara; August 25, 1944 – November 1, 2021) was an American jazz guitarist and composer. He has been cited as one of the greatest guitarists in jazz. Early life Martino was born Patrick Carmen Azzara in Philad ...

Jim Campilongo Jim Campilongo (born July 8, 1958) is a New York roots rock guitarist, known for recording a series of mostly instrumental albums. He is also known for being a member of The Little Willies with Norah Jones. Campilongo primarily plays Fender Tel ...

, G.E. Stinson, and Tony Furtado, among others. He is an original member of the Larry Ochs Sax & Drumming Core and has been a session percussionist for

Cris Williamson Cris Williamson (born February 15, 1947) is an American feminist singer-songwriter and recording artist. She was a visible lesbian political activist during an era when few who were unconnected to the lesbian community were aware of gay and l ...

Noe Venable Noe Venable (born April 20, 1976) is an experimental folk music, folk/pop singer-songwriter. She has earned a loyal fan base in her native San Francisco, in part through frequently performing in small, intimate venues. Her advocacy of small ve ...

Carla Bozulich Carla Ragin Bozulich (born December 24, 1965) is an American musician based in Los Angeles, known as the lead singer, lyricist and founder of Geraldine Fibbers, The Geraldine Fibbers and Evangelista as well as a founding member of Ethyl Meatplow a ...

, and Odessa Chen, to name a few. In 2011, Amendola premiered his orchestral work ''Fade to Orange'', performed in conjunction with the

Oakland East Bay Symphony The Oakland Symphony is an American orchestra based in Oakland, California. The orchestra is resident at the Paramount Theatre (Oakland, California). Founded in 1933, the orchestra filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in 1986. Musicians from the or ...

as one of their New Visions/New Vistas premieres. He was joined by Nels Cline and

Trevor Dunn Trevor Roy Dunn (born January 30, 1968) is an American composer, bass guitarist, and double bassist. He came to prominence in the 1990s with the experimental band Mr. Bungle. While performing with Mr. Bungle, he would dress similar to the S ...

."The Height of Romanticism Oakland East Bay Symphony"
''sfcv.org''.

Selected discography

with T.J. Kirk * ''T.J. Kirk'' (1995) * ''If Four Was One'' (1996) * ''Talking Only Makes It Worse'' (2003) with Phillip Greenlief/Scott Amendola Duo * ''Collect My Thoughts'' (1995) with

* ''

All Sides Now ''All Sides Now'' is an album by guitarist Pat Martino which was recorded in 1996–97 and first released on the Blue Note Records, Blue Note label. The album pairs Martino with notable guitarists from across the musical spectrum. Reception In h ...

'' (1997) with Scott Amendola Band * ''Scott Amendola Band'' (1999) * ''Cry'' (2003) * ''Believe'' (2005) * ''Lift'' (2010) * ''Fade to Orange'' (2015) with

The Nels Cline Singers The Nels Cline Singers are an American free jazz group led by Nels Cline, following his work in the Nels Cline Trio. They have released five albums on Cryptogramophone Records. Despite the name, there are no singers in the group. Studio albums ...

* ''

Instrumentals An instrumental or instrumental song is music without any vocals, although it might include some inarticulate vocals, such as shouted backup vocals in a big band setting. Through semantic widening, a broader sense of the word song may refer to ...

'' (2000) * ''

The Giant Pin ''The Giant Pin'' is the second album by The Nels Cline Singers led by American guitarist Nels Cline which was released in August 2003 on the Cryptogramophone label. Reception The Allmusic review by William Tilland awarded the album 4 stars o ...

'' (2004) * ''

Draw Breath ''Draw Breath'' is the third album released by The Nels Cline Singers in 2007. It featured both abrasive musical textures and gentler compositions such as "Caved-In Heart Blues" and "The Angel of Angels," the latter of which ''The New York Times ...

'' (2007) * ''

The Celestial Septet ''The Celestial Septet'' is an album by The Nels Cline Singers and Rova Saxophone Quartet which was released in March 2010 on the New World label.

'' (2010) with

Rova Saxophone Quartet Rova Saxophone Quartet is an American, San Francisco–based saxophone quartet, formed in October 1977. The name "Rova" is an acronym formed from the last initials of the founding members: , Larry Ochs, Andrew Voigt, and Bruce Ackley. When Voig ...

* '' Initiate'' (2010) * '' Macroscope'' (2014) with L. Stinkbug – Nels Cline, G.E. Stinson, Steuart Liebig, Scott Amendola * ''The Allure of Roadside Curious'' (2002) with Red Pocket –

Jewlia Eisenberg Jewlia Eisenberg (1970/1971 – March 11, 2021) was an American singer, composer, bassist, educator, and cantor. As founder and bandleader of Charming Hostess she coined the term "Nerdy-Sexy-Commie-Girly" to describe her genre of music which sp ...

, Marika Hughes, Scott Amendola * ''Thick'' (2004) with

* ''

New Monastery ''New Monastery'' (subtitled ''A View Into the Music of Andrew Hill'') is an album by American guitarist Nels Cline performing compositions by Andrew Hill which was released in September 2006 on the Cryptogramophone label. Reception The Allmus ...

'' (2006) * ''

Dirty Baby ''Dirty Baby'' (stylized as ''DIRTY BABY'') is an album by American guitarist Nels Cline performing compositions inspired by Edward Ruscha, which was released in October 2010 on the Cryptogramophone label. ''Dirty Baby'' is also the name of a mu ...

'' (2010) with Plays Monk – Ben Goldberg, Devin Hoff, Scott Amendola * ''Plays Monk'' (2007) with Bill Frisell * ''All Hat'' (2008) with Ben Goldberg, Charlie Hunter, Ron Miles * ''Go Home'' (2009) with

* '' Not Getting Behind Is the New Getting Ahead'' (2012) * ''

Pucker Pucker is a line of fruit-flavored liqueurs made by the DeKuyper company. By volume it is 15% alcohol (30 proof) and is often used in mixed drinks. See also *List of liqueurs This is a list of liqueurs brands. Liqueurs are alcoholic beverag ...

'' (2013) * '' Cars/Williams/Porter/Ellington'' (2014) with John Dietrich, Ben Goldberg, Scott Amendola * ''Short Sighted Dream Colossus'' (2012) with Henry Kaiser/Scott Amendola * ''Leaps'' (2015) with Amendola vs. Blades * ''Greatest Hits'' (2016) with Invisible Bird – Dave Devine, Shane Endsley, Scott Amendola * ''Flutter to Fuzz'' (2018)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Amendola, Scott American jazz drummers Living people Place of birth missing (living people) Singers from California 1969 births 20th-century American drummers American male drummers Jazz musicians from California 20th-century American male musicians American male jazz musicians 21st-century American drummers The Nels Cline Singers members 21st-century American male singers 21st-century American singers Drummers from California Drummers from New Jersey