>Home> Headlines>
Interview with Kendrick Scott
by David Kovacs
Published: Aug 05 2010
An exclusive interview with drummer Kendrick Scott by David Kovacs
A tremendously gifted, modest and open drummer, Kendrick Scott is the picture of the consummate jazz professional. Highly sought after by some of the most important artists in the world, Mr. Scott has made a place for himself in this music. It was a real pleasure to sit down with him during his visit to the Montréal Jazz Festival where he was featured in two different bands: those of Terence Blanchard and Houston’s own Robert Glasper. Follows is an exclusive interview for JazzHouston.com.
D.Kovacs Self-reflection is the sign of a great drummer because you have so much available to you in the palette, and then there is the bombastic nature of the instrument -- so it almost seems like it requires a heavy degree of self-reflection in order to push the music forward. How do you reconcile that?
K.Scott I try to deal with it in the practice room. Learning my instrument and getting it out of the way is really key to playing music. I learned that from Herbie Hancock -- that the more that you know your instrument, the more you can speak your mind and not worry about things. I also have a saying that I write on my sticks that says ‘Lord make me an instrument of thy piece’ so whenever things get out of hand or I’m not thinking of musical things I look at my sticks and it puts everything right back into perspective -- for me personally keeping that balance-- that’s one of the biggest things -- when I see my sticks it’s like ‘oh that’s really why I’m playing! I’m showcasing my life through the instrument.’
DK I was speaking with the folks at JazzHouston.com who wanted me to ask you about the emerging legacy of the Houston drummer -- (yourself, Eric Harland, Jamire Williams, Chris Dave, Mark Simmons, Sebastian Whittaker, etc.). Are there are aspects in their playing that they all share in common, is there is an identifiable Houston sound?
KS I think that the interesting mix in the so-called Houston sound of drumming is pretty much the mix of gospel music and modern jazz. So I think that each of us has the pocket in that sense but also brings in the influence of the foundation cats like Max Roach, Tony, Elvin, Max, Art. And I think the sound trickles down through each of us-- it’s like I was watching Eric; Eric was watching Chris; Chris was watching Sebastian; you know it’s just a trickle down effect that has happened in the sound itself-- it’s purified because we were all just around each other so much... the crazy thing now is to come to a festival like this and to see all of the drummers from my high school and from my neighborhood...
I didn’t go through Johnson Middle School [editor: where renowned drum instructor Craig Green still teaches] so I was a little bit to the side of the direct line -- I went to HSPVA like all the other cats, but my fundamentals were developed by a guy named Darrell Singleton at Texas Southern University.
DK Put me back in HSPVA -- what did you get from that experience.
The thing that it taught me early was to be open. My mother, she always wanted me to be a classical musician -- she wanted to see me in the back of the New York Philharmonic playing tympani, but I was really opening up to different things. I learned that the great musician is the one who is open to everything and accepts everything even if it’s something they don’t like because even the things you don’t like will solidify your vision for what you want to do.
DK That’s deep.
KS My teacher Dr. Morgan was great. I kind of respond to tough-love teaching and it really worked -- it was just right for me -- when we were in band and you couldn’t play the chart well then we had to give it up to the other drummer, and that happened to me a few times and every time that happened I would go home and practice-- so that healthy competition helped me greatly in high school... and there was also such a legacy of drummers there that I didn’t want to be left out!
DK How do you like Montréal?
KS I’ve been here a couple times, and I really like it up here. It’s a good music town and it seems like it attracts music lovers from all over the world. Canada in general seems like a very good music country -- I always love it that people come out to hear live music and appreciate jazz.
DK Diane Reeves, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Herbie Hancock, Terence Blanchard -- what standard do you hold yourself to when you play with these kinds of heavyweights?
KS Well [laughs] I would like to feel that the greatness starts to rub off on you; as I’m watching the greats, I’m developing my own vision of where I want to go and what I want to be, and I think that as I’m growing I’m becoming my own worst critic and it’s helping me grow and it’s also helping me keep a balance.
DK When Terence Blanchard says on stage as he did last night in the same breath that he has played with Art Blakey and that you are the most creative drummer that he’s ever played with what is going through your head?
KS It’s definitely a blessing that he says that, but it’s also a scary thing to think about. The name of my band is Oracle and I got that name by thinking about Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers. But hearing him say that it’s really daunting in some aspects, but what it does is-- you know I guess I equate it to almost to a Phil Jackson-like move-- you know what I mean? I don’t know if you’re into basketball-- like he’s telling you that you are the greatest ever, like better than all the all-time greats, and I’m just like, ‘damn I suck okay I’ll go practice’, so it makes me feel like I got to live up to this, so I go practice-- so I think it’s a blessing that he says that and I definitely feel that I am a work in progress.
DK Terence also talked about courage last night on stage and about how young musicians who he plays with generally have a lot of courage-- how do you interpret that?
