Yonrico Scott
Encyclopedia
Yonrico Scott is an American
Grammy Award
-winning drummer
and percussionist. He was a longtime member of The Derek Trucks Band
and is bandleader
of his own ensemble; the Yonrico Scott Band. Having developed his craft not only from years of session work, roadwork, and study, the Cape Cod Times
proclaimed him "a standout in the band... whose strong beats powered songs such as 'I'll Find My Way' off the group's Songlines
CD".
, Michigan
with a keen interest in music, encouraged by his family. He first showed interest in playing the drums, receiving lessons at age seven. For a period of time, while learning and practicing the drums, Scott moved on to playing gospel music
, and at age fourteen had mastered all that was available in the metropolitan city the previous year, earning him a reputation as the best performer in that genre
. Scott moved on and became a student Motown drummer
George Hamilton, with a growing interest in R&B music in his teens. He later worked as a session musician
for a large number of famous figures, including Stevie Wonder
.
After high school graduation, Scott attended the University of Kentucky
, where he graduated in 1978 with a Bachelor's Degree
, in performance percussion. After college, Scott moved to Atlanta, Georgia.
in 1995. Scott was the second permanent member (after bassist Todd Smallie) of the blues rock band, which toured extensively. During the band's formative years, Trucks added two other musicians, but was unsatisfied with their contributions, but Scott remained, through a metamorphosis of both personnel and musical direction while Trucks was assembling the band's final lineup, which was complete in 2002 with the addition of Mike Mattison
as vocalist, Kofi Burbridge (keyboards, flute and backing vocals), and occasional appearances by percusssionist Count M'Butu, as well as Trucks himself. By 2010, Scott had contributed to the songwriting and performed on every one of the band's six studio albums and both of their live albums. In 2010, accepted the Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Blues Album
for both himself and for all the other members of The Derek Trucks Band
at the 52nd Grammy Awards
, for their 2009 album, Already Free
.
At the close of 2009, Derek Trucks dissolved the band for at least a year of downtime and possibly some time to come. Trucks' wife, Susan Tedeschi
dismissed her sidemen, and joined Derek in a new project, The Tedeschi Trucks Band
. Scott recorded on Tedeschi's album, Wait for Me, in 2002. He performed with Earl Klugh, and played many gigs with The Yonrico Scott Band throughout 2010.
for the set list
illustration. The album gained its name from an Aboriginal
concept that the world had been sung into existence by a "totem
ic" elder beings who wandered the Australia
n continent along invisible pathways, brathing and singing the names of everything in creation. Those "songlines" became important as everything had been brought to life, and order in such a fashion. Scott's ability to represent this concept arrived both on the album cover and backdrop of the stage at the venues during The Derek Trucks Band's tour to support the album.
, Zildjian
sticks and cymbals, Lp Percussions
, Everyones Drumming.
in Greenville, SC.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
Grammy Award
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
-winning drummer
Drum kit
A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
and percussionist. He was a longtime member of The Derek Trucks Band
The Derek Trucks Band
The Derek Trucks Band has been called a "group of musicians that share a passion for improvisation and musical exploration" by a reviewer at Allmusic....
and is bandleader
Bandleader
A bandleader is the leader of a band of musicians. The term is most commonly, though not exclusively, used with a group that plays popular music as a small combo or a big band, such as one which plays jazz, blues, rhythm and blues or rock and roll music....
of his own ensemble; the Yonrico Scott Band. Having developed his craft not only from years of session work, roadwork, and study, the Cape Cod Times
Cape Cod Times
The Cape Cod Times is a broadsheet daily newspaper serving Cape Cod, Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket, Massachusetts, United States. It is owned by the Dow Jones Local Media Group, a subsidiary of News Corporation. It is also the sister paper of the weekly The Barnstable Patriot.-History:The paper...
proclaimed him "a standout in the band... whose strong beats powered songs such as 'I'll Find My Way' off the group's Songlines
Songlines
Songlines, also called Dreaming tracks by Indigenous Australians within the animist indigenous belief system, are paths across the land which mark the route followed by localised 'creator-beings' during the Dreaming...
CD".
Early years
Yonrico Scott was raised in DetroitDetroit, Michigan
Detroit is the major city among the primary cultural, financial, and transportation centers in the Metro Detroit area, a region of 5.2 million people. As the seat of Wayne County, the city of Detroit is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan and serves as a major port on the Detroit River...
, Michigan
Michigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
with a keen interest in music, encouraged by his family. He first showed interest in playing the drums, receiving lessons at age seven. For a period of time, while learning and practicing the drums, Scott moved on to playing gospel music
Gospel music
Gospel music is music that is written to express either personal, spiritual or a communal belief regarding Christian life, as well as to give a Christian alternative to mainstream secular music....
, and at age fourteen had mastered all that was available in the metropolitan city the previous year, earning him a reputation as the best performer in that genre
Genre
Genre , Greek: genos, γένος) is the term for any category of literature or other forms of art or culture, e.g. music, and in general, any type of discourse, whether written or spoken, audial or visual, based on some set of stylistic criteria. Genres are formed by conventions that change over time...
