Nation Beat - Forró de Dois Amigos
INTERVIEW: NATION BEAT’S SCOTT KETTNER TALKS ABOUT MUSIC AND INNOVATION
Nation Beat recently unveiled the music video for “Forró de Dois Amigos,” a song written by Edmilson do Pifano and reimagined by Nation Beat. The track is from Nation Beat’s forthcoming album, The Royal Chase, slated to drop September 18.
Nation Beat
Piloted by drummer/percussionist Scott Kettner, the collective blends the delicious savors of Louisiana jazz with the heady aromas of northeastern Brazil, resulting in an inimitable sound rife with funk, forró, brass n’ sass!
Kettner explains, “I wanted to reimagine the classic forró songs from Brazil as vehicles for improvisation in a funky brass band format. I’ve always imagined my musical heroes making music together and what it would sound like, what kind of energy it would generate. Dr. John and the Preservation Hall Jazz Band meets Chico Science and Jackson do Pandeiro.”
Co-produced by Kettner and Rob Curto (Lila Downs, David Krakauer), The Royal Chase features flavors of contagious New Orleans jazz merging with Brazilian Baião riding maracatu beats pushing Second Line flair.
Rawckus caught up with Scott Kettner to discover more about his influences, Nation Beat’s genesis, and Scott’s weekly drum sessions, as well as live music streams every Tuesday at 8 p.m. ET via Facebook.
What’s your favorite song to belt out in the car or the shower?
"Roxanne" by The Police.
Who is your favorite music artist?
Louis Armstrong.
How did you get started in music? What’s the backstory there?
Music and dance have always surrounded me since I was a young child. My grandmother, parents, and extended family members always listened to music and had an appreciation for it. My grandma grew up in NYC during the 1930s-’40s and used to tell me stories of her skipping school to see Count Basie and Duke Ellington play matinee shows on 52nd Street. Those stories always stuck with me and helped shape my appreciation for music. I began playing drums around the age of nine when one of my neighbors got a drum set for Christmas, and I became enchanted with it immediately. From that point, I took private drum lessons, joined the school band, and started my own bands that performed at school dances and parties. The rest is history, a lifetime royal chase of pursuing music.
What musicians influenced you the most?
Some of my main influences include Louis Armstrong, John Coltrane, Leonard Cohen, Tom Jobim, Fela Kuti, Chico Science, Gilberto Gil, Tom Ze, Jackson do Pandeiro, Led Zeppelin, Rebirth Brass Band, Dr. John, Professor Longhair, Elvin Jones, Brian Blade, Willie Nelson, Hank Williams, Luis Gonzaga, Mestre Ambrosio, Cascabulho and so many more. It’s a bit of a schizophrenic list of influences! Lol.
How did Nation Beat come to get together?
The Royal Chase album was a sound that I had in my head for the band ever since our 2008 release Legends of The Preacher which featured The Klezmatics. I’ve always loved the brass band sound from the days of high school marching band and later on, getting into jazz and New Orleans second-line music. I knew I wanted to collaborate with a horn arranger to help find the right harmonies that blended well with the hybrid rhythms I was playing. I reached out to my friend Paul Carlon (tenor sax) who had toured with Tony Allen and has worked with a lot of Afro-Cuban artists. I knew he was perfect for this project because of his background with blending complex rhythms with jazz harmony, all while keeping the dance element alive. This was very important to us…. "we can’t interrupt the dance!!” He introduced me to Mark Collins (trumpet) and Mariel Bildsten (trombone). I met Joe Correia (sousaphone) through the Honk NYC street brass band scene. I started Nation Beat in 2002. The concept is to collaborate and blend the music of northeastern Brazil and North America. Over the years, the concept has evolved and has become our natural approach to writing and arranging.
Who is in the band and which instrument do they play?
Nation Beat is:
Scott Kettner: drum set and percussion.
Paul Carlon: tenor sax and horn arrangements.
Mark Collins: trumpet.
Mariel Bildsten: trombone.
Joe Correia: sousaphone.
What inspired your new song “Forró de Dois Amigos?”
“Forró de Dois Amigos” was written by Edmilson do Pifano, one of the great cane flute players and composers from the northeast of Brazil. Our arrangement is very different from the original. Our concept was to reimagine this song as a vehicle for improvisation and blending New Orleans with Brazil. On this track, I’m playing a hybrid Cissy Strut + Forró + Funk groove which became the impetus for the horn arrangement that Paul Carlon wrote.
I started Nation Beat in 2002. The concept is to collaborate and blend the music of northeastern Brazil and North America.
You have a new album, The Royal Chase, dropping in the middle of September. What does the title of the album refer to?
The album kicks off with a spoken word bit from an interview I did with Mardi Gras Indian Spyboy Honey Banister from New Orleans. He discusses, through the metaphor of sewing an Indian suit, the process of working to keep his culture alive, and the dismay that younger generations are not keeping the flame burning due to their lack of discipline and focus. They don’t have time to sew with their faces in their cellphones and other distractions. This is really the overriding theme for the album. Every day, we wake up with a mission to accomplish many personal goals. Some of them are small and easy to attain while others are big picture goals that take years and maybe even a lifetime to accomplish, but they require discipline and focus. These big goals, which seem to stay just a little bit in front of us as we continue running after them, is what I call THE ROYAL CHASE. It's that thing burning inside, driving us to do what we love simply because it’s what we’re put on Earth to do. I believe all of us have an internal Royal Chase - if we listen internally and focus, we know our mission, our goal, and we get running after it. It’s The Royal Chase that gets us out of bed every day!
What can you share about the album?
I’m very excited about this album because it represents an evolutionary new sound for the band. I’ve always loved the sound of brass and drums, so for this record, I collaborated with my friend Paul Carlon to write the horn arrangements. I also partnered with my longtime musical collaborator Rob Curto who produced the album with me. The co-producer and mixing engineer Alan Friedman, who works as a sound designer, brought a unique sonic vibe to the album by taking a non-conventional approach to the mix. The music and the grooves on this album were designed to bring the listener on a rhythmic and improvisational journey which blurs the lines between genres.
What’s the worst decision you ever made as a band?
I truly feel that we have always made band decisions collectively and consciously. As a bandleader, I have certainly made mistakes that have taught me to do things better and more efficiently such as always being transparent about the business.
Why make music?
The music is inside of me and I have no other choice but to share it and try to elevate listeners to a place where there’s no space or time. I play music to help people feel good.
How are you handling the coronavirus situation?
It was a struggle in the beginning, but I’ve been getting used to it. I have been using the time to learn new instruments and media techniques which I believe will become part of the future landscape of our industry. Things like VR/AR technology have always intrigued me, and all of this non-touring time has given me space to explore these aspects in more depth.
Looking to the future, what’s next?
I’m always keeping my eye on the future and planning new projects. I’ve been writing new songs for Nation Beat and exploring digitally interactive approaches as vehicles for creating and sharing new music. I’ve also been designing a lot of online learning content which I see as a future industry for artists.
Follow Nation Beat Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Spotify
