Show Notes

• Growing up in a musical household
• The essence of music
• Gaining recognition in both jazz and classical music
• Combining talent and business savvy
• Women in jazz and people of color in classical
• A role model for young people
• Kim’s career shift to teaching
• Finding your unique voice

Connect With Kim Scott

✩ Website – https://www.kimscottmusic.com/
✩ Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/KimScottMusic/
✩ Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/kscottflute
✩ TikTok – https://www.tiktok.com/@kscottflute
✩ X – https://x.com/kscottflute
✩ YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/@kimscottmusic

Summary

Kim Scott is one of the most sought-after flutists in both the classical and jazz fields. A #1 Billboard-charting artist with five acclaimed albums, Kim is renowned for her captivating tone, flawless technique, and magnetic performances. She discusses what it’s like to excel in both jazz and classical music, and what we can all do to find our unique voice.

Full Transcript

Brian  

Welcome to another episode of LifeExcellence with Brian Bartes. Join me as I talk with amazing athletes, entrepreneurs, authors, entertainers and others who have achieved excellence in their chosen field, so you can learn their tools, techniques and strategies for improving performance and achieving greater success. 

Kim Scott is a powerhouse in contemporary jazz and classical music, captivating audiences worldwide with her amazing artistry and vibrant energy, a number one billboard charting flutist. Kim has released five acclaimed albums, including her 2022 hit “Shine.” Kim was recently voted as Smooth Jazz Network’s Artist of the Year, known for her exceptional tone, intoxicating melodies and flawless technique. She is one of the most sought after flutists in both the classical and jazz fields. Kim is also well known as a member of the all female jazz super group, Jazz and Pink, and as piccoloist of the Tuscaloosa Symphony Orchestra. In addition to her remarkable performance career, Kim is the host of the nationally syndicated Kim Scott’s Block Party Radio, a two hour jazz program that connects with her fans around the globe. An accomplished educator, Kim holds degrees in music performance and pedagogy and serves as flute professor at the Alabama School of Fine Arts. Kim is a fresh image and sound for today’s contemporary jazz scene, and I’m thrilled to have her on the show. Welcome Kim, and thanks for joining us on LifeExcellence.

Kim

Hi. Thank you so much for that welcome and that introduction. I’m glad to be here.

Brian

Well, it’s great to have you. Kim, you grew up in a musical household. Tell us what that was like and how you developed your appreciation for music.

Kim

Oh, my goodness, I was so blessed to have the childhood that I did. Both my parents are music lovers. My mother is a classical pianist by training. She’s a retired music educator. And my dad, while he played all types of instruments and sang, he was not a musician by profession. My parents, before I was born, actually had a very famous funk band called The Dynamic Soul Machine, and they were signed to the famous Stax record, so they knew their music, right? When the children came along, we had to play an instrument. We listened to everything from classical music to jazz to hip hop music to country music, and it was nothing for my mother to put on a vinyl record of the Boston Pops, and we would sit around and listen to it. So I developed a love for music, very, very early on, and not just a love, but an appreciation for the arts and just seeing how it transformed the energy and the mood of people around us, and seeing how my mother’s students lives had been made so much better by the exposure that they got from her going to the symphony and learning about different styles. So I couldn’t help but get the bug. Started playing piano at three and moved on to violin after that, still play piano to this day, but picked up the flute around fifth grade, and I’m still doing it now.

Brian

Indeed, and you definitely have the musical gene. Then from your parents, I love that you were exposed to a variety of musical genres, and we’ll talk more about that. I’ve always had great appreciation for music too, and enjoy everything from rock to classical to jazz and even country; you mentioned country. Kim, what is it about music that resonates so deeply with people, causing music to become such an important part of our lives?

Kim

That’s a good question. I think music just has the ability to really speak to our souls. I always think that music gives you just what you need in the moment that you listen to it, good music does, so it’s transformative. If you’re having a bad day, the first thing most people will do is maybe pick up the phone and call a friend, but they’re going to put on some good music that elevates their mood. I just think it’s one of those gifts from God that just really transforms us and and it’s universal. It doesn’t even matter if it’s a vocal piece, what language it’s in, because it’s all about the the harmonies or the melodies or the rhythm that really sinks into us and really does a working on our souls.

Brian

I love the way you describe it. And you’re right; I was going to say that it is universal, it’s International. No matter where you go in the world, people respond to music, and there are lots and lots of different kinds of music, way beyond just the ones that we’ve talked about and the ones that we’re used to. But you’re right, it does have that universal impact. You mentioned that you started out with the piano and played the violin, and that in fifth grade you started playing the flute. What was it that caused that instrument to be the one that you would eventually build a career around?

