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Kendrick Scott Oracle: We Are The Drum
by Dan Bilawsky
While drummer Kendrick Scott's namesake outfit--Kendrick Scott Oracle--has been around in some form since 2006, it's a band that's really come into its own in the last few years. With the arrival of Conviction (Concord Records, 2013), Scott made a major statement on a high-visibility label; jazz listeners and critics both took note. With We Are The Drum, his debut for the storied Blue Note imprint, he raises the bar even higher, melding complex ideas and completely accessible sounds.
Continue ReadingKendrick Scott and His Convictions
by K. Shackelford
Everybody sings the praises of Kendrick Scott. The New York Times quickly named him as one of Five Drummers Whose Time Is Now." On the drums, he transforms into a masterful and exquisite sonic architect whose work is filled with imaginative capacity. Yet Scott is what they call a triple threat--filling roles not only as a drummer, but also as a striking composer and band leader. His latest album, Conviction, featuring his band Oracle, illuminates work that is ...
Continue ReadingKendrick Scott Oracle: Conviction
by Mark F. Turner
From the selfless prayer in the opening track to the sampled words of wisdom from martial arts great Bruce Lee in the track Be Water," drummer Kendrick Scott's Conviction is an extension of self-motivated and thoughtful music that was witnessed in his 2007 debut The Source on his fledgling World Culture Music label. There is a sense of purpose here that is demonstrated throughout the appropriately titled release. More than a sideman, Scott's fresh playing has heightened ...
Continue ReadingKendrick Scott: Conviction of a Jazz Oracle
by Esther Berlanga-Ryan
Kendrick Scott, considered by many as one of the most gifted drummers of his generation and trusted on stage by peers such as trumpeter Terence Blanchard, is ready to take the spotlight as a bandleader once more with his third studio project. This is a record about a true desire to act as an instrument of peace and a heart full of faith and realizations; a jazz musician telling his own story as he perceives it--and as his band members ...
Continue ReadingMyron Walden: Momentum
by John Kelman
Sometimes a break can be the best thing a musician can take. Not getting tired by any means, if a four-year sabbatical from recording as a leader results in as strong a comeback as reedman Myron Walden's, perhaps artists should take breaks more often. A charter member of drummer Brian Blade's Fellowship Band, Walden is back with not one, but three CDs over the next couple months. The first, Momentum, is a potent modern mainstream set that takes trumpet icon ...
Continue ReadingKendrick Scott: Visiting The Source
by Jason Crane
On the new episode of The Jazz Session, Jason Crane interviews drummer and composer Kendrick Scott. Scott's new album with his band Oracle is The Source (World Culture Music, 2007). Scott grew up in Houston, surrounded by a musical family and the Baptist church. He knew from an early age that he wanted to be a musician, and he followed this path from Houston's arts high school to Berklee and then into gigs with The Crusaders and Terence ...
Continue ReadingKendrick Scott Oracle: The Source
by J Hunter
The first time I saw Kendrick Scott, he wasn't supposed to be there. Eric Harland was a no-show for the Terence Blanchard Sextet's 2003 gig at the Skidmore Jazz Institute (a summer program that counts Scott as an alumnus), so Scott filled in, and acquitted himself admirably. When Terence Blanchard's Flow tour came to Albany in 2005, three weeks after Katrina wiped out Blanchard's home, Scott was a permanent member of one of the best jazz groups I've seen to ...
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