The real highlight

Trumpeter Christian Scott, jazz's brightest young star, has done more to influence the evolution of jazz music in his 26 years than many musicians achieve in their lifetimes.

Scott, who was born in 1984 in New Orleans and now lives in New York City, possesses surprising depth, originality and maturity, evident on his four studio albums as a band leader. Those qualities have made him one of the most acclaimed contemporary jazz musicians, but Scott is wary of being pigeonholed.

"K.K.P.D.," the opening track on Scott's most recent album, Yesterday You Said Tomorrow, starts like an indie rock song, with an off-key electric guitar and a haze of low distortion. The song slowly adds layers of instrumentation: drums, piano and trumpet build to a wall of dense interaction. This is genre fusion that has nothing to do with the jazz-rock fusion sound of the '70s and '80s.

Scott and his quintet also play a fuzz-blanketed cover of Thom Yorke's "The Eraser," from the Radiohead singer's recent solo album. This eclectic approach has earned Scott a reputation for embodying the future of jazz. But Scott's sound is really rooted in contemporary music - rock and jazz alike. In other words, Scott plays refreshing jazz that reflects the music of our times.

On some tracks, Scott's quintet covers more familiar territory for traditional jazz fans, showing that they can indeed do jazz ballads, though Scott is insistent on not playing typical jazz standards and eschews straight-ahead jazz arrangements. Whether ballads or originals, however, these are all emotionally charged tracks that demand attention. It's hard to imagine an audience even trying to talk over tensely emotional songs like "Angola, LA & The 13th Amendment," "Last Broken Heart - Prop 8," or "Jenocide." Scott takes a political stance in his music without the aid of lyrics and without screaming in anger at the audience. Instead, he mesmerizes with darkly layered sound textures.  

Yesterday You Said Tomorrow was recorded, mixed and mastered by Rudy Van Gelder at Van Gelder's home studio in New Jersey. This is the famed analog recording studio that produced almost every Blue Note Records classic, as well as significant recordings by Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Grant Green, and Thelonious Monk. The sound on the album is warmer and earthier than on other bigger studio productions.

Scott's previous album, Anthem, released in 2007, was equally assertive in its hip-hop, funk and rock-oriented stance, making accessibility one of the key elements in his sound.

"You know, I'm from a place where jazz is for everyone," Scott says, referring to his hometown of New Orleans. This attitude pits him against what he considers "elitist views" about what constitutes jazz. In this regard, Scott considers Wynton Marsalis - the leading jazz trumpeter and a jazz statesman in the United States, also from New Orleans - a friend, but one with whom he disagrees on practically all counts.

Like the trumpeter Miles Davis before him, Scott constantly pushes the boundaries of jazz and emerges in fresh territory. His style is especially appealing to nontypical jazz fans - just the type needed to keep the jazz community growing and to keep the music from becoming a relic of the past.

Scott performs in Prague this week as part of the Agharta Jazz Festival. Ironically, the promoters hailed a different concert as the highlight of their festival - the bassist Marcus Miller's "Tutu Revisited," where he performs the acclaimed Tutu, a recording he made with Miles Davis in 1986.

In 2009, Scott was asked to play Miles Davis' part on Miller's "Tutu Revisited" tour, and received critical acclaim for his interpretations. Yet again, Scott has been there and done that, too.

In Prague, Scott will perform with his quintet from Yesterday You Said Tomorrow, including Matt Stevens on guitar, Milton Fletcher on piano, Kris Funn on bass and the rising star Jamire Williams on drums. Believe it or not, Christian Scott's performance of original material is the real highlight of this season's Agharta Jazz Festival.

Tony Ozuna can be reached at
features@praguepost.com