Kim

I truly believe that, like I said, music speaks to your soul. I think certain instruments speak to individuals. And while I love the piano and I love the violin, when I played the flute, when I heard it for the first time, it was just something so pure and so innocent about the sound. And it was so… I don’t know, it was just something about it that I gravitated to, more so than going to the trumpet or the tuba or the oboe. And I was young as well, so seeing it; it’s petite, it’s shiny, it’s not heavy. All of those things to a fifth grader are appealing, but because I was exposed to orchestral music, I knew what the instrument sounded like, and it was just something so serene. I didn’t know the versatility of the instrument until much later. But yeah, I think just the sound of it, the purity of it, is what really made me gravitate to it.

Brian

It is a beautiful sound, for sure. Kim, I’m certainly not a music expert by any stretch of the imagination, but I have to tell you, when I think of jazz the first artists that come to mind for me are saxophone players like John Coltrane or Sonny Rollins, or maybe a trumpet player like Miles Davis or Dizzy Gillespie. Or even – you started playing the piano – even a piano player like Herbie Hancock or Keith Jarrett. By the way, the first concert I ever attended was Herbie Hancock when I was 11 years old, a very long time ago. Also, too, when I think of classical music, I don’t think about the flute first. The first image that pops into my mind is the violin. You mentioned a violinist, like Itzhak Perlman, or the cello like Yo-Yo Ma and yet, I will say that when I listen to your music, I’m absolutely mesmerized. You’re right about the flute sound. One thing that I really think about flute sound is that it’s unique. To me, it stands out, just like the oboe stands out. So when you hear the flute, you don’t have to wonder whether it’s a violin or a viola or maybe a cello, depending on the sound. That’s you. It’s a very distinct sound. So let me ask you, why doesn’t the flute get more notoriety? Is it because there are relatively few flutists, especially playing jazz, or is it something else? 

Kim

It’s a little bit of all that. I mean, you’re right. In the jazz genre, it’s either saxophone or guitar or piano. The flutists in the jazz genre have been around for a very long time, but there were few of them. You think of Jethro Tull, although he’s a little less jazz, but still a little more avant garde. Hubert Laws, Dave Valentin, Yusef Lateef, all those guys have been out there for a long time, but they [sic] were so few of them. And when you are five flutists to 500 saxophone players out there, it is hard to get a little bit more visibility. On the classical side the flute is more of an accent instrument. The strings, the string body, is really the major makeup of an instrument of the orchestra. We color the orchestra. Right now, I think that the flute is really starting to make a name for itself in jazz, because there are a couple of us, at least three that I know of, who are actually actively making records and actively being on stages across the world. So I’m excited that we’ve done a good job and/or are doing a good job to be the face of the flute and make it more in the forefront. But it’s still a big challenge because there just aren’t a lot of us, so we have to almost work as hard as, or more hard, or harder than some of the other instrumentalists to be seen, to be recognized, and to command some attention.

Brian

Yes, well, you certainly are commanding attention. As you know, Kim, a musician typically picks a single genre and then sticks with it. One exception today that I can think of might be crossing over from country into rock or vice versa. There’s a lot of that, and maybe there are other exceptions too, and yet you excel in both jazz and classical music. How did your journey as a flutist evolve to encompass both genres rather than just focusing on one or the other?

Kim

It’s a good question, because as long as I can remember, all I wanted to do was be a classical flute soloist like that. I wanted to play in the symphony and travel the world playing recitals and that was my trajectory for years. All of my degrees are in classical flute. I have always loved jazz, but never until 2010 did I say, oh, I wonder what I would sound like if I played in another another genre. Interestingly enough, I was a teacher at that time, in the classroom, and teachers have summers off. So 2010, I decided I wanted to kind of reinvent what I was doing. I wasn’t hearing enough jazz flute on the radio, on the jazz station in our city, and I was trying to figure out why. I couldn’t figure it out, because the flutists out there were phenomenal; why are we not hearing these pieces? And then I started thinking, well, maybe the world is looking for some flute music that is of the time, like, maybe it needs to be a little more urban or a little more contemporary, or maybe there needs to be a new sound than the traditional jazz flute that was out there, because most of the flutes were doublers, and a lot of them were just jazz players. There’s a difference between classical technique and classical tone on an instrument versus jazz. So I thought, ooh, maybe I use what I’ve gained through my years of classical training, all the great ear training I’ve had and the ability to improvise that I developed through my training, and just put that over into this jazz idiom and learn the voicing and learn the articulations of jazz and learn to have that swag that jazz musicians have. I took that whole summer just figuring out how I could create a space in my own way that molded the two together. By the end of that summer, I came up with what I felt like was my own vibe. That’s when I started saying, oh, well, maybe I should try to get out there and play a little bit and see; let people hear me. Interestingly enough, I played my first ever jazz festival. Funny story, I was playing it with a classical group. I had my harpist. I was in a harp and flute duo at the time, and I said, we’re going to do a jazz festival. We need a bass player and a drummer. So we put this group together and we played some standards, just regular jazz standards, because we didn’t really have repertoire. But I said we each need to do one outside of the box number. So the harpist chose her song, and I chose a number by Beyonce. Here I am a flutist, right? I’m a classical flutist trying to do a jazzy spin on a pop tune, an RB pop tune, but ironically, it went over so well that the headliner of that show of the jazz festival found out where I was and found out my contact information and said, I want you to start opening for me, and I want to mentor you, because this is what you should be doing. (Brian:  Oh, wow. ) Yeah. So that gave me the fuel and some of the training that I needed, or the mentoring that I needed, to see what it’s like to get into this idiom, and I never looked back. That’s one thing I pride myself on right now, is being an authentic voice in this space, because I didn’t want to sound like every other flutist in the jazz genre. I didn’t want to sound like a classical flutist trying to play jazz. I really took some time to figure that out, to study, to really study jazz, and nailed my two passions.

