Andrea Scala
Coming Back, Leaving Again
SCORE: 7.7 out of 10
Italian drummer Andrea Scala delivers a solid, nuanced, and diverse album that fluidly glides through different jazzy landscapes, going from clean-cut passages to atonal freak-outs without feeling forced or abrupt.
We’re about to begin the second month of social distancing, and working from home has lost the little charm it had. Sure, it feels good to know I can wake up a minute before checking in or that I can stay in bed all day if I want, and sneakily attending videoconferences in my underwear is pretty neat; but, at the end of the day, that doesn’t change the fact that I’m entirely trapped inside my apartment. However, among being with my partner and my recently-spayed cat (we’re responsible feline slaves), music has kept me sane throughout this ordeal. Be it rediscovering old favorites or stumbling across new releases, I’ve been able to overcome the collective anxiety thanks to some good ol’ headphones time.
One of the new releases I’ve had the chance to come across is Coming Back, Leaving Again by Italian drummer and composer, Andrea Scala. Upon listening to the limited tracks available on his Bandcamp, the laid back opening beat on “Trees” made me think this would be another jazz-hip-hop-neo-soul hybrid (kind of like Flanafi’s debut album), but that quickly changed when the rest of the instruments came in (just like Flanafi’s album). Once I listened to the whole album, I was pleasantly surprised by its highly nuanced and stylistically diverse nature that never goes off course, keeping its center around a solid jazz lexicon.
Coming Back, Leaving Again fluidly glides through different jazzy landscapes, going from clean-cut, almost standard, jazz passages to fusion-tinged atonal freak outs without feeling forced or abrupt in its performance; it actually feels quite organic and relaxed even when its most angular pieces are being played. “Synthesis” opens the album with a stabbing rhythm that creates tension without coming off as too calculated, and it perfectly showcases the great chemistry Andrea has with the guest musicians on the record; that aspect alone makes the record pretty enjoyable, but it wouldn’t be enough keep it all together if the tracks weren’t good.
Fortunately, the tracks are good, even if some of the more toned down passages are a little bit too jazz-cluby, which, in itself is not a bad sound, but the record does shine more when it lets loose. The opening track displays this duality and blends it to great effect, with its stop-and-start drums and staccato synth bass notes accompanied by playful keys and the aqueous timbre emanating from a Rhodes piano; the obtuseness of the track may bring to mind Chick Corea’s more off-kilter cuts on The Ultimate Adventure mixed with GoGo Penguin’s elegant accessibility.
That’s a key element of the album: it has enough artistic integrity to cater to a more dedicated audience, but its dwellings into the experimental are subtle enough that it won’t end up alienating its more casual listeners. Songs like “Winter Haze and Far Off Lights” and “Cracked” never go overboard with their experimentation; the former is a modest (when it comes to length) ambient interlude and the latter -the album’s highlight- is a King Crimsonesque exercise that remains elegant amongst all the chaos it is ensuing. Production-wise, these tracks could have benefitted from a different approach in order to highlight their more abstract attributes, but they work well within the context of the album. “Winter Haze…” could have been more spacious and “Cracked” could have been rawer, but that might have broken the album’s flow.
This is not a drum-centric album, therefore we won’t be bashed with self-indulgent solos and unnecessarily complex fills. That is not to say that the drumming isn’t good (it is pretty good), but it speaks volumes of Andrea’s humility as a musician. He is a drummer, yes, but he’s also an all around composer, which is why he knows how to maintain a balance between his beats and the rest of the instruments; his restrain and versatility are actually quite elegant, but as stated above, perhaps the most enjoyable aspect of all the album is just how laid back it feels and the overall communal chemistry. In the current state of things, these frantic times call for music like this. That being said, it would be interesting to hear what Andrea can do upon embracing a less tamed approach, as his style really shines when presented with labyrinths for his drums to just plough through. In the meantime, taking a break and listening to Coming Back is more than enough… and necessary.
