If good sidemen affect the music of leaders then the converse may also hold true. In some ways this enjoyable album by the highly respected Texan drummer has strong echoes of the A-listers with whom he has worked – the wistful, countryish themes of Pat Metheny; the glowing harmonies of Terence Blanchard; the soulfulness of Lizz Wright, who also makes an appearance. Yet despite the clarity of these references Scott has sufficient strength of character to go beyond lazy derivatives, and if anything personalises his writing by reaching further back to a touchstone for the above, Wayne Shorter. The sense of soft but penetrating stillness that Shorter created on the timeless Native Dancer album pervades much of the work but what Scott has cleverly done is introduce elements of contemporary soul and pop without losing any subtlety. It's relatively unusual for a jazz drummer, especially one with Scott's facility, to perform material that is mostly down tempo but the setting simply gives him a chance to show his great powers of understatement as well as emphasis. Rather than an album that foregrounds the idea of ‘drummer as drummer’ this is very much ‘drummer as musician’, and is no worse for it as a result.