Brian

You’ve clearly done that. It surprises me when you said that you didn’t start playing jazz until 2010. The way you describe it, the combination – you said it much better than this – basically combining your classical talents and learning jazz and having the integration of both of those making you unique, that concept makes me want to go back and listen to other jazz flutists, and then listen to you. Because when I listen to your music, it sounds like incredible contemporary jazz. But again, I’m not a music expert so I didn’t have the thought, oh, I can see where Kim is bringing her classical music background into jazz. It’s a wonderful sound, and for those listening and/or watching the show, if you’re not familiar with Kim’s music, really do yourself a favor and check it out, because you will enjoy it. Even if you’re not a fan of jazz or you don’t listen to jazz normally, you will be entertained and inspired and really enjoy listening to her music. Of course, as you were talking, I was thinking about the challenge of playing classical music one night and then playing jazz the next night. Maybe you’re with the symphony and you’re playing, I don’t know, Beethoven or Mendelsshon, and then it could be literally a night or two later, you’ve traveled and you’re improvising with this jazz combo. What’s that like? What are the challenges of that, and maybe, what’s the excitement in that? Because it’s such a contrast, right? The two?

Kim

It’s definitely exciting, but it can be a challenge, because now that I am really… in my professional career, I’m mostly performing. I’m always getting ready for a show or recital, and it’s not always the same programming. For instance, right now, I’m getting ready to perform a recital and teach a master class at Vanderbilt University. I’m doing half classical and half jazz in the program. I’ve had to spend a significant amount of time on the classical repertoire because it’s different. You have to play exactly what’s on the page. It’s not just interpreting, it is every note, every nuance, every trill, every this, that. And if you’re playing with an accompanist, knowing their part and being a good ensemble versus being on the jazz side, and, yes, having nuances and paying attention to sound and detail, and being in an ensemble, but you are so creative and off the cuff. It’s all like that. It’s music I’ve written, so it’s already in here. It can come out in any combination that I want it to. I’m still staying true to the song, but it’s a little more liberating, because I’m not stuck with a page in front of me. I don’t have to play exactly what’s on a page so it’s kind of the best of both worlds. Because, like I said, classical music is my foundation and is my first passion. Whenever I’m getting ready for a symphony concert, or when I’m getting ready to perform at a university or for a huge flute convention or something, it’s exciting to have to take a month to really delve into learning this repertoire on the page. But yeah, they’re definitely different; definitely different but I wouldn’t trade either opportunity for the world.

Brian

I think it would be cool if you were playing a classical piece accompanied by a pianist, and then you just went off and played jazz for five minutes – unannounced, unknown to the pianist – then brought it back and picked up right where you left off. Maybe you do that. I don’t know.

Kim

That’s a good idea. I mean, I’ve had opportunities. I can think of the Bolling Suite that was written for classical flute and a jazz trio. There are some opportunities to be a little more free, but there aren’t a lot of pieces out there yet. In fact, I was thinking about having a piece commissioned in that style, just to show the versatility of a flutist who can do both.

Brian

Maybe that’s an opportunity to become a composer. You thought about that?

Kim

Well, a lot of the songs on my CDs I’ve written; I don’t think I would ever write anything of that magnitude, like scoring. I could, I just don’t have the time. I used to conduct an orchestra and I would score for my orchestra, but it does take more time than I have right now, so I just call the people who specialize in scoring and composition at this point. But that’s a great idea.

Brian

Well, that’s probably the better way to do that too. That’s why you’re the expert, and I’m here throwing out ideas that that probably don’t make sense. Tell us, how do you feel when you’re playing jazz? Let’s talk about jazz specifically. How do you feel when you’re playing jazz music, and what is the feeling that you hope to evoke when people listen to your music when you’re performing?