KS Well, we were hanging with Wayne Shorter and he has a saying that it takes courage to be happy -- he says that sometimes the thing that you really want to do -- it takes courage to actually do it and be happy with it because of course you can do the thing that you don’t want to do and make a life out of it.
And in this sense my progression from when I first started with Terence until now has been great. Early on I asked Terence what records I should I check out, and he was like ‘there are no records to check out now, play your voice.” So around this time I made the choice to sit down in the practice room and learn Shadow Wilson, learn Chick Webb -- to check all of that out but then to have the courage to say ‘okay forget them let me do what I do’; it takes a lot of courage to do that and not really think about Philly Joe Jones, you know what I mean?
DK [laughs] Last night we heard your tune Touched by an Angel played by Terence Blanchard’s band. How did that feel?
KS Well I attribute most of my success to Terence-- he’s such a prolific writer, but I’ve been writing since high school -- I’m always singing melodies, and I’m always jotting them down, and my writing is progressing. One of my favorite artists are Wayne Shorter and also Stravinsky. In his Poetics of Music, Stravinsky talks about the fact that there two types of writers: composers who write out of inspiration, and those who write out of necessity, and I’ve been told that I’m an inspirational writer... but I’m trying to make myself more of a ‘necessity’ writer. I heard that Wayne Shorter is that way, and I heard that Prince is the same way-- that they are just always composing.
These days there are two things that I’m focused on -- it’s practicing the drums, and writing. Those things take up so much time: I want to leave a legacy that I’ll be proud of and I think that these two things are the most important things for me to do -- to grow as a drummer especially.
I’m trying to see the role of the drummer in a different light. Especially in bandleading. Sometimes it’s about having the courage to say it’s okay to be different from Art Blakey where I can add just as much liberty to what I’m doing by having as much history ingrained in myself as I can. It may be crazy to compare myself to Art Blakey.
DK Well he was an institution.
KS But at the same time I have my own colors -- so that’s one of my main goals -- I want to have a legacy on the drums, and with the pen also -- that’s one of the most important things for me -- like Jack DeJohnette who is playing here tonight -- not only does he do it with the drums, but he does it with his pen-- he’s a great piano player, too. And he has his own label Golden Beams, and actually he’s one of my idols -- He’s doing what I would love to be doing.
DK Even though he’s a legend he really does manage to keep it fresh and that’s inspiring. It must be pretty daunting to walk around being Jack DeJohnette -- you got your sound, you’ve got these records you’ve recorded....
KS Actually I saw him play at Carnegie the other night, and I have this sense with him -- it’s the same sense that I had from Herbie when I played with him... that there is no finality. If you think about somebody like Jack without finality it’s like oh my God how far is he gonna go?!
DK How do you see your role as a jazz drummer in the combo?
KS I think of myself as a color type of drummer. Sometimes I think of myself a little bit like Connie Kay orchestrating things... a roll here... a cymbal there, sometimes I think of it as Tony Williams or as Jack DeJohnette-- sometimes I play tympani on the floor tom like Connie Kay, but on the next song I’ll do something totally different... it’s hard for me to define my role, but I’m always there to support the solos and to give to the band whatever the band needs at the moment; if I’m going to step out at the moment, then I step out and then I come back-- I want to try to make the movement of the band seem seamless and my job is to make that seamlessness happen. Whether we’re moving in and out of songs, in and out of solos or in and out of melodies, I’m always trying to shape and orchestrate whatever is going on in the moment. I’m just always trying to be musical in whatever role I need to play. And I like giving up control-- I’m always giving and taking.
DK Like being everywhere once.
KS Of course I play with beautiful cats who can deal with that too. I love that about jazz, I love the empathy with other people in that conversation. Historically we can take things that Horace Silver and Ahmad Jamal have played, we take all those things, we learn that language we digest that language and speak our own -- it’s the most beautiful part about this music -- that you can have your own personality in this music.
DK What’s it like to start your own label from scratch these days? You’re the founder of World Culture Music.
KS It’s a really daunting thing actually. Right now we’re on a little hiatus because we’re working some things out and the beautiful thing is that we’ve gotten a lot of great reception and I’m really thankful to everyone. It’s a blessing and a curse at the same time. It’s a blessing to be so accepted but it’s a curse that the music industry is not so great. It’s hard work and at this point we’re actually looking for a business partner-- it’s just one of those things that I’m constantly working on. I have the drums, composing, and I’ve got World Culture Music -- so it’s all these things in one for me-- and for me it’s a lot.... I do multitask but right now I’m focusing on my personal CD and then after that I’m hoping that World Culture Music will pop up pop back up and take some more strides forward. We’ve gotten some nice press and we’ve put out some good records.
DK Thanks Kendrick; it’s been an honor. Good luck!