. Scott moved on and became a student Motown drummer
Motown Records
Motown is a record label originally founded by Berry Gordy, Jr. and incorporated as Motown Record Corporation in Detroit, Michigan, United States, on April 14, 1960. The name, a portmanteau of motor and town, is also a nickname for Detroit...
George Hamilton, with a growing interest in R&B music in his teens. He later worked as a session musician
Session musician
Session musicians are instrumental and vocal performers, musicians, who are available to work with others at live performances or recording sessions. Usually such musicians are not permanent members of a musical ensemble and often do not achieve fame in their own right as soloists or bandleaders...
for a large number of famous figures, including Stevie Wonder
Stevie Wonder
Stevland Hardaway Morris , better known by his stage name Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer and activist...
.
After high school graduation, Scott attended the University of Kentucky
University of Kentucky
The University of Kentucky, also known as UK, is a public co-educational university and is one of the state's two land-grant universities, located in Lexington, Kentucky...
, where he graduated in 1978 with a Bachelor's Degree
Bachelor's degree
A bachelor's degree is usually an academic degree awarded for an undergraduate course or major that generally lasts for three or four years, but can range anywhere from two to six years depending on the region of the world...
, in performance percussion. After college, Scott moved to Atlanta, Georgia.
Career
Scott joined The Derek Trucks BandThe Derek Trucks Band
The Derek Trucks Band has been called a "group of musicians that share a passion for improvisation and musical exploration" by a reviewer at Allmusic....
in 1995. Scott was the second permanent member (after bassist Todd Smallie) of the blues rock band, which toured extensively. During the band's formative years, Trucks added two other musicians, but was unsatisfied with their contributions, but Scott remained, through a metamorphosis of both personnel and musical direction while Trucks was assembling the band's final lineup, which was complete in 2002 with the addition of Mike Mattison
Mike Mattison
Mike Mattison is an American musician and the lead vocalist of the Grammy Award-winning blues rock sextet, The Derek Trucks Band. Mattison's vocal sound has been described as "strong," with an "expressive blues voice"...
as vocalist, Kofi Burbridge (keyboards, flute and backing vocals), and occasional appearances by percusssionist Count M'Butu, as well as Trucks himself. By 2010, Scott had contributed to the songwriting and performed on every one of the band's six studio albums and both of their live albums. In 2010, accepted the Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Blues Album
Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Blues Album
The Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Blues Album was awarded from 1988 to 2011. From 2001 to 2003 the award recipients included the producers and engineers as well as the artists...
for both himself and for all the other members of The Derek Trucks Band
The Derek Trucks Band
The Derek Trucks Band has been called a "group of musicians that share a passion for improvisation and musical exploration" by a reviewer at Allmusic....
at the 52nd Grammy Awards
52nd Grammy Awards
The 52nd Annual Grammy Awards took place on January 31, 2010, at Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. Neil Young was honored as the 2010 MusiCares Person of the Year on January 29, two days prior to the Grammy telecast. Only ten of the 109 awards were received during the broadcast...
, for their 2009 album, Already Free
Already Free
Already Free is the sixth studio album by The Derek Trucks Band. It was released in the US on January 13, 2009 by Legacy Recordings. A European release followed on February 20, 2009. The album has received very positive reviews, and debuted at #19 on the Billboard Top 200 reached #1 on the blues...
.
At the close of 2009, Derek Trucks dissolved the band for at least a year of downtime and possibly some time to come. Trucks' wife, Susan Tedeschi
Susan Tedeschi
Susan Tedeschi is an American blues and soul musician, who has received multiple Grammy Award nominations, and is well-known for her singing voice, guitar playing, stage presence, and marriage to blues guitarist Derek Trucks...
dismissed her sidemen, and joined Derek in a new project, The Tedeschi Trucks Band
Tedeschi Trucks Band
The Tedeschi Trucks Band, formerly known as the Derek Trucks & Susan Tedeschi Band is a blues rock group based in Jacksonville, Florida. Formed in 2010, the band is led by husband-and-wife musicians Derek Trucks and Susan Tedeschi, and primarily features members from their respective solo groups.-...
. Scott recorded on Tedeschi's album, Wait for Me, in 2002. He performed with Earl Klugh, and played many gigs with The Yonrico Scott Band throughout 2010.