Kim

How I feel when I’m playing jazz music, I feel like I’m being my most honest and authentic self, because everything that comes out in that moment is how I’m feeling, is how I want an audience to feel when they listen. What do I want an audience… what kind of emotion am I trying to invoke or convey; I write music and play music, not just for myself, it gives me so much comfort and love and peace to play, but to see how people respond to my playing is a real gift. I’ve seen people cry in the audience. I’ve seen people come up to the CD table after a show and they’ve got tears, or they have so much joy that they can barely contain themselves. But, it’s very exciting to be able to share something that I feel is a God given gift, and that I think is so pure because of where it came from, that when it goes out, that purity I think is still there. Sometimes I listen back to my own recordings and I get choked up and I’m not choking up because I sound great, I’m getting choked up because of how the music makes you feel and how the phrases flow, or a specific tone or tone quality of a note really does something to your psyche or to your spirit.

Brian

It’s emotional. I love how you describe it as a gift. The gift that you were describing was the gift that you receive when you’re on stage, seeing how your audience is reacting. One thing to remember is they’re receiving a gift, and so their emotional reaction to that is based on the gift that you’re providing them. I love that concept of the gift. Kim, let me ask you what it takes to achieve at the level you have in music; with five albums, multiple number one hits on the Billboard chart. I played instruments, growing up, a little bit. I started with the French horn. I played the saxophone and was even decent. I played in the jazz band up through college, but the thought never occurred to me that I would play professionally. What did it take for you growing up, and what is still required of you to be among the best in your field? Is it strictly talent, or is there more to it than that? 

Kim

Oh, there’s much more. Talent, to me, is only a small part of it. The talent portion you start to cultivate over time and that’s something that you never lose sight of because you always want to be a learner. There is not a day that I’m not going to practice. I’m always striving to keep up that skill and to strengthen it and get better every day. I don’t ever wake up and go, I’ve arrived. But as I’ve matured in the business, even, I think it’s a combination of talent and business savvy, because you’re not only the musician, you are marketing yourself. You’re helping to come up with this brand. Now I’m with a record label and I have publicist and all that but still, I have to be mindful that I’m the brand and I have to know what is a good product, what is worth investing in. And what’s worth investing in is someone who continues to learn, continues to strive to be better the next day than they were the day of. I’ve learned that I’ve got to learn about the business as it evolves year to year. It’s never the same. How you make a record this year is not how you made a record six years ago. How you market a record right now is not how you would market it six years ago, especially with technology. You have to constantly ask yourself, how do I want to show up in the world and stay relevant? 

Brian

It’s interesting that you talk about the business side of it and it totally makes sense. There are probably, well, there certainly are many, many, many more talented musicians who aren’t commercially successful than are the ones who are commercially successful. You mentioned that you’re going to Vanderbilt next week, and so in Nashville you see – if you stay there for any length of time – hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of those people trying to break into the business, extremely talented people, maybe people who are more talented than than the people who are selling out stadiums or arenas. But until and unless they get the business part, until they get discovered, until they assemble that team around them, I guess, or whatever else it takes to become commercially viable, they’re just another great musician.

Kim

That’s so true, and I see it all the time. I see it all the time. Hugely talented musicians that should be on the biggest stages but they haven’t figured out the business side. They’ve spent more time than not working on their talent. So I would encourage any – not just musicians, but any artist – yes, hone in on your craft, but really learn the business that you’re trying to get in. Really learn, look at other good examples. Look at what other successful artists are doing and figure out why they’re successful. That could really help someone wanting to get in the business. 

Brian

Kim, I hope it’s okay to ask you about this, you are not only a woman, but you’re a woman of color. While it seems like the numbers are increasing, there’s still a disproportionate number of female jazz musicians, and also women of color and men of color, for that matter, in symphonies. What’s your take on this? Are there simply fewer female jazz musicians and musicians of color in symphonies, or is there more to it than that?

Kim

Yeah, that’s a good observation. In the classical world, there are very few people of color in general. Number one, a lot of African Americans are not usually exposed to classical music. A lot of public schools don’t have music programs, so kids aren’t exposed to that genre. They don’t go to the symphony. Their parents aren’t playing that type of music at home either. And there’s a disparaging… well, if you talk about, even economically, a lot of African Americans can’t typically afford private lessons or to even purchase an instrument and that’s unfortunate. Luckily, a lot of states are putting more money into schools to provide those instruments and that training for students and put music programs in schools, but it’s not where it needs to be yet, so a lot of kids miss out, and that’s sad. I even saw that when I was a student. There were more music programs in the school when I was a student, but there were still a lot of my friends who couldn’t afford an instrument or who didn’t have the exposure to music that I did because my parents were musicians. I really, was blessed to have the upbringing and the exposure that I did. Even to this day, I’m the only black person in my symphony. I was on the board for the National Flute Association for several years and I’m a member to this day. There are very, very few African Americans even a part of that. We have a national convention every year, thousands of flutists and for at least 15 years of my being a member, I rarely saw anyone that looked like me at conventions. I did not see – hardly ever – a person that looked like me on stage. That’s starting to change. I’m on stage a lot, and we’re bringing in other people of color to try to show the possibilities and show that that’s a thing. I mean, you should see yourself on stage, you have a gift to share, and black people, people of color, can play in these genres and be on these stages. As far as jazz, there actually are a lot of women that play jazz, but they, a lot of them, have been disheartened by trying to go mainstream or trying to be on stage in a male driven genre, or a male driven field. Even to this day, the average jazz festival might be three days or so, and you will have maybe two or three women in the entire lineup of men. (Brian:  Wow. ) You may have, in three days, you may have performances from noon to 10pm for three days, and you might have one female per day. It’s rare that there’s more than two or three. I can remember maybe two or three years ago, I was on a stage, I was getting ready to perform, and I passed another female artist, and we stopped and had a moment. You just… we don’t see this, we don’t know when we’ll ever see this again. We had to celebrate that moment. But it’s getting better. It’s getting better with bands like Jazz and Pink that really puts women at the forefront and lets people see, hey, we’re doing this, and we’re doing it at a high level. That helps. I think promoters are starting to see the disparities too and they’re trying to do something about it, so I appreciate that.

