It doesn’t take long to realize just how much detailed analysis this blazing leader and sideman applies to his art. And that might be exactly why, when the time comes to create in the moment, he’s so free to surrender to his muse and just…react. Ken Micallef digs deep into the methods and mindset of one of jazz drumming’s leading lights. Like a handful of drummers currently populating what is still referred to as the jazz scene, thirty-two-year-old Kendrick Scott is well trained, possesses a wide knowledge of many styles, and carries the deep fervor, skills, and inspiration to move the music forward. His third album, Conviction, is a seamless journey through various emotional and even spiritual states of the musical mind. Accompanied for the second time by his group Oracle—now including saxophonist/bass clarinetist John Ellis, guitarist Mike Moreno, pianist Taylor Eigsti, and bassist Joe Sanders—Scott flows and explodes, […]

May 2013 Issue