Kendrick Scott’s long-running five-piece ensemble, Oracle, is unrelentingly contemporary in its sound, in part thanks to the inclusion of an electric guitar. But arranging music for a smaller contingent of players requires a different tack. On Corridors, Scott—a drummer whose credits include work with vocalist Kurt Elling and trumpeter Terence Blanchard—scales down to a trio with tenor saxophonist Walter Smith III and bassist Reuben Rogers to offer a selection of new, multidimensional music. “A Voice Through the Door” features a sedate main statement by Smith, a longtime Scott collaborator who’s set to issue his Blue Note debut in April. The song is airy enough for the drummer’s decaying cymbal sound to serve as a main character, and it’s all the more intriguing for the group’s restraint. Slotted into the middle of the album is a swinging, full-throated take on “Isn’t This My Sound Around Me?,” a composition originally included on a 1994 duo release by vibraphonist Bobby Hutcherson and pianist McCoy Tyner. The second half of Corridors—or the song’s titles, at least—point to some kind of promised future. Given the sparse setting, Smith is the trio’s main voice, and his unfaltering tone and ability to unfurl endless lines defines the music, even as “Your Destiny Awaits” showcases Scott’s funkiest drumming on the album. On the final track and capstone, “Threshold,” the bandlander takes his time with a well-textured solo that makes use of the kit’s full dynamic range. The song shifts in pace and feeling more than in melody, a fitting closer for an album led by a drummer capable of building monumental swing from basic parts.
Kendrick Scott’s Corridors is available through Blue Note.