Artwork
Yonrico Scott is credited on the album SonglinesSonglines (album)
Songlines is the sixth album by American slide guitarist Derek Trucks and his group the Derek Trucks Band. This is the group's first studio album to feature an expanded sextet.-Track listing:# Volunteered Slavery – 2:05...
for the set list
Set list
A set list, or setlist, is a document that lists the songs that a band or musical artist intends to play, or has played, during a specific concert performance...
illustration. The album gained its name from an Aboriginal
Australian Aborigines
Australian Aborigines , also called Aboriginal Australians, from the latin ab originem , are people who are indigenous to most of the Australian continentthat is, to mainland Australia and the island of Tasmania...
concept that the world had been sung into existence by a "totem
Totem
A totem is a stipulated ancestor of a group of people, such as a family, clan, group, lineage, or tribe.Totems support larger groups than the individual person. In kinship and descent, if the apical ancestor of a clan is nonhuman, it is called a totem...
ic" elder beings who wandered the Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n continent along invisible pathways, brathing and singing the names of everything in creation. Those "songlines" became important as everything had been brought to life, and order in such a fashion. Scott's ability to represent this concept arrived both on the album cover and backdrop of the stage at the venues during The Derek Trucks Band's tour to support the album.
Equipment
Scott uses Pearl DrumsPearl Drums
Founded in 1952, the is a multinational corporation based in Japan with a wide range of products, predominately percussion instruments.-History:Pearl was founded by Katsumi Yanagisawa, who began manufacturing music stands in Sumida, Tokyo on April 2, 1946...
, Zildjian
Avedis Zildjian Company
The Avedis Zildjian Company is a cymbal manufacturer founded in Istanbul by Armenian Avedis Zildjian in the 17th century during the Ottoman Empire. At nearly 400 years old, Zildjian is one of the oldest companies in the world...
sticks and cymbals, Lp Percussions
Latin Percussion
Latin Percussion, also known as LP, is a brand of percussion instruments, specializing in ethnic instruments engineered and manufactured to withstand the rigors of use in a drum kit, orchestral percussion section, and similar applications...
, Everyones Drumming.
Current work
Scott is recording his second solo album at Sit-N-Spin Recording StudiosSit-N-Spin Recording Studios
Sit-N-Spin Recording Studios is located in Greenville, SC. Sit-N-Spin has recorded local and nationally known musicians including grammy-winner Yonrico Scott.-Recordings:...
in Greenville, SC.
With The Derek Trucks Band
- The Derek Trucks BandThe Derek Trucks Band (album)-Personnel:Band Members*Derek Trucks - guitar, sarod*Todd Smallie - bass guitar*Bill McKay - organ, keyboards, synthesizer, clavinet, piano, vocals *Yonrico Scott - drums, tympani, conga drums, shakers, tambourine, maracas, sabasa, chimes...
(1997) - Out of the MadnessOut of the Madness-Personnel:The Derek Trucks Band*Derek Trucks - guitar*Todd Smallie - bass*Bill McKay - organ, keyboards*Yonrico Scott - drums, percussionOther personnel*Warren Haynes - vocals, guitar*Larry McCray - vocals, guitar*Jimmy Herring - guitar...
(1998) - Joyful NoiseJoyful Noise (album)-Personnel:The Derek Trucks Band*Derek Trucks - guitar*Yonrico Scott - drums, vocals, percussion*Kofi Burbridge, flute, vocals, keyboards*Todd Smallie - bass, vocalsAdditional personnel*Susan Tedeschi - vocals...
(2002) - Soul SerenadeSoul Serenade-Personnel:*Derek Trucks - guitar, sarod*Todd Smallie - Bass guitar*Yonrico Scott - drums, percussion*Bill McKay - Hammond B-3 organ, Wurlitzer Piano, keyboards*Kofi Burbridge - flute, clavinet, Fender Rhodes Piano, keyboardsAdditional personnel...
(2003) - Live at Georgia TheatreLive at Georgia TheatreLive at Georgia Theatre is the fifth album and first live album by American artist Derek Trucks and The Derek Trucks Band released in 2004 ....
(2004) - SonglinesSonglines (album)Songlines is the sixth album by American slide guitarist Derek Trucks and his group the Derek Trucks Band. This is the group's first studio album to feature an expanded sextet.-Track listing:# Volunteered Slavery – 2:05...
(2006) - Songlines LiveSonglines LiveSonglines Live is the second commercially released live recording and first DVD by American artist Derek Trucks, released in 2006...
(2006, DVD) - Already FreeAlready FreeAlready Free is the sixth studio album by The Derek Trucks Band. It was released in the US on January 13, 2009 by Legacy Recordings. A European release followed on February 20, 2009. The album has received very positive reviews, and debuted at #19 on the Billboard Top 200 reached #1 on the blues...
(2009) - RoadsongsRoadsongs (album)-Disc 2:...
(2010)
Other contributions
- Wait for Me (2002) (Susan TedeschiSusan TedeschiSusan Tedeschi is an American blues and soul musician, who has received multiple Grammy Award nominations, and is well-known for her singing voice, guitar playing, stage presence, and marriage to blues guitarist Derek Trucks...
) - Live... With a Little Help from Our Friends (Gov't MuleGov't MuleGov't Mule is a Southern rock jam band formed in 1994 as an Allman Brothers Band side project by Warren Haynes and Allen Woody.The band released their debut album Gov't Mule in 1995...
)