Scott Amendola

“Nobody fuses like Scott Amendola – he’s not pandering, he just loves to rock, and freak out, and write actual tunes, and improvise, and devise a space where great musicians can explode.” Greg Burk, metaljazz.com

“Amendola’s music is consistently engaging, both emotionally and intellectually, the product of a fertile and inventive musical imagination.” Los Angeles Times

“If Scott Amendola didn’t exist, the San Francisco music scene would have to invent him.”
Derk Richardson, San Francisco Bay Guardian

“Amendola has complete mastery of every piece of his drumset and the ability to create a plethora of sounds using sticks, brushes, mallets, and even his hands.” Steven Raphael, Modern Drummer

“…drummer/signal-treater Scott Amendola is both a tyrant of heavy rhythm and an electric-haired antenna for outworldly messages (not a standard combination).” Greg Burk, LA Weekly

For Scott Amendola, the drum kit isn’t so much an instrument as a musical portal. As an ambitious composer, savvy bandleader, electronics explorer, first-call accompanist and capaciously creative foil for some of the world’s most inventive musicians, Amendola applies his wide-ranging rhythmic virtuosity to a vast array of settings. His closest musical associates include guitarists Charlie Hunter, Nels Cline, and Jeff Parker, Hammond B-3 organist Wil Blades, violinist Jenny Scheinman, saxophonist Phillip Greenlief, clarinetist Ben Goldberg, bassists Trevor Dunn, and Todd Sickafoose, players who have each forged a singular path within and beyond the realm of jazz.

While rooted in the San Francisco Bay Area scene, Amendola has woven a dense and far-reaching web of bandstand relationships that tie him to influential artists in jazz, blues, rock and new music. A potent creative catalyst, the Berkeley-based drummer is the nexus for a disparate community of musicians stretching from Los Angeles and Seattle to Chicago and New York. Whatever the context, Amendola possesses a gift for twisting musical genres in unexpected directions.

Over a career spanning more than three decades, Amendola has forged deep ties across the country, and throughout the world. As an ambitious composer, savvy bandleader, electronics explorer, first-call accompanist, and capaciously creative foil for some of the world’s most inventive musicians, Amendola applies his wide-ranging rhythmic virtuosity to a vast array of settings.



Scott’s latest project, SticklerPhonics, is Scott on drums, percussion, and electronics, plus tenor saxophone and trombone. He calls it a “modern micro brass band” which borrows from the traditions of the New Orleans brass bands, but adds his wildly creative electronic element, and compositionally goes in all kinds of directions. Check out Scott Amendola & SticklerPhonics album “Technicolor Ghost Parade” on Jealous Butcher Records.

“Technicolor Ghost Parade, is a shapeshifting sonic wonderland, moving between freeform expression and complex instrumental textures.” – Brad Rose, @foxy.digitalis

“Amendola proves an expert in punctuation particularly adept at measuring out the generous fills he feeds in as the heat intensifies. There’s plenty to listen to however skeletal the set-up. And the glitchy, mischievous electronics that Amendola has ingeniously rustled up add welcome spice.” @ Marlbank Review

“Favorite track,‘Well Blazed’, with its schizo switchbacks from free craze to lullaby and back — no lie, it’s FUNNY. And no Amendola set would be complete without a few tastes of electronic freakery; he even devotes two miniatures here, notably “A Courting,” featuring a harmonious/awkward horn conversation (will they? the plugged-in firefly knows). In New Orleans, the funeral band’s job is to make you smile as the pallbearers stroll down the street. Same here, and we need it.” Greg Burk, www.metaljazz.com

Scott’s involved in various working bands including: The Scott Amendola Trio, Scott Amendola Band, Charlie Hunter/Scott Amendola Duo, The Nels Cline Singers, Nels Cline and Scott Amendola are Stretch Woven, Amendola vs. Blades, Invisible Bird, and Mike Patton’s Mondo Cane.