Christian Scott at Blue Note – Inter(e)view

I rarely go to Blue Note, it’s too touristy for my taste. But last week I made an exception. As I was nervously finishing my cigarette in the biting cold, I peeked through the window and saw Christian Scott. I have a very vivid memory of the first time I heard his music. It was “New New Orleans” – a song from the latest album Christian aTunde AdjuanI had it on endless playback for at least an hour. It resonated very deep inside and it gave me chills, I just couldn’t stop listening. I was thrilled to interview Christian and finally hear the band perform.

Christian aTunde Adjuah Scott is one of the most fascinating young trumpet players around. At only 30 he is already a veteran of the jazz scene.  His first album Rewind That received a Grammy nomination and he is also a double recipient of the prestigious Edison Award. Born and raised in New Orleans, he was exposed to jazz from an early age and his uncle, saxophonist Donald Harrison Jr., was one of his early mentors. Christian is incredibly articulate, charming and he is very passionate about his ideas and music.  It was absolutely delightful to speak with him.

Christian Scott

Anna: It’s the third night of your four-day residency at Blue Note. What material are you presenting this weekend?

Christian: It’s a mix. Some brand new stuff, music that’s going to be on our next records, some stuff from the last record and some stuff from the older records. It’s a healthy mix of everything we do that you will hear tonight. The newer stuff I am really excited about – we are recording three records this year, so it’s a lot of music, a lot of writing. This has been a great place to workshop the music and see how people are reacting to it, what needs to change compositionally and conceptually about the songs before we go into the studio.

A:So this is the first time you performing the new material in public?

C:Yes, a lot of the music we are playing tonight is going to be the first time anyone heard it.

A: How do you feel about it so far?

C: I love it! The only criticism is that people can’t buy it. [Laughing] People will go upstairs [Blue Note has a record/gift shop where you can you usually buy records of the artists performing at the club] and ask for this or that song and … it ain’t there: “No, not available yet” … “Well, hurry up” …  Which is good, could be worse, you know …  I am pretty happy about that!

A: You announced that it’s the last time Mathew Stevens is playing with you. Where is he going?

C: This is going to be the last week Mat is playing with us. He is starting his own band. Actually, he’s had his own band for a couple of years. The first record he recorded was going to be on my label, I paid to make the record, but during that time period, as soon as he finished recording, Concord came out and offered him a deal. So we decided to hold on to the record for now. It made sense you –  Concord Universal is Concord Universal. He will be putting an album with them this year and doing his own thing. So I am just happy for him.

A: Do you a have a replacement for him in mind?

C: Well, you can’t replace a guy like him, he is irreplaceable! … But I do have some younger guys in mind who play incredibly well, have new and different things to contribute and I am excited to hear which direction they are going to go into.

A: Your beautiful wife is going to be making an appearance tonight as well. Is this a fairly recent collaboration?

C: Yes, the tour we did in Europe, about three month ago, she performed with us every night. It’s funny when people hear her they don’t want to hear me play more. I am loving it! Seeing how much love and attention she is receiving from the audience. But she is very unique and has a very captivating voice, you would imagine that she would get that type of reaction, but it is still amazing to see.

Isadora

A: Looking forward to hearing her tonight! Your music is often times described as ‘stretch’ because it incorporates a variety of elements from different styles – post-rock, hip hop, funk, world music – while being solidly rooted in the jazz tradition. It extends the boundaries and pushes forward. What continues to inspire you to take it further, to break down the boundary?

C: The things that I see in my daily life. The stories that I share with family and friends and people that I meet along the way. I am inspired by what goes on outside. I always wanted to create music that anyone living in my era could relate to. I want to be able to take anyone from the street, have them listen to it, and say “Yes, that makes me feel like 2014” as opposed to them hearing it and being immediately transported into the time period that is gone already. I think that previous generation of music listeners had incredible moments in their history and music that germane to their youth. I think that this generation of artists should be intent on trying to create music that sounds like it is from this era as well.

A: Definitely! Let’s talk about your education. You won a full scholarship to Julliard School of Music but chose to attend Berkley College of Music because of its diversity and openness to experimentation. In retrospect, how much did it influence the direction of your music? If you were to talk about your music pre-Berkley vs. post-Berkley?

