Kendrick Scott Oracle - We Are The Drum '2015

Tracks list

Tracks:

01. We Are The Drum (5:43)
02. Make Believe (8:05)
03. This Song In Me (4:53)
04. Mantra (7:52)
05. The Long Shadow (5:23)
06. Never Catch Me (5:59)
07. Touched By An Angel (For Maya) (4:55)
08. Milton (7:45)
09. Lotus (5:14)
10. Synchrony (5:00)
11. Touched By An Angel (4:47)



The expansive third album from Kendrick Scott Oracle, 2015s We Are the Drum,
further reveals the drummers multi-layered jazz vision. Its a vision that Scott
debuted on the groups lauded 2006 album Source, and expanded upon with 2013s
Conviction. As with that album, We Are the Drum is filled with forward-thinking
original compositions by Scott and his bandmates. Featured here is the same
group from Conviction, with pianist Taylor Eigsti, guitarist Michael Moreno,
saxophonist John Ellis, and bassist Joe Sanders. Together, they produce a
ruminative, often languid style of jazz that favors soft, harmonically supple
introspection over explosive firepower. That said, while much of We Are the Drum
is tender and ambient, there are moments of intensity, and cuts like the
sweeping, modal Milton and the bouncy, swinging Synchrony, skip along with a
cerebral urgency that brings to mind the latter-career recordings of Wayne
Shorter. Part of what makes Scotts albums stand out from other progressive jazz
works is his balance of exploratory instrumentalism and lyrical melody. Adding
to the melodicism of We Are the Drum is vocalist Lizz Wright, who lends her
folky, nuanced soulfulness to the psychedelic, R&B-infused This Song in Me. In
fact, melody, poetry, and a songs overall impact on a listener are clearly
paramount to Scott. Despite his immense ability as a drummer (skills evident
throughout We Are the Drum), you never get the sense that he wants his albums to
be just a showcase for his drumming. On the contrary, while cuts like the
quietly impassioned Mantra and Never Catch Me begin with kinetic, polyrhythmic
drum solo intros, the overall impression on We Are the Drum is of the Kendrick
Scott Oracle as a band of unified musicians.

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