"If Scott Amendola didn't exist, the San Francisco music scene would have to invent him. It's tempting to call the flexible New Jersey native the Rob Burger of the drums, for like Burger (the ubiquitous accordion/keyboard-player of Tin Hat Trio et. al.), Amendola crops up on records from innumerable musical niches. Since settling in San Francisco in 1992, he has played with guitarists Charlie Hunter, Will Bernard, Bill Frisell and Pat Martino, singer Noe Venable, koto player Miya Masaoka, bluegrass-fusion picker Tony Furtado, pianist Paul Plimley, saxophonist Phillip Greenlief, and clarinetist Ben Goldberg, among others. And he's anchored the bands TJ Kirk, Oranj Symphonette, and Snorkel. But he obviously has an original muse pacing around inside his brain, champing at the bit to get out and express itself. Of Scott Amendola Band's ten tracks, only three are covers, and those (Jimi Hendrix's "Manic Depression," Fela Anikulopo Kuti's "This Is Sad," and Nick Drake's "One Of These Things First") serve as specific frames for the edgy and bluesy rock, African polyrhythmic, and wistfully melodic elements that Amendola integrates into his own compositions. Guitarist Dave MacNab, saxophonist Eric Crystal, violinist Jenny Scheinman, and bassist Todd Sickafoose are the empathetic co-conspirators in Amendola's scheme to undermine expectations at every turn. This is a "new jazz" recording, but that label falls short of capturing the difference between, say, the gripping North Oakland raunchiness of "59th St. Blues," the slinky bounce of "Slow Zig," the densely orchestrated Ornette Coleman-like cry of "Hymn," and the spacious and tender violin-centric poignancy of "Diana Maria," all of which indicate that Amendola is doing a fine job of inventing himself, and his music, on his own terms."

- Derk Richardson, San Francisco Bay Guardian, August 16th, 2000