NATION BEAT

ARCHAIC HUMANS

Ropeadope Records

Scott Kettner, drums/percussion/composer; Paul Carlon, tenor saxophone/arranger/composer; Mark Collins, trumpet; Tom McHugh, trombone; Heather Ewer, sousaphone. SPECIAL GUESTS: Melanie Scholtz, vocals/composer; Christylez Bacon, beatbox/rhymes/spoken word; Luca Texeira, percussion; Michael Spiro, congas/percussion.

Scott Kettner is the master percussionist, composer and educator who is the guiding force behind the Nation Beat group.  For some time, he has been researching the similarities between the Northeastern culture of Brazil and the American South.  Kettner has a background in hybrid drumming, particularly the music of jazz.

In 2018, he and Paul Carlon began composing and collaborating.  Carlon is a respected saxophonist.  Blending Kettner’s drum skills and Carlon’s mastery of the tenor saxophone, they use no string instruments at all. The two have created a unique group sound that they named Nation Beat.  There is no guitar, piano or bass to drive this music forward.  There is only drums and a hand full of horns.  Surprisingly, I am completely satisfied with their sound. I don’t even miss the normal, expected rhythm section. This quintet strikes a groove on each original composition and their music is full of fun, happy as a child at the circus.

They open with “Try Try Try” an original composition by Paul Carlon. It begins like a processional hymn and the melody quickly engages me.  However, it only lasts for just under a moment, like an interlude. Then the drums kick-in and establish an upbeat groove for Track #2 called “Science Tribes.”  I find myself tapping my toe and humming along with the comfortable and repeatable melodic structure. Luca Texeira adds percussion to the arrangement. Mark Collins takes a tasty solo on trumpet. Tom McHugh uses his trombone to sometimes act like a bass line, but it’s Heather Ewer, on sousaphone, who really plays that bass part. Paul Carlon soars during his tenor saxophone solo on this tune.  He has also arranged the horns for this project.  I hear a taste of New Orleans jazz blended into this arrangement, perfect and tasty, like salt in the stew.

On the title tune, I clearly hear the Brazilian influence.  This is a tune that Kettner and Carlon wrote together.  Their ensemble adds several vocal outbursts to raise the exuberance and tension during the tune, along with the wonderful drumming of Kettner, who is the driving force behind this unique musical package.

On “Always Spring With You” they feature Melanie Scholtz on vocals and she helped compose this song.  She layers her voice, adding harmonies.  The other female on this project plays the large and cumbersome sousaphone instrument.  It’s bent in the middle to wrap around the body of the musician and sounds a lot like a tuba.  It definitely adds the bass to this music. You can really enjoy this instrument on a tune they call “Forro Le Fonque.”  You get a little of everything on this album, including a bit of the Hip Hop culture when special guest, Christylez Bacon, adds his rhymes to the mix on “Give A Little.”  Michael Spiro slaps his congas, lifting the arrangement on a tune called “Mo Forró.”

You will find yourself captivated by the varying arrangements and the natural way these expert musicians blend with each other. I found it totally unnecessary to have a traditional rhythm section. This is cultural crossbreeding at its best.  In some respects, this is experimental jazz. In other respects, it’s fusion, but always entertaining, unique, and well played.

Reviewed by Dee Dee McNeil

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