Scott McLemore | drummer and composer

This was the most successful jazz festival Reykjavik has ever seen. Moving it a month early really made a huge difference (as did the affordable passes). On top of getting to see some great shows, I got to play 3 nights in a row with ASA Trio and then was given my own night to organize, for which I invited Jónsson and More, Frisell Projekt and saxophonist Óskar Guðjónsson for an improvised duet. We were so inspired after the 2nd night of the ASA Trio gigs that we decided to offer a live recording for FREE on Bandcamp. The recording quality is excellent since it was recorded by RÚV (Icelandic national radio). I'll be posting more free live recordings as soon as the festival sorts things out. They recorded every gig over a 20 day festival! Well, I can breathe a sign of relief. For the past few months I have been slaving over a redesign of my wife Sunna Gunnlaugs' website. I also created a new newsletter and set up a new mailing-list. She has a new CD called "Songs from Iceland" which is 5 tracks which were recorded on the same day as her CD "Mindful" with Tony Malaby We're taking a long overdue trip to the States to spend Christmas with my family in Virginia Beach, and while we're there we will be playing one concert. Bassist Jimmy Masters will join Sunna Gunnlaugs and myself at the Fellowship of the Inner Light (a little church with a nice grand piano) at 620 14th St. Click for map. Tickets are $10. We are looking forward to seeing friends and family (even if they don't come to the concert) and eating some pecan pie! Playing 3 gigs this week with Frisell Projekt (Sunna, Robbi and me doing our version of Bill Frisell's music) plus two with Kristjana Stefánsdóttir and one with Thin Jim and the Castaways. Three of these gigs are at Cafe Rosenberg which is "the" new place for live music in Reykjavik. Other than that, I'm trying to figure out if I'm upset over Iceland's economy or overjoyed about Obama. I guess it's both. It's a very interesting time. I was on Icelandic TV tonight. You can see me with ASA Trio (Andrés Thor on guitar and Agnar Már on organ) playing Fiona Apple's tune Get Him Back on Icelandic TV at this link: ASA Trio plays Fiona Apple And also from Tuesday night with singer Kristjana Stefánsdottir here: Kristjana Stefánsdóttir: Better Days Blues The only drag is you have to wait through the whole damn 30min broadcast to get to us. No fast-forwarding and we're the last thing on the show! So I'm working on extracting the clips and setting them on YouTube for convenience. The drums are not really in synch with the picture which almost sends me into convulsions, but for non-drummers it should be virtually painless. I just started playing with the country-ish band Thin Jim and the Castaways and already I'm going out of the country for a gig with them. Beatles Museam here I come! Sep. 18, 2008 10pm The Magnet www.magnetliverpool.co.uk Since I've been such a slouch about updating this site, I figured I should take a minute and recap what's been going on lately. I just played on the final concert of the Reykjavik Jazz Festival with singer Kristjana Stefánsdóttir. It was also the CD release concert for her new blues album called Better Days Blues. Should be available for download soon at the link below. Dimma on Grapewire I just had a great gig last night with bassist Andrí Ólafsson and company as part of the BítBox (BeatBox) series at Glaumbar. It was supposed to be Afropop, but we decided to play improvised funk all night, since I was subbing in the band and not really a student of Afropop music (although I do listen to Fela Kuti and Antibalas). Otherwise the fall Múlinn Jazzclub schedule has been announced and I'm playing on a few of those. See my schedule for details. Where have I been, you ask? That is a very good question. I'm embarrassed to say that I really ignored my website for almost a full year. It's no coincidence that my 2nd daughter, Isabella Huld is now 10 months old. I've had my hands full, but I wouldn't have it any other way. She's amazing. Nevertheless, the time has come to get back into the world of music on the web. Below are a few links to some pages that have recently come into being. And I promise more frequent updates and activity in general. I'm even considering a total redesign of this site. We'll see. MySpace
Facebook
iLike
If you're in Reykjavik for the Airwaves festival (only the most bestest rock music festival in whole wide world) then c'mon by Gaukurinn to see BonSom on Sunday (21.10) at 9pm. It's a quick 30 minute set so don't be late! That's right. We're doing it again, and this time at a concert house, with lights and sound and a real grand piano... although we won't use it much since Sunna will be playing Wurlitzer most of the time. But it will look nice. We've got Robbi Þorhallsson (Þ is pronounced like Th if that helps) on electric bass. It's gonna be great. Come out and find out why we're thrilled about playing this music. Tuesday, September 25th, 8pm, Salurinn, Kópavogur, Iceland, Earth. See ya. The debut CD by BonSom was released on June 14th by Dimma Records. We are all very excited about the CD and the general band concept. Although the CD includes some fairly jazzy pieces, we are definitely headed in the direction of an instrumental rock band. BonSom is hitting the road on July 18th to promote the CD around Iceland. For a complete schedule check my Shows page or for more info goto our myspace page.

