Features Oscar Seaton Playing with unbridled freedom and being a faithful servant to the groove might seem like two opposing goals. But for this long-revered multi-genre monster, it’s all about the same thing—putting in the time, and acquiring the tools. Story by Ken Micallef Photos by Alex Solca At a recent Blue Note NYC performance with renowned jazz trumpeter Terence Blanchard, Oscar Seaton rewrote the rules of groove, the rules of roaming freely over the barline, of interpreting ahead-of-the-beat and behind-the-beat drumming, while always playing for the music. Seaton is perhaps best known for his decades-long touring experiences with George Benson, Lionel Richie, and Boz Scaggs. He’s a groove king who also plays with stupendous freedom when the music allows. Performing music from Blanchard’s latest release, Breathless, Seaton’s main mission at the Blue Note was his uniformly deep pocket, his 2-and-4 placement a ceaseless wellspring of forward-motion energy that was […]

October 2015 Issue