David Kovacs is a freelance writer and jazz musician living in Montreal, Canada.
Share this story on Facebook
A tremendously gifted, modest and open drummer, Kendrick Scott is the picture of the consummate jazz professional. Highly sought after by some of the most important artists in the world, Mr. Scott has made a place for himself in this music. It was a real pleasure to sit down with him during his visit to the Montréal Jazz Festival where he was featured in two different bands: those of Terence Blanchard and Houston’s own Robert Glasper. Follows is an exclusive interview for JazzHouston.com.
D.Kovacs Self-reflection is the sign of a great drummer because you have so much available to you in the palette, and then there is the bombastic nature of the instrument -- so it almost seems like it requires a heavy degree of self-reflection in order to push the music forward. How do you reconcile that?
K.Scott I try to deal with it in the practice room. Learning my instrument and getting it out of the way is really key to playing music. I learned that from Herbie Hancock -- that the more that you know your instrument, the more you can speak your mind and not worry about things. I also have a saying that I write on my sticks that says ‘Lord make me an instrument of thy piece’ so whenever things get out of hand or I’m not thinking of musical things I look at my sticks and it puts everything right back into perspective -- for me personally keeping that balance-- that’s one of the biggest things -- when I see my sticks it’s like ‘oh that’s really why I’m playing! I’m showcasing my life through the instrument.’
DK I was speaking with the folks at JazzHouston.com who wanted me to ask you about the emerging legacy of the Houston drummer -- (yourself, Eric Harland, Jamire Williams, Chris Dave, Mark Simmons, Sebastian Whittaker, etc.). Are there are aspects in their playing that they all share in common, is there is an identifiable Houston sound?
KS I think that the interesting mix in the so-called Houston sound of drumming is pretty much the mix of gospel music and modern jazz. So I think that each of us has the pocket in that sense but also brings in the influence of the foundation cats like Max Roach, Tony, Elvin, Max, Art. And I think the sound trickles down through each of us-- it’s like I was watching Eric; Eric was watching Chris; Chris was watching Sebastian; you know it’s just a trickle down effect that has happened in the sound itself-- it’s purified because we were all just around each other so much... the crazy thing now is to come to a festival like this and to see all of the drummers from my high school and from my neighborhood...
I didn’t go through Johnson Middle School [editor: where renowned drum instructor Craig Green still teaches] so I was a little bit to the side of the direct line -- I went to HSPVA like all the other cats, but my fundamentals were developed by a guy named Darrell Singleton at Texas Southern University.
DK Put me back in HSPVA -- what did you get from that experience.
The thing that it taught me early was to be open. My mother, she always wanted me to be a classical musician -- she wanted to see me in the back of the New York Philharmonic playing tympani, but I was really opening up to different things. I learned that the great musician is the one who is open to everything and accepts everything even if it’s something they don’t like because even the things you don’t like will solidify your vision for what you want to do.
DK That’s deep.
KS My teacher Dr. Morgan was great. I kind of respond to tough-love teaching and it really worked -- it was just right for me -- when we were in band and you couldn’t play the chart well then we had to give it up to the other drummer, and that happened to me a few times and every time that happened I would go home and practice-- so that healthy competition helped me greatly in high school... and there was also such a legacy of drummers there that I didn’t want to be left out!
DK How do you like Montréal?
KS I’ve been here a couple times, and I really like it up here. It’s a good music town and it seems like it attracts music lovers from all over the world. Canada in general seems like a very good music country -- I always love it that people come out to hear live music and appreciate jazz.
DK Diane Reeves, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Herbie Hancock, Terence Blanchard -- what standard do you hold yourself to when you play with these kinds of heavyweights?
KS Well [laughs] I would like to feel that the greatness starts to rub off on you; as I’m watching the greats, I’m developing my own vision of where I want to go and what I want to be, and I think that as I’m growing I’m becoming my own worst critic and it’s helping me grow and it’s also helping me keep a balance.
DK When Terence Blanchard says on stage as he did last night in the same breath that he has played with Art Blakey and that you are the most creative drummer that he’s ever played with what is going through your head?
KS It’s definitely a blessing that he says that, but it’s also a scary thing to think about. The name of my band is Oracle and I got that name by thinking about Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers. But hearing him say that it’s really daunting in some aspects, but what it does is-- you know I guess I equate it to almost to a Phil Jackson-like move-- you know what I mean? I don’t know if you’re into basketball-- like he’s telling you that you are the greatest ever, like better than all the all-time greats, and I’m just like, ‘damn I suck okay I’ll go practice’, so it makes me feel like I got to live up to this, so I go practice-- so I think it’s a blessing that he says that and I definitely feel that I am a work in progress.
DK Terence also talked about courage last night on stage and about how young musicians who he plays with generally have a lot of courage-- how do you interpret that?