. My first entry of 2007 brings word of nice things being said about my debut CD: Found Music. New reviews have popped up on AllAboutJazz.com, JazzReview.com and AllAboutJazz in Italy.

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I'm also happy to announce that I am performing with five bands on the Spring/Summer Múlinn concert series. The concerts are on Thursday-nights at 9pm at Domo, Reykjavik. Aside from that I have been playing at Cafe Rosenberg some lately with various projects. Recently I had a whopping good time with Other Trio (Eirikur Orri and Robbi Reynisson), BonSom (Andrés Þór, Eyjólfur Þórleifsson and Toggi Jónsson), and Danish bassist Esben Bladbjerg with Hilmar Jensson. Coming up is a gig with Andrés Þór's quartet on Wednesday (3.14). Well, the time has finally come for me to show my true colors - to those who it isn't blatantly apparent already. I've "arranged" a night of music by Bill Frisell as part of the Múlinn concert series at Domo in Reykjavik. I decided not to use guitar in the band to avoid any tendencies to copy Frisell's recordings. (Of course, a little can't be helped no matter what you do.) We're trying to show the strength of his compositions, even without his unique sound. Joining me with be Sunna Gunnlaugs on electric piano and Róbert Þórhallsson on bass. Domo, Thursday Dec. 7 at 9:30pm. Had a great gig with guitarist Andrés Þór and Aggi Magnusson on organ playing Monk tunes. It was my first experience at Domo, the new venue for Múlinn (the local jazz orginization). Things are looking up for jazz in Reykjavik. It even has a red curtain... which guarantees a great sound. Other colors don't work. A new CD just came out that I play on. It was a collaboration between singer Elisabet Eyþórsdóttir, guitarist/composer Börkur Birgisson and poet Einar Már. I'm quite proud of how it turned out. I don't understand much of the lyrics, but the vibe is great. Different than anything I've done. It seems like every day is overcast and every night is totally clear and beautiful. Nice sunsets, but the rest of the time it sucks. On the up side, I'm about to go in the studio with a new collective trio called Utlendish with Óskar Guðjónsson and Simon Jermyn. More on that later. We just played at Kaffi Kultur, with special guest Joachim Badenhorst (from Belgium) but there is also a chance we might be performing at 12 Tónar on Friday afternoon. However, I am definitely about to fly to the northern town of Akúreyri to play on the Listasumar festival with Andrés Thor's quartet - which just released the CD Nyr Dagur on Dimma records. Sunna and I are back from 5 weeks of traveling. First was NYC, CT and VA. Then 2 weeks in the Canary Islands lounging and eating gazpacho. There was a gig in New Haven, CT with John Hebert and Loren Stillman - two of my most favoritest musicians on this here earth. Getting back into the swing of things we played yesterday at Jomfruin with Toggi Jónsson and Óskar Guðjónsson, which was a blast. I debuted my new (1978) Sonor Phonic drumset... which was also a blast. I used to love that show! Anyway, the latest is that I had a great gig with Eirikur Orri and the gang on Wednesday. Thanks to all who attended. I just did two days in the studio with guitarist Andres Thor (with Siggi Flosason and Valdi Kolli) which went really well. That should be an actual CD soon on the Icelandic Dimma label. In news abroad, a CD I both played on and designed has been released. I'm in Crinoline, by Amy Kohn on the NuNoise label is available here. That's all the news for now. The long awaited (by me at least) Found Music on Fresh Sound New Talent. The disc is a collection of my own writing and features Tony Malaby, Ben Monder and Ben Street. Read more about it in the CDs section.