Brian

Is that something you think about, or are you just so used to it that you it doesn’t really enter your consciousness much? And if you do think about it, how does it drive you, not only as a musician, but also as a teacher? We’ll talk more about you as a teacher rather than as a performer.

Kim

That’s a good question. I think it drives me all the time. Every time I play a symphony concert – and I’ve been playing with the symphony since about 2008 or 2009 – every time I sit in that orchestra and I look around, every now and then there may be one or two additional people of color that were brought in for the show. But I’m always looking around like, wow. While it can be sad at one turn, it’s very inspirational in another, because I can be that example, yes and on the jazz side is the same thing. I get to be – I hate to say – the poster child, but I get to be the person that other young women or people of color look at and go, she did it, maybe I can too. I see myself on that stage and I’ve looked out a couple of – many times – and seen young black girls, little black girls looking at me like, I could probably do this, she looks like me. I even have a picture on my Facebook page that somebody sent me from one of my shows. There was a little girl, she was probably maybe four or five, but she went up to the front of the stage and she found something to be able to mimic playing the flute. And you see her in front of the stage, and her eyes are closed and she’s bent over, and she embodied that. Just to be that type of example is a blessing. I’m that way with my students because most of my students are not of color. But when I get students of color, especially, I tell them all the time, it may seem that I’m a rare breed, but not really. I’m just that kid that said I want to do this, I can do this, and I made it happen and you can too.

Brian

Are there programs, either as part of the school system or maybe originating from symphonies… and I should know more about this… I’m up in Detroit, and we have a wonderful symphony, the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. We’re also obviously in an urban area where probably some of the dynamics that you discussed are at play, where kids don’t have access to the music, maybe they’re not exposed to classical music as much as kids. Really, it’s urban versus suburban. I think just sticking with that distinction, there’s definitely a difference in exposure to – we’ll just say classical – but also the affordability of instruments and that sort of thing. I don’t know what we do in Detroit, if the Detroit Public Schools have programs or has a partnership with the DSO. Do you know about that, generally, or maybe specifically in Alabama, where you live?

Kim

The Alabama Symphony here does have an Alabama Youth Symphony, and they have a program, outreach program where they… I don’t think they go into the schools anymore. They used to, but they would often provide free lessons, free ensemble experience for students. But it’s been some years since, I think, they’ve gone into the schools. I’m not sure why that ended. Maybe it was the funding issue, I think that orchestras are trying to bring that back, but it’s just challenging because orchestras themselves are trying to stay existing. They are losing funding just to operate so adding another component, whether it’s as important as outreach or not, is a challenge for them. But almost every orchestra, professional orchestra, has an outreach component, where even if they can’t go into the schools and provide training they are doing in-reach. They’re bringing students in for a free concert. Even the symphony that I played with, Tuscaloosa Symphony, we do have some programming that goes into the schools. But we try, at least every year, to bring hundreds of students into our theater to hear from the orchestra and hear from the conductor, just to get that exposure.

Brian

That’s great. Hopefully you’ll receive more pictures and post more photos as time goes on, on social media, about kids who have been exposed to that, because really, you are a model for them. We need great role models. We have lots of role models in the world today that aren’t so great, and the more good ones we have, the better. We talked about teaching a little bit. How did you become an educator? How did that enter into your career path? What do you enjoy most about teaching music? We talked a lot about performing.

Kim

I never desired to teach, never. As I told you, I always wanted to be a performer, and play with the symphony and be a soloist. When I was about to graduate with my masters the plan was to go to Juilliard or Eastman for my doctorate, working diligently, getting ready for those auditions. But I got a phone call from the Alabama School of Fine Arts, which ironically, is where I went to high school. The phone call was from the current – at that time – chair of the music department, and he, I had not talked to him in years, my goodness, probably since I graduated. But he said, I don’t know if you remember this, but when you were a student here, you always said, if there was ever a job opening, I would love to come back. And people, we would say that, because no one ever left the jobs, like it was the creme de la crème; people would make their whole career at the Alabama School of Fine Arts because you’re working with the most talented students, passionate about what they’re wanting to do. So he said, we have a spot for a flute instructor, but they also need to be able to conduct an orchestra and teach music theory and maybe play piano for the choir sometimes.

