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Live At The Rockwood Music
Hall
Dred Scott Trio (2007)
By Christopher Shoe
This album is the Dred Scott Trio’s tribute to one of
its most frequent gigs in New York. In a city where regular
engagements are more and more scarce it is a beautiful thing
to see the relationship this band shares with a venue; Live
at the Rockwood Music Hall is a beautiful showcase of this
dynamic piano trio.
Right away the listener is drawn in to the group’s lively
energy. “Well, You Might” is a solid opener, with
a pulsating melody that speaks of modernism. Scott’s
solo is equally mesmerizing; his lines soaring through the
chord changes at a speed that leaves listeners wondering what
just flew by them.
The band shows they know how to groove on “The Wizard.”
This modern and somewhat funky take on Black Sabbath’s
“The Wizard” speaks of a musical heritage in a
forward-looking style. Drummer Tony Mason shines on this track
with his cohorts driving him forward with the repetitious
melody. “This Ain’t No Russian Novel, Baby”
is beautiful in its simplicity and swinging in its feel. The
band blends together nicely for a fresh take on the modern
trio sound.
One comes away from this album confident that jazz is still
alive and kicking and that there are still places where it
is welcomed.
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Indie Sounds NY
Issue 9
from Indie Sounds: Top 10 of 2005
10. Dred Scott: Jazz. Not a big fan, except when it's live,
alternative and alcohol-inspired. Dred's trio hits the mark,
captivating listeners, especially during those late night
Tuesdays at the Rockwood.
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AllAboutJazz - New York
December 2005
By Terrell Holmes
On first glance, the most striking thing about
the disc Dred Scott Trio with Kenny Brooks is the
leader's historically significant name, a paradigm of injustice
that still resonates through the continuum of racism and social
reform. But the issue of real name or stage name is quickly
made irrlevant by the group's shimmering talent. Another striking
thing about the disc is its anachronistic brevity: the disc
clocks in at just over 37 minutes. The conciseness and on-point
musicality recall a time when jazz players' eloquent and enduring
statements were long enough to make their points without defeating
their own purposes. Jazz lovers can sample this Tuedays during
Scott's midnight set at the Rockwood Music hall, where he
leads a trio featuring bassist, Ben Rubin and drummer Diego
Voglino through a wide range of originals and standards, all
played with style and verve.
The tunes on the disc are originals, with Scott sharing the
writing duties with bassist Wilbur Krebs. Krebs' "(Rumpled)
Wilskins" begins with a lyrical, sparkling statement
by Scott, a Jarret-like calm before the storm, before the
rest of the goup jumps in with a jazz-funk riff, with Scott
and Krebs playing the theme in tandem. Guest star tenor man
Kenny Brooks builds strong and lyrical harmonic ideas on the
tenor, Krebs ditty-bops on electric bass and the under-appreciated
Kenny Wollesen shines on drums. Scott's solo here is wonderfully
constructed, punctuating the ideas he hinted at in his opening
with flowing harmonic riffs. Scott's "Regrets" is
a soft bop, brooding tune on a slow burn, skillfully interpreted
by the band, with Scott playing a thoughtful, melodically-flowing
solo before Brooks lowers the curtain with his feather-soft
tenor. Krebs" "King Biscuit" is a burner with
quickly shifting tempos and textures. Scott builds the tension
slowly, along the melody/harmony like a Formula 1 driver.
Wollesen provides the accents on cymbals and snare and then
its Scott's turn to shine, soloing with an ingenuity and ease
that recalls Kenny Kirkland. The disc concludes with the ballad
"Bobo", on which Krebs plays the acoustic guitar
as well as the bass (dred's note: it was just bass - a six
string), with more lush and introspective piano from Scott
that recalls Bill Evans and McCoy Tyner.
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CD Review
December 1993
By Miles Boisen
In this self-assured debut, Dred Scott acknowledges his acoustic
piano influences, then drowns them in torrents of hip facility.
He throws down the gauntlet to Chick Corea and Thelonious
Monk on "Well, You Might," weaving unfettered pantonality
between tributes to his mentors’ chiseled approaches.
"Papa Pete" typifies several cut-and-paste pursuits,
with bluesy swing, glittering unisons, and lush chordings
gathered into layered trio arrangements that hint at a hidden
orchestral potential. On the crepuscular beauty of the title
track, he downplays the piano’s percussive qualities,
exhibiting the moody resonance of Keith Jarrett. But such
semblances are trivial compared to the abundance and magnitude
of original ideas here.
