Scott Amendola and Will Blades at Keys Bistro

This morning I realized that, up until last night, I had not had an opportunity to listen to the drum work of Scott Amendola since the pandemic. Back in those days, he was one of many to take advantage of live streaming from Bird & Beckett Books and Records, performing in a trio gig with saxophonist Phillip Greenlief and visiting bassist Adriana Camacho. Since then, I have accounted for Amendola performances in Bleeding Edge columns, none of which I was able to attend. Last night, however, my wife and I experienced a generous share of his inventive capacities at Keys Jazz Bistro.

Will Blades and Scott Amendola on the cover of their Greatest Hits album (from their Store Web page)

For the better part of the set, he was joined by Will Blades, sitting behind a diversity of instruments. This included a Hammond organ, which was supplemented, for the most part, by a Hohner keyboard. More often than not, Blades seemed to provide a continuo of sorts for the seemingly endless flow of polyrhythms emerging from Amdenola’s drum kit. They referred to their duo work as a “friendly battle.” Indeed, they were so wrapped up in that friendship that there seemed to be little time to announce titles for any of their selections. Nevertheless, they were not shy it letting the audience know that CDs were available; and, in that spirit, it seems appropriate to let readers know that there is also a Web page for purchasing these recordings!

Things toned down more than a bit when they were then joined on the stage by Otis Macdonald with his bass guitar. All of his contributions involved vocal work. If Amendola and Blades are currently on the forefront of new approaches to drums and keyboards, Macdonald’s contributions were decidedly retrospective. His heart was clearly back in the days of Jimi Hendrix and Stevie Wonder, but his reflection on that period never rose above the level of lame. Indeed, it was hard for me to ignore that old joke: “If you remember the Sixties, you probably weren’t there!”

More important is that Amendola and Blades are still going strong, and I hope that I shall not have to wait too long for my next encounter.