C: A lot of what I was doing happened pre-Berkley, but the cool thing about Berkley was that they showed you a lot of tools that you could use and apply to what you were doing. You know, growing up in New Orleans, that’s a community very steeped in traditional movement. That tradition is always evolving but you always have to stay in line with it in terms of what you are doing with the music. Whereas at Berkley they don’t have that type of mindset. If you say that you are into something from 1989 and not anything else no one is going to pre-judge you and be upset about it – like you disrespecting 1988 because you only like 1989 … So for me that was really important to be in that type of environment.

A: Can you say a few words about your musical influences? I know it is loaded question, but who did you never stop listening to, from your childhood until present?

C: The main guy I guess is Train [John Coltrane]. The first time I ever heard Train I was captivated, enamored and I never let go. There is still this youthful sense of wonderment, even though my knowledge as a musician has grown a lot, it is not a mystery to me what he is doing but it still makes me feel like that. So I guess John Coltrane is the seminal guy that I never stopped listening to. But of course there are a lot of guys. I am also a very big Jimi Hendrix fan. I love Jimi Hendrix!

A: What about contemporary music? What are some of the newest discoveries? Anything you have been listening to over and over again?

C: There is this composer/singer/songwriter Susanne Sundfor. She has a record called “The Silicon Veil” and I can’t stop listening to the record. It’s amazing. Really, really amazing record.  What else has been on my constant rotation? The artist named Thundercat. He is a contemporary of mine, a bass player named Stephen Bruner. I’ve known him since he was a teenager. He just put out his second record, which is awesome.

A: I will have to check them out then. Is it true that initially you wanted to play saxophone, but it happened so that you ended up playing trumpet. Have you ever thought about playing saxophone?

C: Yes, it’s true and no, I know how much work it requires to do this thing. [laughing] I couldn’t do it, I don’t have enough time! I shouldn’t say that, but I am stuck with the trumpet. Besides, I created all these crazy horns that don’t really sound like a trumpet, so it’s ok.

A: When did you first decide that you wanted to customize your instrument?

Getting set up

C: The first week I had a trumpet I knew that something had to change. Like I said, I wanted to play saxophone. I never really liked the sound of the trumpet. I thought it was little too brassy – that’s probably the best way to put. When I was 10-11 years old I thought that if I ever were really good, I would try to make some changes to the instrument.

A: I guess your dream came true in multiple reincarnations [Christian plays a number of different custom made horns, each one with a unique sound]. And you started your own record label when you were 19, but then you were signed by Concord shortly after. How would you describe your experience working with them? Are you happy?

C: I am very happy. So here is the main thing – I never had a conversation with a record company about what I was going to do. And this is very unique. Most artists are sort of berated with being constantly challenged by what they are going to do to do as far as the content of their records. And I never had to deal with any of that. I walked into the situation with a lot of leverage because I already had my own record label and I already proved that I could sell a lot of records. So they couldn’t tell what to make, that was my main stipulation and they respected that. We signed a deal for five records and we made 6 for them. And that’s not including other records that I co-led. So that’s 8 in total with Concord Universal. It’s been a great ride, we are at the end of the contract, and it is pretty much over.  This does not happen a lot in this generation when that someone actually completes a recording commitment. My lawyers are very happy – they don’t have to anything, I don’t have to do anything and they [the record company] will do anything because I did everything I was supposed to do. This sort of has been the best part of the year, the last nine month. Being able to do whatever the fuck I want and have them pay for whatever I want them to pay for.

A: Beautiful! That must feel great. Ok, so you play, you compose, you produce and you also mentor younger musicians, right?

C: Absolutely! And that’s one of the most fun parts of my job!

A: What are some of the brightest young discoveries?

C: There are a lot of guys and girls …

A: Let’s talk about girls.

C: Ok, there is a young lady named Latasha, she is going to be an amazing trumpet player. She lives in New Orleans and I just started giving her trumpet lessons. I think she in her first year of college now. I’ve only been in New Orleans for about a month, I moved right after this long tour we just finished. She was part of one of my summer jazz camps that I do with my uncle [Donald Harrison Jr.]. I have a jazz camp that I do every summer called “The New Jazz School.” She has an incredibly warm and powerful sound, overly articulate. But there is a lot more of course!

A: I have a weakness for tenor saxophone, do you have any contemporary tenor favorites?

C: Well, the same two guys who in my eyes have been the torchbearers for this generation are Walter Smith III and Marcus Strickland. There are very great younger tenors coming, but  for me no one that has taken a step beyond where these guys did.

A: You just came back from a very successful European tour and you are playing in Washington DC and New Orleans in the next few weeks. What are your plans as far as recording this year? You mentioned that you are planning on doing three albums.