KS Well, we were hanging with Wayne Shorter and he has a saying that it takes courage to be happy -- he says that sometimes the thing that you really want to do -- it takes courage to actually do it and be happy with it because of course you can do the thing that you don’t want to do and make a life out of it.
And in this sense my progression from when I first started with Terence until now has been great. Early on I asked Terence what records I should I check out, and he was like ‘there are no records to check out now, play your voice.” So around this time I made the choice to sit down in the practice room and learn Shadow Wilson, learn Chick Webb -- to check all of that out but then to have the courage to say ‘okay forget them let me do what I do’; it takes a lot of courage to do that and not really think about Philly Joe Jones, you know what I mean?
DK [laughs] Last night we heard your tune Touched by an Angel played by Terence Blanchard’s band. How did that feel?
KS Well I attribute most of my success to Terence-- he’s such a prolific writer, but I’ve been writing since high school -- I’m always singing melodies, and I’m always jotting them down, and my writing is progressing. One of my favorite artists are Wayne Shorter and also Stravinsky. In his Poetics of Music, Stravinsky talks about the fact that there two types of writers: composers who write out of inspiration, and those who write out of necessity, and I’ve been told that I’m an inspirational writer... but I’m trying to make myself more of a ‘necessity’ writer. I heard that Wayne Shorter is that way, and I heard that Prince is the same way-- that they are just always composing.
These days there are two things that I’m focused on -- it’s practicing the drums, and writing. Those things take up so much time: I want to leave a legacy that I’ll be proud of and I think that these two things are the most important things for me to do -- to grow as a drummer especially.
I’m trying to see the role of the drummer in a different light. Especially in bandleading. Sometimes it’s about having the courage to say it’s okay to be different from Art Blakey where I can add just as much liberty to what I’m doing by having as much history ingrained in myself as I can. It may be crazy to compare myself to Art Blakey.
DK Well he was an institution.
KS But at the same time I have my own colors -- so that’s one of my main goals -- I want to have a legacy on the drums, and with the pen also -- that’s one of the most important things for me -- like Jack DeJohnette who is playing here tonight -- not only does he do it with the drums, but he does it with his pen-- he’s a great piano player, too. And he has his own label Golden Beams, and actually he’s one of my idols -- He’s doing what I would love to be doing.
DK Even though he’s a legend he really does manage to keep it fresh and that’s inspiring. It must be pretty daunting to walk around being Jack DeJohnette -- you got your sound, you’ve got these records you’ve recorded....
KS Actually I saw him play at Carnegie the other night, and I have this sense with him -- it’s the same sense that I had from Herbie when I played with him... that there is no finality. If you think about somebody like Jack without finality it’s like oh my God how far is he gonna go?!
DK How do you see your role as a jazz drummer in the combo?
KS I think of myself as a color type of drummer. Sometimes I think of myself a little bit like Connie Kay orchestrating things... a roll here... a cymbal there, sometimes I think of it as Tony Williams or as Jack DeJohnette-- sometimes I play tympani on the floor tom like Connie Kay, but on the next song I’ll do something totally different... it’s hard for me to define my role, but I’m always there to support the solos and to give to the band whatever the band needs at the moment; if I’m going to step out at the moment, then I step out and then I come back-- I want to try to make the movement of the band seem seamless and my job is to make that seamlessness happen. Whether we’re moving in and out of songs, in and out of solos or in and out of melodies, I’m always trying to shape and orchestrate whatever is going on in the moment. I’m just always trying to be musical in whatever role I need to play. And I like giving up control-- I’m always giving and taking.
DK Like being everywhere once.
KS Of course I play with beautiful cats who can deal with that too. I love that about jazz, I love the empathy with other people in that conversation. Historically we can take things that Horace Silver and Ahmad Jamal have played, we take all those things, we learn that language we digest that language and speak our own -- it’s the most beautiful part about this music -- that you can have your own personality in this music.
DK What’s it like to start your own label from scratch these days? You’re the founder of World Culture Music.
KS It’s a really daunting thing actually. Right now we’re on a little hiatus because we’re working some things out and the beautiful thing is that we’ve gotten a lot of great reception and I’m really thankful to everyone. It’s a blessing and a curse at the same time. It’s a blessing to be so accepted but it’s a curse that the music industry is not so great. It’s hard work and at this point we’re actually looking for a business partner-- it’s just one of those things that I’m constantly working on. I have the drums, composing, and I’ve got World Culture Music -- so it’s all these things in one for me-- and for me it’s a lot.... I do multitask but right now I’m focusing on my personal CD and then after that I’m hoping that World Culture Music will pop up pop back up and take some more strides forward. We’ve gotten some nice press and we’ve put out some good records.
DK Thanks Kendrick; it’s been an honor. Good luck!
David Kovacs is a freelance writer and jazz musician living in Montreal, Canada.
