The chase has been on for a longtime for drummer/percussionist extraordinaire Scott Kettner. With his collective Nation Beat, he has long explored the folkloric musical traditions of Brazil and Louisiana. That exploration of the shared history and culture of these two incredibly rich musical areas has led to a hybridity, one mixed with his jazz influence, inspiring Kettner and his crew to compose and perform new music that brings all of these influences together.

The chase has led Kettner to a royal payoff. The Royal Chase (NBM), released in 2020, is an album that represents a new distinctive sound for Nation Beat. It is the primal sounds of brass instruments mixed with drums and percussion, reinterpreting classics and presenting original songs for curious listeners who thrive on musical pluralism and surprises.  The new Nation Beat sound is unplugged and funky. Forró, Funk, Brass ’n’ Sass!
 The Royal Chase was made possible in part by a grant from the Freshgrass Foundation Album Fund.

Nation Beat is Scott Kettner (drums, percussion), Paul Carlon (tenor sax, horn arrangements), Mark Collins (trumpet), Mariel Bildsten (trombone) and Joe Correia (sousaphone). The Royal Chase also includes eight special guests who add some vocals, keyboards, percussion and more to certain tracks. 

Nation Beat’s live shows have taken on an almost mythological aura for their ability to lift the souls, and the feet, of their growing cross-cultural audience. Band leader, drummer/percussionist Scott Kettner has long been at the forefront of merging different musical elements together, from the earliest days of Nation Beat's Brazil meets North American music.  

In 2017, Scott Kettner connected with arranger Paul Carlon (tenor sax) and the band  entered a new phase in their cross-cultural explorations where brass band and percussion explode in a jazz-infused, funkified New Orleans-meets-Brazil carnival sound.

“Past albums have leaned heavily on Brazilian music,” Kettner says. "While that is ever present in Nation Beat's sound, our latest groove is jazz-tinged. This is a beat that moves your feet!"