C: The first album will be an extension of the music that we’ve made over the past several years. The second album will be more like a hip-hop mixed tape where we take what we do and translate that into a more linear hip-hop vernacular and have MC spit over our acoustic rendering of produced hip-hop tracks, it’s going to be super cool  …. And the third record that we are going to do is the music that I am writing for the group that right now we are calling  a Double Quintet. One band is plugged in and going to be fully electronic and the other band is fully acoustic. We are creating hybrids of instruments from the West Africa and trap kit drums, to give it a sonic palette that sounds more like the base of where the rhythmic palate in jazz music actually comes, but to have someone play with the same type of freedom as with the trap kit with West African sounds on them. And the other kit is going to be fully electronic. This is going to be five on five – one of totally acoustic environment and the other one fully electronic. I would like to see what it sounds like when these two things marry each other and when they are at war with each other. I think its time people let go of the arguments that one form is better than the other. I think they are fully compatible and I am going to show that.

A: That sounds very exciting! It’s going to be a very intense year for you. Any other projects that you are working on this year? Not that it’s not enough already …

C: I am also producing my wife’s EP. Issy is making a killing record, it’s going to be awesome. I am also producing a record with by a vocalist Sarah Charles as well. And some more stuff from the younger guys in my band. So yeah, a lot of production. It’s going to be a lot of fun!

A: Will be looking forward to hearing the new stuff! And hope to have you back in NYC very soon. Thank you so much for you time and everything!

CStrumpet

As I came back to secure a place next to the stage, Blue Note was filling up quickly. There was still an hour to kill before the show and I ended up chatting with the guests at my table, all of them jazz aficionados. One guy came from Chicago specifically for the show because he has been dying to see Christian and was visibly excited about what was about to happen. I also met two older ladies who didn’t really know anything about the band but decided to give it a chance because they were both from New Orleans and had faith in musicians that hail from there. They looked ecstatic during the show.

bassplayer

Kris Funn

The band opened the set with “Jihad Joe” an original composition dealing with the war in Iraq. Christian explained that he was inspired after he tried to explain the war in Iraq to his nephew – not an easy task! The song has no lyrics, but it speaks to you on a very emotional level. The newest tune presented that night was “West of the West.” Christian joked that it was the best thing that came out of their brief move to LA. Kris Funn played a killing solo on bass and you could tell that everyone in the band and the audience was enjoying it.

A special appearance by Isadora, Christian’s wife, was spellbinding – she has an amazing voice, beautiful and soulful. You could feel that special energy between them, full of love and passion. It was a magical moment. Christian was cracking jokes in between songs. He advised his fans to get another drink and loosen up. Towards the middle of the set he introduced his band members joking about everyone and especially his sax player Braxton Cook, who is only 22.

Braxton Cook

At the end of the show Christian presented the crowd with three options for the closing tune: a ballad, straight ahead jazz, or something very intense. There was some excitement about the ballad – and Christian plays beautiful ballads for sure! A deadly silence in response to the straight ahead jazz option. And overwhelming cheer for the promise of extreme tune.  Slightly taken aback by the lack of interest in tradition, Christian said that now they HAD to play it – and they did, proving one more time that the band is more than capable of playing swinging jazz with feeling and elegance! They closed the set with K.K.P.D. (Ku Klux Police Department). The song is a commentary on racism, injustice, and police brutality, inspired by an incident Christian had with police back in New Orleans. It was a powerful, emotionally loaded performance and Christian played a fantastic solo – the piercing sound of the trumpet was raw, dark, angry, yet absolutely beautiful.

This was quite a night to remember! A lot of respect and admiration for these guys! Look out for their new records, check out the music and do yourself a favor – go see Christian Scott perform if you get a chance. You won’t regret it.

 

Anna Yatskevich is Flowers In A Gun’s glamorous jazz & beyond critic! Catch more reviews from her here and follow her on Twitter @jazzaddikt.

2 comments for “Christian Scott at Blue Note – Inter(e)view

  1. craig
    January 26, 2014 at 1:30 pm

    Anna,
    Great review/photos of the show. Thanks for publishing the interview w/Christian, hope to see him next time he comes to NYC.
    Craig

    • Anna Yatskevich
      January 26, 2014 at 4:15 pm

      Thank you, Craig. It was a phenomenal show. You should definitely try to see Christian live if you get a chance!

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