Brian  

[Laughter.] And then mop the floors at the end of the night.

Kim

I know, right? [Laughter.] What was ironic is that I spent a lot of my undergrad and my masters taking random classes just to gain knowledge. Not saying oh, one day maybe I’ll… you know, and to see how God turned that thing, like, everything that I took classes in is what they were asking me to do. I took orchestral conducting classes, I took scoring, I still played the piano, I can accompany choirs, of course I can teach flute. I mean, that’s what my degrees are in, and pedagogy, that’s what my degree is in. I can teach music theory. I was capable of doing everything they needed me to do. So I said, my plan is to go on and get a doctorate but I’ll at least take the interview and the audition. Got there, remembered how much I loved that program when I was a student there, had a great interview and audition, was offered the job, and I said, I’ll take it for a little while, just a little while, and I’ve been there 25 years. So 19 of those years I was in the music department, I was chair of the music department. Eventually they moved me to chair, and then in 2019 I was offered a position as one of the head administrators of the whole school. So now I’m doing that, but I still teach flute, because I said I’ll take that position, but I am a flutist. I’ve always taught flute here, that is my true gift. Although I’m a great administrator, I feel I will teach flute for free, if you will let me continue to teach flute. So that’s what I do.

Brian

Oh, how wonderful. Teaching is obviously very different than performing. How has that impacted your growth as a performer, teaching? And also as a person?

Kim

Very impactful. I mean, once I started teaching, I realized how much I loved it. Now I just, I couldn’t think of not having been a teacher, or not being a teacher, just being able to share with another student everything that’s been poured into you, and the experiences that you’ve had along the way personally in the field of music. It’s just such a joy to share those experiences, because… there’s a saying, and I may be misquoting it:  it is a poor student that doesn’t surpass their master. I tell my students all the time, you think I’m this great flutist, and I appreciate that, but I am imparting everything I have in you so you can take that and go way further. If I’m sharing with you all these secrets, not the tricks, but all the moves that I made and all the information that I gained that helped me, if you now have that, and you are continuing to learn and you are a young person who’s got years more of life to live than me, then you should go further than me. You have no reason not to surpass me. So I am always trying to pour into my students as much as possible. Even though I’m traveling like crazy, I don’t miss my lessons. I’m always trying to bring that experience back to them. I love those light bulb moments. My students seem to hang on to my every word. And not only do they do that, they get to see me perform, and they get to see me live out the things that I’m telling them they can do, or they see me get to execute something on stage that they just worked on in a lesson with me, like a concept or a technique; to see them go, I know exactly what you mean, I can do that, or I worked on it last night, and I got it. I love those moments.

Brian

I think you have maybe a unique set of gifts to offer, being a teacher. Being able to teach, and you’re educated in music education, so you have that part, but you’re also a performer. You’re also a recording artist. What you’re showing, I think, you have the ability for your students to see different directions that they can go in their lives and in their career, lots of opportunities in music. I don’t think everybody wants to be a performer. You have students – I’m guessing, I don’t know this for sure – I imagine you have students who want to teach. They know that they’ve been uniquely gifted to be teachers and so they want to be music educators. Others, maybe they want to perform. But like we were talking about the musicians in Nashville, all of them want to perform and they all… the only thing that they want to do more than performing music is eating and having a roof over their head. Sometimes they’re forced to go down paths maybe that they hadn’t planned. Again, you show them that there are lots of different ways that you can earn livelihood in the music business. I think that you’re uniquely equipped to do that. Maybe there are other teachers that do all of those things too, but I’m sure there are some teachers who just teach, and that’s great too.

Kim  

I appreciate that. Thank you. I really try to let students know that they have options. Like you said, you don’t have to just be a performer or a teacher. You could do a combination of things, but my job is to help you find out where your most authentic self lies and where your true gifts are, and how to bring those together. Nobody could have told me that I would have been a classically trained flutist making jazz albums. In fact, there is a workshop that I do at some conventions or colleges, and it is for the purpose of showing young musicians how to find their path, like how to think outside of the box, and use the the gifts that you have personally to craft your career, because it doesn’t have to be what you see. I didn’t see any classical flutist playing jazz and doing urban jazz or contemporary jazz. That was just something that I felt like, oh, I think I could do this and make it sound cool and it just kind of clicked. But you think of groups like, let’s see, there’s a violin hip hop duo… their name just escaped me, it’ll come to me in a moment, but they are classically trained violinist and violist, and they now play hip hop violin, and they blend it with classical music, and they are selling out. They’re called The Black Violin. They are selling out major arenas around the entire world. There was nobody doing that, but that was two of their passions. They love hip hop with the beats and the rhythms, but they had this great dexterity and technical facility on their instruments so they blended that, and people are going insane. There’s Hauser on cello, if you’re familiar with him. I’m not sure if he’s Australian, but he’s doing like rock and roll cello, he’s classically trained, so he mixes all of that classical, playing with that and selling out arenas. So you have to kind of find your lane and find where you are really good at and what you’re really passionate about and that’s where people will find the most success.

