Yonrico Scott – Quest of the Big Drum

[rating=6.00]

yonricoQuest of the Big Drum is the second solo album by acclaimed drummer Yonrico Scott, following his 2012 debut, Be In My World. In his sophomore release, Scott doesn’t stray far from the formula he perfected over the years with various bands and on his debut. The album showcases the drummer’s rhythmic chops and heavy jazz fills. It is a collection of funky jazz jams, fat-bottomed bass grooves and monster percussion, but little attention is paid to storytelling. With a career of session drum work and providing the backbone for great jam acts like The Derek Trucks Band, Scott has an infinite bag of tricks when it comes to laying down rhythm. Unfortunately, when fronting his own band, Scott has little more to say than when anchoring someone else’s band.

About half of Quest of the Big Drum is made of instrumental jams. On the other half, Scott’s vocals are strong and soulful, but his voice is treated as just another instrument, where the words  he sings are less important than the way his baritone meshes with Joseph Patrick Moore’s bassline. “Sound of the Drum” finds Scott chanting in a way that serves to reinforce the thumping rhythm. The actual lyrics being chanted are of only a secondary concern.

All of that is to say that the album sounds like that of a band fronted by a virtuoso drummer. Forget about what is being said and pay attention to how it’s being said. Scott powers the ominous “Death Watch” with a bludgeoning bass drum that crashes through Nick Rosen’s breezy Rhodes piano fills. “Train” is carried by a rapid-fire drum lead and a staccato clavinet lick that recalls the segmented pitch of a train flying down the track.

If Scott’s lyrics are uninspired, the song structures are equally so. In fact, each song would function just as well as a backing track for a guitarist like Trucks to solo over. Where Quest of the Big Drum excels, however, is producing infectious grooves that draw the listener into the carefree world that sounds like a drunken night in a smoke-filled, dimly lit basement bar. This isn’t literary music; it’s primal scream via slithering slap bass and yes, an appropriately big drum. In that way, Scott’s Quest is a successful one.

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