Scott’s more striking constructions ally him with other
innovators who use jazz heritage as a foundation for group
improvisation, "serious" compositions, and formal
experiments. "Yaah!" integrates these disparate
elements perfectly, using an ominous main theme to connect
singsong phrases, tumbling free passages, and twisted backbeats.
Along with "Spiritual for Two Dead Charlies" (an
appropriation of Mingus’ late-‘50’s charts),
"Yaah!" adds the intertwined voices of saxophonists
Ken Brooks and Carlos Valdez to a commendably warm mix. The
piano sound is a bit lean in the lower registers, but superb
imaging and high-end clarity are a desirable side effect with
advantages for the gentler material, especially on the hypnotic
inside string-plucking of "Youngstown."
Despite the gloomy prognosis about small clubs, this disc
confirms a hopeful sentiment; after nearly a century, jazz
piano still has plenty of life left in it.
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Brilliant pianist thows in references from
many styles.
By Philip Elwood
San Franciso Examiner
Dec. 22, 1994
What did my wondering ears behold while strolling by Enrico’s
recently but the sounds of a piano wafting over the din of
diners’ chatter and out into the night air.
To my astonishment, I heard some brilliant keyboard variations
on "Seven Steps to Heaven," one ot the best compositions
played - and recorded a couple of times (1963-64) - by one
of the best Miles Davis groups ever.
"What have we here?" I wondered. What we had, I
discovered, was pianist Dred Scott, empathetically joined
by bassist Wilbur Krebs and drummer Joe Brigandi.
"Seven Steps..." was written by Victor Feldman during
his short tenure as Davis’ pianist. It’s a very
tough chart, designed to accommodate screaming outbursts from
Davis’ trumpet and George Coleman’s sax. To weave
through its complex fabric in a piano improvisation is an
ambitious venture, yet Scott, Krebs and Brigandi tossed it
off impressively - with ease.
As the set moved along, fragments of Lennie Tristano’s
strolling left hand figures popped up occasionally, as did
some of the elegant, subtle chording that Ahmad Jamal introduced
to 1950"s "cool" jazz.
Scott is not just a fine - in fact, magnificent - pianist;
he is a fine, magnificent all-around musician. Although he
has been on the San Francisco music scene for a number of
years, he’s not nearly as well known among the jazz
crowd as he is to SOMA club habitues. He’s a main cog
in the hip-hop/acid-jazz/rap ban Alphabet Soup as well as
a guiding force in Third Plane.
Scott also plays with funk groups like President’s Breakfast
and Moe Dark and the Love Posse, and has played, composed
and acted with the S.F. Mime Troupe as well as working with
the Margaret Jenkins Dance Company and others.
It’s that musical eclecticism that encouraged famed
new-music guru Anthony Braxton to include Scott on an L.A.
recording session, and over the years Scott has recorded with
Steve Horowitz’s The Code, drummers Joe Morello and
Andrew Cyrille and bassist Cecil McBee.
Scott studied music at the University of Akron in Ohio and
seems to find inclusion of riffs from Schoenberg and Stravinsky
to be as natural as keyboard references to Bud Powell or Thelonious
Monk. Sometimes, as in this improvisations on "What Is
This Thins Called Love?" ("Hot House" to the
bopsters) Scott combines a dozen styles in playing on top
of delightfully bopping, bouncing, swinging bass and drum
rhythms. He is obviously an enthusiast of interesting, original
music that appeals to a young, body-moving audience.
Scott’s CD, "Dred X-Mas," (available wherever
he’s playing, and in a number of hip CD shops) is a
one-man tour de force. On 11 Christmas songs, Scott plays
nearly as many instruments - piano, bass, guitar, accordion,
keyboards, timbales, tablas, conga drums and others.
And though some interpretations are adventures in jazz ("Jingle
Bells," "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas"),
most are delightfully unusual performances - "Let it
Snow" becomes a polka, featuring an accordion trio; "Silent
Night" becomes a country-western waltz, with slide guitars;
"God Rest Ye Merry Gentleman" is played by piano
and tabla as a raga.
Scott plays at Enrico’s Thursday night, if he gets back
on time from a Hong Kong gig.
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