Wednesday, January 2, 2013

Album Review: Yonrico Scott-Be In My World

 Yonrico Scott
Be In My World
**and1/2 out of *****

The former drummer of The Derek Trucks Band stays behind the kit but steps out on his own with his first solo offering.  Be In My World is full of jazzy rhythms, R&B workouts and positive vibes. 

Bringing along former band mates gives the album a familiar glow as Kofi Burbridge (Keys, Flute) Mike Mattison (Backing Vocals) and bassist Todd Smallie all contribute, with Saxophonist Mace Hibbard providing soulful splashes; just like The Derek Trucks Band at its Grammy winning best.  In fact the namesake of the old group shows up to play stellar slide guitar on the Hibbard penned instrumental “Hear Me Now”, which just happens to be the albums highlight track. 

Scott’s next step finds him not stretching to far from home while showing off a noticeably laid back, smoother tone.  “Confused” gets the disk off to a funky start, while “Open Spirit” has a modern Gospel vibe, complete with Scott on vibraphone.  The vocals may not be perfect from Yonrico but they are heartfelt and fit the tunes, such as on the soulful “Walk Between The Raindrops”.  He also goes full on percussion mode with the short “To The Land” incorporating Congas, Bongos, Djembe and Quica.   

The instrumentals are where all the players assembled work best and should be sort out for their heartfelt playing (“Hear Me Now, “When You Click You Clack”).  The tracks tend to blend together becoming a bit forgettable the longer the hour long Be In My World progresses and perhaps next time out Scott and company will spice it up tempo wise, but for a newly christened front man this is a productive first step.        

(This review also appears here on Glide Magazine)
__________________________________________________________________
I have always enjoyed the Derek Trucks Band, and it was a pleasure to check out Yonrico Scott's first effort.  Granted I probably gave it an extra half of star up there because it was a drummer moving towards frontman, and there is just a good overall vibe to the album.  Tough to be too harsh on Scott especially when a few of the tracks are really good, particularly the instrumentals. 

Support the artist here, buy the album here, and peep a few samples below:


"The Thrill Is Gone" Live

No comments:

Post a Comment