For Immediate Release – – There’s a well-earned irony in the title of Fictional Characters, the Autumn Hill Records debut from St. Louis guitarist Scott T. Jones. For many years, the possibility of realizing Jones’ intricate and blistering fusion compositions seemed like just that – a fiction. Conceived via composition software, the pieces reached a level of complexity unplayable by all but the most virtuoso of players; and for Jones, an artist esteemed on the St. Louis scene but less known in the wider world, struggling with nerve issues in his hands and dedicated to being an attentive father to his two children, that level of musicianship simply appeared to be out of reach.
With the help of Autumn Hill founders Michael Silverman and Rob Silverman, however, Jones’s long-nurtured dreams have come to welcome fruition. Michael Silverman refers to Jones as “a world class guitar player/composer that I admire greatly on many levels, both musical and human, [who] has recorded an absolutely stunning album of guitar-driven fusion with a world class lineup.”
Available on January 21, 2022 through all streaming services, Fictional Characters
brings Jones’ striking compositions to life with a stellar band uniquely suited for their technical and expressive challenges: keyboardist Steve Hunt, a veteran of bands led by fusion legends Stanley Clarke and Jones’ primary influence, Allan Holdsworth; and bassist Romain Labaye and drummer Archibald Ligonnière, the rhythm section of Tribal Tech leader Scott Henderson’s trio.
Watch Fictional Characters teaser video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0qLY9avdDNU
“I've been thinking about an album like this for years,” Jones says. “I bought my first Mac with notation software way back in 1992, which allowed me to write music that was a little crazier than I could even play at the time. I envisioned a recording with these incredible players on me day coming to fruition.”
A St. Louis native, Jones started his musical path on the drums – and like so many children of the ’70s bashing away on their first drumkit, his gateway drug was Rush. While Neil Peart may have remained his idol if he’d stuck with his first instrument, a family move necessitated a change in direction. “When we changed locations, I switched to guitar so I could turn the amp down and still practice,” he recalls. “Then interviews with Rush in magazines led me to check out Allan Holdsworth and jazz. Rush kicked off a whole bunch of stuff for me.”
But while Jones was a burgeoning prog/fusion shredder at home, professional opportunities in the midwestern city led him to become a more well-rounded player, frequenting jam sessions and playing gigs in a variety of bands from jazz to blues to rock. He’s also mentored students for the last three decades and worked as an in-demand arranger.
“I wanted to play every style I could possibly play and say yes to every gig I could possibly say yes to,” Jones explains. “That was basically my goal, but the whole time I was maintaining my chops and studying deeper harmony and things that I wasn't getting to use very often on these gigs. I was going out and playing 'Scotch and Soda' and 'Beyond the Sea' for people in their 80s at country clubs, but behind the scenes I was writing this fusion stuff on my new computer.”
Jones saw that a number of his fellow St. Louisans found success after leaving the city – marquee fusion names like Autumn Hill artists Dave Weckl and Tom Kennedy among them – he chose to stay at home. In part that was merely an aversion to the touring lifestyle, but he also wanted to be a hands-on single father sharing responsibility for raising his two children: a daughter, now in college and pursuing her own career in music, and particularly a son with special needs.
In recent years, Jones has developed some serious hand issues which required him to undergo multiple surgeries for trigger finger and retrained himself to play most of the time with only three of the fingers on his left hand.
Spending so much time at home rather than on the road has had a side effect that also helped inspire the title of Fictional Characters: Jones is a TV junkie, eagerly devouring the highlights of the modern Golden Age of television. Each of the titles on the new album is drawn from some of the composer’s favorite shows.
Melodic, up-tempo opener “Floki’s Shipyard,” for instance, is named for Jones’ favorite character from Vikings, while “The Long Night” shares its title with an episode of Game of Thrones. The harmonically rich ballad sparks a soaring solo from the guitarist and a deft, eloquent turn by Labaye, followed by Hunt’s shimmering run across the keys. The sharp, percussive “Human Music” was inspired by a Rick and Morty gag, prompting a scything, cosmic melody and a particularly blistering Jones solo over Ligonnière’s roiling rhythm.
“Shut Up and Dance,” a nod to Black Mirror (decidedly not the similarly-titled pop earworm) is a throwback to Jones’ Rush fandom, an exhilarating opportunity to indulge his arena rock power trio fantasies that he seizes with gusto. Both “Interlocking Wheels” and “Time Is an Infinite Field” are dedicated to the German sci-fi series Dark; the former puts Jones’ estimable arranging skills to vibrant use via a virtual orchestra, while the latter began as a Hunt piano improv, to which Jones added a playful guitar part. “Let’s Cook,” a reference to Breaking Bad, is another duo, this time a lively pairing of Jones and Ligonnière. Finally, the album ends with a tribute to Holdsworth with the legendary guitarist’s “Atavachron” – fittingly for the album’s theme, a title with origins in Star Trek.
In spite of some difficulties that may have forced a lesser artist to throw in the towel, Jones has found the will and the way to forge a stellar album.
Finally hearing his compositions played by such a gifted quartet, Jones says, “was just a thrill. It was everything I'd hoped.”
Purchase link for Fictional Characters: https://linktr.ee/scottjonesmusic
Scott Jones on the web:
Bandcamp: https://scottjonesmusic.bandcamp.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sjonesmusicofficial
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/scottjonesmusic/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCTZmF8crQ3D7yld2oXl6hEQ |
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