CHRISTIAN SCOTT / “Christian Scott Mixtape”
The music from that era [the sixties] just had more depth, whether it was jazz, rock, folk or other music genre. The political and social climate at that time was much heavier, and there were few musicians who weren’t afraid to refer their work to that condition. The ones who did that – and at the same time captivated people in a way that referenced their own humanity – were the ones who ended up lasting the longest.
—Christian Scott
What if you took the fiery passion of Freddie Hubbard and mixed it with the elegant cool of Miles Davis in a New Orleans gumbo pot seasoned with the seriousness of Coltrane, what would you get? Have you heard the new Christian Scott?
Check the title of the album is Yesterday You Said Tomorrow. Obviously we’re dealing with a cat who thinks about life, thinks deeply like his grandfather Donald Harrison (Big Chief of the Guardian of the Flame Mardi Gras Indians) did, and also like his uncle Donald Harrison Jr. (major jazz saxophonist) continues to do. Indeed, deeptitude runs deep in the family; you ought to meet his aunt, Cherice Harrison-Nelson; his grandmother, Herreast Harrison, or hear his mama, Cara Harrison sing. Talk about pedigree; Christian Scott is the real deal, in fact it would be surprising if he was ordinary.
Moreover, his horn is the trumpet and New Orleans is the center of the jazz trumpet universe. No other city has produced so many important trumpet masters: Buddy Bolden, Freddie Keppard, King Oliver, Louis Armstrong, Red Allen, Joe Newman, Wynton Marsalis, Terrance Blanchard, Nicholas Payton, and those are just the ones who are nationally known.
In one sense for a New Orleans to aspire to make a mark playing trumpet is to aspire to climb the Himalayas while a teenager. You know what I’m saying?
Well, with this new album, Christian Scott is close to the peak. The earlier albums were good, but this is on another level. The compositions are first rate. The band is really a band, playing collectively as strong as any one individual part. This reminds me of the great bands of jazz during the seventies. They are not quite at master stage yet but they’re closing in fast.
This Mixtape opens with two tracks taken from a performance at The North Sea Jazz Festival, Rotterdam, July 10, 2009. The live selections make clear that this was not a serendipitous studio album where everything just clicked. These cats are clicking live. 
And they match the ensemble sound produced by the engineering genius of Rudy Van Gelder, who considers the session one of the best he’s done in a long time. But actually, it’s the other way around because the North Sea concert preceded the studio recording. In any case, clearly Christian Scott has figured out in which direction he wants to go, and also figured out how to reach his goals.
The word is Christian is the young cat to watch. Forget watching, the thing to do is listen!
—Kalamu ya Salaam
Christian Scott Mixtape
North Sea Jazz Festival, Rotterdam, July 10, 2009
01 “Track 01”
02 “Track 02”
Yesterday You Said Tomorrow
03 “K.K.P.D.”
04 “Isadora”
05 “Angola, LA & The 13th Amendment”
06 “American't”
07 “After All”
This entry was posted on Monday, May 10th, 2010 at 3:19 am and is filed under Contemporary. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
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