What makes Nation Beat so special is that it offers no simple answers. When band leader Scott Kettner looks at a map, he sees a direct line that connects the rivers of northeastern Brazil to the parishes of New Orleans and the streets of NYC. A master percussionist, composer and educator, Kettner is the guiding force behind Nation Beat and has been tracing the similarities between the music and culture of northeastern Brazil and the American South for two decades, through recordings and performances as well as educational and community outreach programs.

 

More recently, Kettner has been conceptualizing a new sound for Nation Beat that blends the roots styles of New Orleans and Brazil with his background in jazz and hybrid drumming. In 2018 he began composing and collaborating with tenor saxophonist and arranger Paul Carlon. Together, they shaped the ensemble’s sound for their new phase in cross-cultural explorations, and furthering Nation Beat’s history of being rhythm gatherers, harvesting the fruit of 500 years of cultural crossbreeding resulting in a 21st century mash-up of the thunderous grooves of northeastern Brazil with the strolling swagger of New Orleans via NYC. Nation Beat is a NYC-Brazilian collision that parades with an infectious, audacious energy, seamlessly bridging folkloric Brazilian rhythms with classic American roots and jazz in an altogether creative and original manner.

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But all of this does not mean Nation Beat is simply an intellectual exercise or a musical history trip. Indeed they are far from it! As only could happen in today’s shrinking world, Nation Beat singularly conjures up this elemental musical mojo, drawing on the wellsprings of rhythm that lit up jazz and got maracatu thundering. Nation Beat takes off with be-bop-via-Brazil drumming; propelled by percussive bursts of New Orleans-flavored brass and hair-on-fire jazz improvisation. But forget the musical history; this is music to move you, music to make you dance.

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Nation Beat has released four full length albums and one EP - including 2021’s The 'Royal Chase', which garnered positive notice in all quarters, from Modern Drummer to the Arkansas Gazette to Jazziz to Sound and Colour. It charted on both Jazz and World radio charts, spending over a year on the Roots Report chart, peaking at #1. Their 5th album, 'Archaic Humans', co-produced by Jason Olaine, was released via Ropeadope Records on May 31, 2024.

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