. Happy new year everyone! I've been pretty lax about maintaining my site. Sorry about that. I'm going to do better this year. I promise. Lots of exciting things are on the horizon. I don't want to mention them all now and spoil the surprise, but one that I just can't keep to myself is the long awaited release of my first CD as a leader. Fresh Sound New Talent is actually going to put it out. Honest. I don't have an exact date but early next month is a safe bet. More on that later. Well, I'm back! I apologize for the interruption, but scottmclemore.com became temporarily expired. The same goes for my email. Everything is up and running now. Getting ready to do a string of gigs with Kristjana Stefánsdóttir and Aggi Magnusson supporting the release of their new CD, "Me For You." Check the schedule. I know it's not possible to top the last entry, but I want to let everyone know that I had a great time at the Reykjavik Jazz Festival. I played twice with guitarist Andres Thor in two different trios. I also have a gig coming up this weekend at the National Theater (or the club underneath it) with Icelandic guitar legend Jón Páll and organist Aggi Magnússon. This will kick off the new season of Múlinn at which we all hope to be great new location. Also in the works is a steady Saturday night gig in the same club under the National Theater. More on that later. I'm a father! My wife Sunna Gunnlaugs gave birth to Elsa Lóa McLemore on August 28 at 4:35pm in Reykjavik, Iceland. She's incredible. Here's proof:

. Looking forward to a few rare opportunities to play with the organ trio B3, as the fantastic drummer Erick Qvick is on vacation in Sweden. If you happen to live in the north of Iceland, come check us out! Just finished up a great string of gigs with Sunna and Norwegian bassist Eivind Opsvik. It was a collaborative effort, with the material written by all three of us. We also did a studio recording after the last gig which will hopefully turn into a CD at some point. Hi everyone. I'm trying to post news here at least once a month. I don't know if anyone is actually reading it, but it's more for me anyway. I just like having this little outlet in my life. This and beating the hell out of the drums keeps me smiling and free of any psychological problems. =) Anyway, I updated the site to include links. Happy surfing! It's been a while since my last entry. I really need to keep up with this website thing. Well, I did a graduation recital with some young musicians here (Reykjavik, that is) not knowing what I was getting myself into. It turned out to be great. I'm constantly amazed by the high level of musicianship in this country. With only 280,000 people the odds are against them. Now the same group is playing at Pravda, the new jazz hang on Thursday (June 2nd). See my schedule for more details.

Found a cool image-based clock that I just can't keep to myself. The clock displays a different image every minute. Hours of entertainment for the whole family! Click on the image to download it for free from Blu Dot furniture. I guess it's kind of like digital furniture. There's even a movie about the making of the clock on the site. I'm starting to get used to this new site. Just figured out how to display Icelandic characters for the press section. For those who don't know, I moved here with my wife Sunna Gunnlaugs and now I'm starting to get some press. Of course if your not Icelandic you probably won't understand it. I'm not sure whether it's worth it to post a translation. At one point the reviewer calls me "a cow for Iceland." I think that's a compliment. Oh boy! I saw my good friend Matt Cowan last night. He's in Iceland for a gig with Tread, a collective trio which happens to include Icelandic guitarist Robert Reynisson. The group formed while they all lived in Zurich and now, since Robert moved home, hopefully I'll be seeing more of Matt. Ok, so something I should point out about the new site is that... I made it. I know it says "designed by d'steam" but I own d-steam. This site is supposed to be about my life as a drummer, but I just wanted to breifly acknowledge that I lead a double life. In case anyone is interested, this site is a combination of Flash, CSS, and XML. You can see more sites I've made at d-steam.com. Wow. This is different. I have a new website. I was so tired of that other dreary looking page. As much as I liked the shot of the house drums at Detour, it was too dark. This is much more me. I'm back in white. For those of you who miss the old site, see below. I even kept the shot of me doing what I do best in the top left corner.

