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Rudy Royston: PaNOptic

By Karl Ackermann
July 18, 2020
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Like many jazz musicians in 2020, drummer/composer

Rudy Royston

drums

" data-original-title="" title="">Rudy Royston has felt the direct effects of living in the coronavirus world. The Texas native, now a New Jersey resident, found his streams of income drying up without gigs, but then experienced a fortunate twist of fate that stood him up. Head above water, the artist pays it forward by helping other musicians. The tracks that appear on PaNOptic were previously recorded but not released. Partnering with the MusiCares COVID-19 Relief Fund, Royston releases PaNOptic on

Dave Douglas

trumpet
b.1963

" data-original-title="" title="">Dave Douglas' Greenleaf label with all proceeds going to that fund.

Solo drum projects remain a relative rarity but there had been a spate of recent releases: the

Gerry Hemingway

drums
b.1955

" data-original-title="" title="">Gerry Hemingway project Reality Axis (SyncSource),

Tim Daisy

drums
b.1976

" data-original-title="" title="">Tim Daisy's Configurations (Relay), Oblio (Neither/Nor Records) from Italian percussionist

Carlo Costa

drums

" data-original-title="" title="">Carlo Costa,

Chad Taylor

drums
b.1973

" data-original-title="" title="">Chad Taylor's Myths and Morals (eyes&ears Records)—all in 2018—and (h)rouf (Self-Produced, 2019), a percussion-choreography score by Swiss drummer Vincent Glanzmann. On each album, the artists experiment with some combination of extended technique, electronics and additional percussion instruments. Royston's PaNOptic takes on the more challenging setting of the unembellished acoustic drum kit.

The album is divided into three sections. The first six tracks were inspired by diverse artists from

The Beatles

band / ensemble / orchestra

" data-original-title="" title="">The Beatles to the swing era composer/violinist Victor Young, and the second grouping are tributes extended to

Elvin Jones

drums
1927 - 2004

" data-original-title="" title="">Elvin Jones,

Bill Frisell

guitar, electric
b.1951

" data-original-title="" title="">Bill Frisell,

Jack DeJohnette

drums
b.1942

" data-original-title="" title="">Jack DeJohnette and

Max Roach

drums
1925 - 2007

" data-original-title="" title="">Max Roach. The last two sections are influenced by sacred music and a selection of poems and music from the likes of Langston Hughes and

Herbie Hancock

piano
b.1940

" data-original-title="" title="">Herbie Hancock. Royston illustrates his broad interests across these twenty-three compact tracks. His composition, "deferred," incorporates a spoken verse from Langston Hughes' poem "What Happens To A Dream Deferred?." The gently progressing rumble of "desire," theatrically explodes in time, and Royston captures the essence of Jones' playing on his original "intO ElVin." "Jack, fIgHt oR FligHT" and "s'TRopHy" are robust and authoritative pieces.

Royston is a first-call drummer and has performed/recorded with

Jon Irabagon

saxophone

" data-original-title="" title="">Jon Irabagon,

Greg Osby

saxophone
b.1960

" data-original-title="" title="">Greg Osby,

Tia Fuller

saxophone

" data-original-title="" title="">Tia Fuller,

Ravi Coltrane

saxophone, tenor
b.1965

" data-original-title="" title="">Ravi Coltrane,

Bruce Barth

piano
b.1958

" data-original-title="" title="">Bruce Barth,

Tom Harrell

trumpet
b.1946

" data-original-title="" title="">Tom Harrell, Bill Frisell,

David Gilmore

guitar

" data-original-title="" title="">David Gilmore,

Dr. Lonnie Smith

organ, Hammond B3
1942 - 2021

" data-original-title="" title="">Dr. Lonnie Smith,

Don Byron

clarinet
b.1958

" data-original-title="" title="">Don Byron, Jenny Scheinmenn and many other top tier jazz artists. Despite that, he isn't as well known as he should be. PaNOptic is imaginative and engaging, and Roystan reveals an extraordinary ability to evocatively transpose jazz idioms to the solo drum kit.

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Track Listing

BlaCk—Bad CoMPAny��BiRd; bLUes; ciTy buS StOp; deferred; desire; foolish; intO ElVin; BilL; Jack, fIgHt oR FligHT; maXX; video; oWhNet; s'TRopHy; come; I'm Coming Home; MOTHER KELLY and the preacher part 1; mother kelly and THE PREACHER part 2; sermon; mr zoot suite—bruh Arnold; oNe SnaP fIngER; PaNOptic; pANt 1; pANt 2; pop LOVE soNg (prinS-esh); We Real Cool.

Personnel

Rudy Royston

drums

Additional Instrumentation

Rudy Royston: cymbals, voice.

Album information

Title: PaNOptic | Year Released: 2020 | Record Label: Greenleaf Music

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