Christian Scott: A Lion in A Hurricane

New Orleans, the birth place of Jazz, has produced, arguably, the greatest trumpet players that ever graced the history of America’s version of classical music. Such notables from the Crescent city would make a Jazz enthusiast rise from the dead: Louis Armstrong, King Oliver, Wynton Marsalis, Al Hirt, and Terence Blanchard—to name just a few.
Well, New Orleans has done it again with the latest Jazz phenom : Christian Scott
I first encountered this music prodigy, reading an article in Jazz Times (September’08), about New Jazz Visionaries. Shortly afterward, I purchased Scott’s latest CD: Anthem. Listening to Anthem gave me a feeling I haven’t had listening to Jazz in a long while. The best way I can describe it, is like this— it was Miles Déjà vu.
Personally, I longed to have some Jazz figure capture the spirit of rebellion in their music like Miles Davis. I mean as far as I’m concerned, if you going to be a successful Jazz artist you’re going to have to have at least two elements: creativity and defiance.
Christian Scott captures both of these qualities brilliantly .On the Anthem CD, Scott’s trumpet blows a sound that invokes images of a young Cassius Clay, aka Muhammad Ali, speaking with poetic brilliance—truth to power— to those who back in the day, were threaten by Ali’s intelligence and manhood.
Christian Scott has given resurrection life to Jazz again. It’s Jazz with an attitude: angry, arrogant, iconoclastic, and political. Christian Scott has also shown his maverick spirit; merging Jazz with Hip-Hop; by adding a member of X-Clan, Bother J, on the final song —Anthem (post Diluvial Adaptation) — a eulogy that captures the psycho-social reality of Katrina and beyond.
I can imagine some Jazz purists would see Scott’s cross-breeding of Hip-Hop and Jazz as blasphemy—a transmogrification of sound—like they did when Miles merged psychedelic rock and Funk with Hard Bop.
However, Jazz purists need not worry; Scott has plenty on the Anthem CD for them to celebrate.
The young man has not forgotten his roots. I think you be satisfied and excited as I was to hear the swing of a young lion blowing in the power of a New Orleans hurricane.