Brian

You’ve certainly done that for yourself. Kim, you’ve created a unique and rewarding life. You mentioned enjoying working with students to help them find their unique voice. What advice do you give to young musicians, or maybe – let’s expand it even beyond music – to anybody looking to find their unique voice?

Kim

I said it a little earlier. Being honest with who you are, taking an honest look at what you do well and what you enjoy, and finding an avenue to do that. A lot of musicians try to fit a mold. They try to do what they think a promoter wants them to do, or sound like they think radio wants them to sound and it’s not them. It probably doesn’t work for them that well. They may be good at it, but where could they be great? Taking time to figure out that part of who you are in your artistry, whether it’s music or or visual arts or whatever. How can you tell your own unique story and create your lane? Somebody said this once before, years ago; you make a song, you make it true to yourself. It’s something that you love, and you do it so well because you love it. You might put that song out and nothing sounds like that on radio, and you’re like, nobody’s going to like it. Well, if someone plays that record, and they keep playing that record, eventually someone’s going to go, wow, that sounds really different, actually. And they start to find components of it that are unique, and it doesn’t sound like everything else on the radio. Then all of a sudden they’re looking for you on Spotify. They’re trying to figure out how can I get more of this because it’s different, it’s a different energy. People have to be vulnerable and not be afraid to put their most authentic self out there and put their best work out there.

Brian

Yeah, I love that. Thank you for sharing that. Let me ask you a couple questions about people who inspire you. Kim, you’ve had the opportunity to play with a diverse group of musicians in both the classical and jazz genres. Who have been your greatest influences?

Kim  

My greatest influences have been teachers. I’ve had some amazing teachers all the way from flute instructors in high school through college, and a lot of them I still communicate with on a regular basis, but they showed me what it was like to be fully devoted to honing your craft. They had the work ethic. I got a great sense of what passion looked like, watching them do what they did or do what they do, but I admire them the most because they drew out of me what I didn’t know I had. I can remember when I was a freshman in college studying, I was a flute major at University of Alabama, and my flute teacher there, she was the protege of Jean-Pierre Rampal . I don’t know if you know who that is, but he was the guru of flute from France. He’s no longer living, but when you thought of classical flute you thought of Jean-Pierre Rampal, and he was her teacher. But I remember her saying in a lesson one day freshman year, I was probably 18, she said, you don’t even know that you’re a star. And I looked at her like, you’ve got to be crazy, I don’t even know what that means. But every lesson, she would continue to speak that. She said, you don’t know it, but you’re a star. I’m going to give you what you need, and it’s my job to pull it out of you and let you see what I see; every lesson she did that. She not only taught me how to be a great flutist and build great technique and great concept of sound and all of that but she prepared me for this life. She exposed me to world travel. Before I could even graduate, she took me to my first ever national flute convention. She signed me up for international flute festivals. So here I am, 21 [years old] going to Peru to perform as a soloist. But she wanted me to experience things, to be prepared for this life. Now she’s in her late 80s, and she’ll call me and she’ll say, I told you, you’re just doing what I knew you were going to do. I’m glad that you listened and that you’re getting to experience what I saw. People like that, and I try to do the same for my students, to speak that kind of life into their existence.

Brian

Let’s talk more about that, because she really, I think she did two things. One, she breathed life into you, and maybe still does that. Even when you’re not talking, she’s still present, probably, and you’re still benefiting from that, the life that she breathed into you. The other thing is, she held a future in front of you until you could hold it yourself. Now you’re holding it yourself but for a long time… and you talked about different things that she was doing, traveling with you, taking you to conventions, taking you to festivals and events, and really holding that future and showing you not only what that looks like, but what it will look like in the future for you. You’ve really benefited from instruction and guidance throughout your life, from your parents, from teachers, from flutists and other musicians, and now as a teacher and even as a performer, I think you have influence on others. Share your perspective around the importance of – I’ll just call it mentorship, but I call it coaching – a continuation of what you’ve been talking about and why it’s so important to receive that kind of support.

