![]() ![]() He spoke a lot (really more than he played trumpet), mostly about racial problems in his hometown of New Orleans. I happened to see Scott playing live two years ago during his European tour - he demonstrated his showman and leadership abilities leading his young musician's band, and being much more than a virtuoso trumpeter. New Orleans trumpeter Christian Scott made his name during the last few years on the wave of jazz crossovers oriented to young rock, RnB or techno fans, during an explosive growth of popularity (Kamasi Washington with his triple CD is another great example). These two closing numbers make for a nice contrast given the length of the entire CD. Much of the music on, “Emancipation” stays in the aforementioned styles that Scott has become known for, but towards the end of this album comes two lengthy tracks that get into more of a sweaty energetic freeform fusion work out. A host of others help out on bass, guitar, drums, percussion and electronics. Other notable sidemen include Braxton Cook on saxophone and Lawrence Fields on keyboards. Her solos and orchestrations are a big plus on “Ruler Rebel (re-mix)”, “Ashes of Our Forever” and “The Cypher”. Most of us probably don’t usually think of strength when describing a flute player, but Elena’s playing carries more strength than we would normally associate with the flute. Along with Scott, another star soloist on here is flautist Elena Pinderhughes. Scott’s been on his hybrid style for a while now, so if you are familiar with his last couple albums, then you may know what to expect here, well composed melodies over abstract beats that combine Africa, hip-hop, drumnbass and techno all orchestrated with subtle and tasteful electronics and effects. Drawing upon the rhythms of Africa, as well as African tendencies in hip-hop and Detroit techno, Christian Scott Atunde Adjuah continues to add new vitality to the world of jazz fusion with his latest album, “The Emancipation Procrastination“. Still, taking in account all the pros and cons, "Axiom" is probably the best Scott album I have ever heard.ĭuke Ellington’s musical allegory “A Drum is a Woman”, was a clever story that foretold jazz’s future as a musical style that would adapt to every culture on the globe, and even go to outer space, but no matter how far jazz may wander and change, its strength and substance comes from returning to the music of Africa. Exactly as during the concert I saw, songs here are quite long, being accessible and not too complex, the lengthiness can make the album simply sound a bit bulky as a result. There is a groove and a lot of African percussion, and in general this album is not much different from today's popular London based African fusion influenced sound. Comparing with some of Scott's last studio albums, music here is much more organic, and that's for good. Lawrence Field's retro keys sound great and add a lot of 70s spirit. ![]() Flutist Elena Pinderhughes is a night's star filling space with nice solos generally, not too knotty for the band's music. Exactly as during the gig I saw live, Scott speaks a lot, plays trumpet and manages his band well. He sounded quite similar to what is recorded on this newest album "Axiom", just here he sounds a bit better. Five years ago I saw Christian Scott playing live on his European tour with almost the same band (vocalist Isadora Mendez Scott is not on board, sax player Braxton Cook instead of current Alex Han and percussionist Joe Dyson instead of Weedie Braimah). ![]()
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