Christian Scott
Friday
Reviewed by Jay Trachtenberg, Fri., March 14, 2008
Christian Scott
Anthem (Concord Jazz)There's definitely something different going on here. This young, New Orleans-born trumpeter has played with the likes of jazz masters McCoy Tyner and his uncle Donald Harrison while also mingling in the R&B/hip-hop world on sessions with Jill Scott, Mos Def, and X-Clan. As a follow-up to Rewind That, his 2006 Grammy-nominated debut, Scott attempts to meld these compatible influences into his own unique post-bop sound. Although he's not quite there yet, this Katrina-inspired project isn't without its successes. Chief among them is an often-unresolved, disquieting tension running through the album. "Litany Against Fear" and the title track set an eerie ambience that Scott's warm trumpet uses effectively. Funkier tunes such as "Dialect" and "The 9" are reminiscent of the late-1980s M-Base sound and find Scott blowing more assertively. Christian Scott's time is coming. (Friday, March 14, Momo's, 11pm.)
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