Scott McLemore, Sunna Gunnlaugs and Jimmy Masters Jimmy Masters - bass Sunna Gunnlaugs - piano Fellowship of the Inner Light (a little church with a nice grand piano) 620 14th St. Click for map. $10 Admission Frisell Projekt Sunna Gunnlaugs - wurlitzer and piano Robbi Thorhallsson - bass www.myspace.com/frisellprojekt Frisell Projekt Performance for students. Sunna Gunnlaugs - wurlitzer and piano Robbi Thorhallsson - bass www.myspace.com/frisellprojekt Thin Jim and the Castaways Country/Folk/Pop/Rock Frisell Projekt Performance for music students. Sunna Gunnlaugs - wurlitzer and piano Robbi Thorhallsson - bass www.myspace.com/frisellprojekt Thin Jim and the Castaways Country/Folk/Pop/Rock Andrés Thor Trio Andrés Þór Gunnlaugsson - guitar Andreas Dreier - bass Jóel Pálsson Quartet Part of the Múlinn Jazzclub concert series. Saxophonist Jóel Pálsson plays the music of Thelonious Monk with Eyþor Gunnarsson on piano, and Valdimar Jóhann Ásmundsson on bass.

Scott McLemore (b. Feb. 1, 1973 Norfolk, VA) is a drummer based in Reykjavik, Iceland. He began playing music professionally at age 16 with a rock band in high school and joined the rock/funk band Ant Man Bee in 1990 with which he recorded an album and toured the east coast playing the college circuit. McLemore attended the University of Virginia's Writers Workshop in 1990 where he met trumpeter John D'earth. McLemore has since performed countless times with D'earth in various groups and has also brought the trumpeter to New York to perform at the Knitting Factory. He attended Old Dominion University 1992-93 where he studied jazz performance and composition. He also studied drums privately with Howard Curtis and started subbing for Curtis with Toomey and bassist Jimmy Masters around the same time. Although no formal lessons took place, McLemore owes a debt of gratitude to Masters for his giving nature and relentless encouragement. In 1993 Scott transfered to William Paterson College and started playing jazz professionally in nearby New York City. In 1997 he graduated from William Paterson College with a B.M. in Jazz Studies where he studied drums with John Riley, composition with Vic Juris and had various ensembles lead by Rufus Reid et al. While attending WPC he also toured the US with guitarist Tim Reynolds. In 1997 he moved to New York where he lived for 8 years and played with such talented musicians as: Sunna Gunnlaugs, Ben Monder, Michael Kanan, Tony Malaby, Angelica Sanchez, David Berkman, Chris Cheek, George Colligan, Kerry Politzer, Mark Helias, and Tim Berne. His work as a leader has resulted in a recording with Tony Malaby, Ben Monder and Ben Street called "Found Music" on Fresh Sound New Talent Records.

Dimma Records Available in U.S. August 1, 2007. Customers can pre-order here by clicking the "Buy Now" link. $15.00 BonSom is a collaborative effort between myself and saxophonist Eyjólfur Þorleifsson,guitarist Andres Þór Gunnlaugsson, and bassist Þórgrímur Jónsson. The goal was to form an instrumental rock band, and although the debut CD includes some jazzier pieces, we are definitely headed in a more rock informed direction. Fresh Sound New Talent Records $13.00 This is a collection of 9 of my own tunes. There is an explanation of the title in the liner notes. You'll have to buy a copy to find out what it means. How exciting! Tony Malaby - tenor saxophone Ben Monder - guitar Ben Street - bass Like nothing I've ever done. A blend of folk and pop that even my mom could dig. Although it is billed under the singer's name, it is really a collaboration between the gorgeous voice of Elísabet with highly melodic music written by guitarist Börkur Hrafn Birgisson and (supposedly) clever lyrics by poet Einar Már Guðmundsson. One of my first gigs upon moving to Iceland was with this quartet. It's an energetic band and the writing is superb. My very first Christmas CD! Lots of two-beats. Has a sort of country vibe. Great singer. Great band lead by a greater singer/pianist/accordianist/etc. Longest, most involved recording project I've ever done. Strings and horns and whatnot. Very deep.

Amy Kohn - voice, piano, accordian; Nichole Sheller - voice; Tom Gavin - guitar, banjo; Peter Hess - reeds; Erik Jekabson - trumpet; Ben Rubin - bass This was recorded in Prague during the middle of a 3 week tour. There's a great energy on this that is really special about live recordings. Plus, there are a couple of my tunes on there!

