Christian Scott Quintet (New Morning - 16/02/2010)

It is my great pleasure to speak again about the trumpet player Christian Scott.

I quote my previous review where I mentionned that "when I first heard Christian Scott three years ago, I remember saying to myself that it was one of the most remarkable premiere I have seen. He was delivering a smart, grooved and plugged-in set of tunes (nine of the eleven tunes from "Rewind That" are originals) with his electric sextet (and particularly the guitarist Matt Stevens). And I was waiting for the next album ... A year later, a year wiser I would say, the 24-year old Scott issued his album "Anthem". A powerful collection of 12 pieces mixing jazz, indie rock, neo-soul and hip hop sensibilities. Whatever it is, the music is sometimes dark, melancholic, reflective and emotionally charged. Whereas his album "Live at Newport" released in 2009 was the follow up of his works and a stunning portrait of a young talent on the rise".

Guess what ? Christian Scott 's new album "Yesterday you said tomorrow" is now available on store !



It means a lot to me to write this review. And for many reasons. Firstly, because he is a generous, humble and friendly man that takes time to discuss with his audience. Secondly, because I believe in his music. It speaks directly to your heart, even if there may be no word to express my feelings. Dynamic, textures and sounds, sometimes dark and on the other hands brought to light. The driving force of Christian Scott's art is his originality, to play with light and shadow, to find new textures and echoes of vibrant, acoustic and electric styles.

I do agree on a quotation from "Nextbop.com" that I wanted to share with you:  " ... this new, young, exciting, and passionate generation of jazz musicians can reach a larger and more mainstream fan base (...). It’s something special and it needs to be heard. These artists are taking jazz to places it's never been before, right before our very eyes".

"Yesterday you said tomorrow" is his 5th album as a leader, but it stands more as a statement of a true, interative and cohesive group recording. Each musician adds a distinct element to the whole. The color of Matthew Stevens on guitar, the elegant precision of Milton Fletcher on piano, Kriss Funn's support on bass, and the dancing and rythmic expression of Jamire Williams on drums.



Note that Christian Scott composed almost all of the music, while the musical director and guitarist Matthew Stevens contributed two of the tunes ("After All" and "The Roe Effect").

I have to admit that my prefered tunes are "Isadora", a beautiful ballad (named as his girlfriend), "American't" ( his solo around 3:30/3:40 minutes is making me crazy), KKPD (the rubato opening and the first notes on guitar create a unique and favorable atmosphere to Christian Scott 's playing) and "Angola, LA & the 13th Amendment".

This last tune offered also a political level of his music. The 13th Amendment reference in the song title considers  the current notion of permissible slavery. I quote the 13th Amendment of the american constitution " Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction" - which entails that permissible slavery is authorized for people recognized guilty of a crime.  Christian Scott is a trumpeter, composer and bandleader, but also a man concerned about social and political dilemmas.



Christian Scott offered 2 hours of loud, rocked-up and passionate music at New Morning. The best way to discover his music is to buy this album. A must-have CD !



You can see all the pictures from his performance (click HERE !), as well as his personal note about his new album.

" YYST was designed in subject matter and sound to have the brevity and character of the recordings of the '60s (the John Coltrane Quartet, Miles Davis ' 2nd Quintet, Bob Dylan, Hendrix, Mingus, ect...), a period when music was in direct relationship to society in view and application. What I wanted to do was to create a record that has all the qualities of the documents of that era as they relate to our time by creating a palette that referenced the depth and conviction of the '60s in the context of subject matter and sound, but done in a way that illuminates the fact that my generation has had the opportunity to study the contributions of our predecessors, thus making  our decision making process musically different. This dynamic was then coupled with a sureimposition of textures from our era, the sounds and textures that define my generation married with those of the past. Lastly, and of paramount importance, it was recorded as if in the '60s. The driving force behing this document was to illuminate the fact that the same dilemmas that dominated the social and musical landscape in the '60s have not been eradicated -only refined. This record looks to change this dynamic by reengaging thse newly refined pre-existing problems in our societal structure in the same ways our predecessors did."   Christian Scott