Evolution

Scotland's Tartan Amoebas are contemporary music's equivalent to a cultural melting pot. On their third release, Evolution, they explore jazz, R&B, reggae, Celtic, Latin, Euro-trance, avant-garde, and Eastern music, but somehow manage to ground it all in a noticeably Scottish foundation. Making this possible is Fraser McNaughton, primary songwriter and fiddler/keyboardist, whose ability to merge the contrasting elements into a cohesive package while openly acknowledging his own cultural roots is extremely clever. Of course, an understanding and willing group of accompanying musicians is necessary as well, and McNaughton receives copious support from his band: Bobby Pinkman on highland pipes, Scott Moncrieff on guitars, the rhythm section of Mark and Jason Wotherspoon, and the horn section trio of Tom Dalzell, J. Simon van der Walt, and Steve Kettley. Van der Walt also contributes three jazzy and groove-heavy pieces, including the reggae-meets-calypso dynamic of "Reggalypso."