Gunnlaugs - piano; Ohad Talmor - tenor sax; Matt Pavolka - bass A CD that was made in the middle of the night. We would start at 10pm and go until 3am. I'm not the only drummer on this one. My neighbor at the time, Mark McClean plays on half of it.

Fishman - voice, guitar; Russel Farrang - violin; Erik Jekabson - trumpet; Jon Flaughers - bass; Mark McClean - drums Music written to Icelandic poetry. Beautiful compositions sung beautifully by Kristjana.

Gunnlaugs - piano; Kristjana Stefansdottir - voice; Sigurdur Flosason - alto sax; Drew Gress - bass Vista was a quintette made up of the three roommates (Erik, Dan and Andrew) that lived across the street from me and Matt who lived a few blocks away in Brooklyn. You could say it was the neighborhood band, accept that Park Slope is home to so many musicians that you could make quite a few bands with its inhabitants. It was really a great experience for me, and while most of us moved away, I feel like all of us became friends and always will be.

Erik Jekabson - trumpet; Dan Pratt - tenor sax; Andrew Adair - piano; Matt Pavolka - bass This is a high energy piano trio with bassist Dan Fabricatore who went to school with me at WPC. Beautiful writing and playing by Kerry.

Politzer - piano; Dan Fabricatore - bass A great collection of originals by a great pianist. Gunnlaugs - piano; Tony Malaby - tenor sax; Drew Gress - bass This CD is a mix of originals and standards, and is on the whole pretty melow. It is also the product of playing with Dan and Sunna all the time in college and eventually playing gigs in and around NYC. We even took Dan with us to Iceland one summer and covered the entire circumference of the country. There are a couple of my tunes on this one.

Gunnlaugs - piano; Dan Fabricatore - bass

Review of Found Music: "...a dainty beauty unfolds into a frenzied, progressive jazz." "Caught the drummer a couple of times with Tony Malaby and fell for the itchiness he brought to the music. Like Tom Rainey, who's become a master of hyperactive grace donchaknow, McLemore can reveal the sublime side of any and all storms." "A knockout on the drums! Constantly engaging the pianist in dialogue. His cymbal and tom work are a particular pleasure." "... Þeir Tómas og Scott náðu vel saman, þéttir og sterkir, og það var sérdeilis gaman að heyra Scott leika klassískt bíbopp og söngdansa - hann er fautatrommari og hvort sem hann var í hröðu boppi eða hægum standördum einsog Stardust, þar sem hann beitti burstunum, var hann á heimavelli." Scott trommara, sem var aldeilis frábær í bakkaslögunum og kompinu öllu ﬂótt hamagangurinn væri fullmikill í trommusólóinum þveröfugt við sólóinn er hann lék í lagi samnefndu hljómsveitinni. Var það einn besti sóló kvöldsinsæ sérlega skemmtilega uppbyggður og músikalskur. Scott er mikil búbót islenskudjasslífi og ﬂeir Valdi Kolli finir í ryﬂmanum, er því miður er Valdi senn á förum til Amsterdam að nýju. Mentioned in an article on Tony Malaby. Read the article on the Village Voice website.

Music Links
Sunna Gunnlaugs
Akiko Pavolka
Amy Kohn
John Hebert
Drew Gress
Eivind Opsvik
Alexis Cuadrado
Erick Qvick
Tony Malaby

Graphic Design Links
D'steam
Hyperakt
Joshua Davis
Prate
33 RPM
Aesthetic Apparatus
House Industries

Architecture/Furniture Links
Charles and Ray Eames
Ludwig Mies van der Rohe
Rem Koolhaas
Design Within Reach
Moco Loco

Other
Coffee Kid
Salli Vates

scott@scottmclemore.com

Scott's iPod Top 10 1. Beck 2. Bill Frisell 3. Fiona Apple 4. Paul Bley/Parker/Phillips 5. Herbie Nichols 6. Monk and Coltrane 7. Angelica Sanchez 8. Vertigo Soundtrack 9. Punch Drunk Love 10. Masada