Kim

It’s hugely important to have mentorship, and not just young people’s lives. I mean, there are some adults that need mentorship too. But what mentorship does, you have another person who is looking at you and seeing all that you have to offer, or seeing areas that could be improved or honed. A lot of times they’re your mirror. Sometimes we look in the mirror and we only see our faces, but a mentor will look at you and they see your face and they see your heart, they see your soul. So that’s the difference. People need to have someone in their lives that can see those things and articulate the ways in which they can improve or to bring out what are the highlights of a person, to give some inspiration to a person. A lot of people don’t have a cheerleader; you’d be surprised. I know we all have parents, but we can’t assume that every parent is a cheerleader or supporter of their child. We have parents who are, thank God for them. We have some parents who are jealous of their child and the gift that the child may have, or the opportunities that they may have, or there’s a parent who is wanting to live through their child, or they want their child to live through their success, or whatnot. So having mentorship where you have someone outside of the home, who is truly invested in you is very, very important. I’ve seen so many people rise to the top level that they could rise because they had a cheerleader; that pom-pom’s in the air. Even when you feel defeated, that person is saying it’s okay, it’s a part of the process. Challenges sharpen you. You’re like iron, you know it’s got to be sharpened. You’re going to go through all these experiences until you are right where you need to be. But telling people you can’t give up because you have a purpose and nobody… I tell people, I say this in my live concerts, even, I tell people, I say you have to be confident. And when people tell you that you can do it, you have to believe that you can do it, and you have to say to yourself, no one can do it like I can do it because you are a unique being. Somebody could probably do the same thing but can they do it like you or give us a special something to it that only you have? Finding moments to mentor people and finding those gems about them to share with them is really important.

Brian

I totally agree. I love that there’s so much packed into that. I’m going to go back and listen to that part over and over again. I really appreciate that. Kim, as you know, our show is called LifeExcellence and I wonder, what does excellence mean to you?

Kim

Ooh, excellence to me. Excellence to me, is continuing to be open to learning and executing at a high level. That’s what I would say.

Brian  

I love it. What do you think is the greatest lesson music can teach us about life? You’ve been surrounded by music your whole life, and we talked about the importance of that. We talked about how universal it is that we’re all, I think, profoundly impacted by music. Music is all around us. You’re a little bit closer to it than most people. What do you think is the greatest lesson music can teach us about life?

Kim

That we’re all connected. I mean, we all look differently but on the inside, we’re the same. Music affects us all, no matter the genre, no matter the style, no matter the language. As I said earlier, it pierces all of our souls, and it’s the purest form of expression, I think. And on a different spin, I think music can teach us discipline, whether we are musicians or not. We have a respect for people who play instruments, because we know, oh, they probably put some time into that. But thinking about how much time and how much dedication takes a real strong work ethic. I think people, whether they have processed and really thought that through, I think ultimately people have a respect for that.

Brian

I think certainly people who think about it do and music is one of those things that we probably take for granted a lot. We don’t really think about what did it take. I was listening to “Shine” before the show, and I was enjoying it. I was enthralled by it. It was really, really wonderful, and felt so good. It was the perfect preparation, especially for this wonderful conversation with you. But I wasn’t thinking, oh, geez, I wonder how many takes Kim did to get this recording, but you’re right, certainly. It goes back to excellence. I’m a student of excellence, and you’re right when you think about any kind of performance at a very high level, there are a lot of all of those things you mentioned:  talent, hard work, persistence, a long, long, long road, ten years to become an overnight success, and all of those things that are characteristic of excellence. I mentioned your sixth album. Did I get that right, you’re working on your sixth album? (Kim:  Yeah, I just finished it.) Oh, fantastic, so when can we look forward to that being released and also, where can our listeners and viewers go, Kim, to learn more about you?

Kim

Thank you. The sixth album is called “Living it Up” and it comes out February 28 so I’m really excited about that. Two, three singles have been released from that project so far. “Freedom” is the most recent single that is out now; I’m really excited about it. “Like Butter” is on there, “Magic City Streets” is on there, but I’m excited, so many great songs on the project, so listen out for that. People can visit my website to learn more about me. It’s KimScottMusic.com. I am everywhere on social media, from Facebook, Instagram, Tiktok, X, you name it. I could throw out a bunch of handles, but people will probably forget. So the easiest thing, on my website, all of my handles are there. You could just go and click on one by one and hit “follow.” My tour schedule is on the website, bio is on there. All the music, if people want to purchase from Apple Music or Spotify, or anything like that, all the links are there.

Brian

I appreciate you sharing that, and we’ll definitely share your social media handles in the show notes as well. Thank you so much for being on the show. It’s wonderful to meet you Kim, and I’m so grateful for our conversation today. I really appreciate it.

Kim

Thank you. I’m grateful for it too, I’ve had a lot of fun. It’s been nice to meet you and have this great discussion so thank you for having me.

Brian

It’s my pleasure. Thanks for tuning in to LifeExcellence. Please support the show by subscribing, sharing it with others, posting about today’s show with classical and jazz sensation Kim Scott on social media and leaving a rating and review. You can also learn more about me at brianbartes.com. Until next time, dream big dreams and make each day your masterpiece.