Jonathan Scales Free Café-Style Show

Jonathan Scales

by Tracie Pouliot

With a bang of the steel pans, the Jonathan Scales Fourchestra will kick off the 2011-2012 season of UNC Asheville’s Cultural Events and Distinguished Speaker Series. This high-energy performance will take place at 8 p.m. Saturday, September 17, in the Highsmith University Union Grotto. The concert is free and open to the public, but there is limited café-style seating, so early arrival is suggested.

Steel pans, also called steel drums, are tuned instruments made from oil drums, but Scales pushes the traditional Trinidadian instrument into new musical territory, drawing on influences as diverse as bluesman Muddy Waters and Mahavishnu John McLaughlin. Joining Scales in the Asheville-based Fourchestra are guitarist Duane Simpson, bassist Cody Wright, and drummer Phill Bronson.