Drawing upon the rhythms of Africa, as well as African tendencies in hip-hop and Detroit techno, Christian Scott Atunde Adjuah continues to add new vitality to the world of jazz fusion with his latest album, “The Emancipation Procrastination“. Still, taking in account all the pros and cons, "Axiom" is probably the best Scott album I have ever heard.ĭuke Ellington’s musical allegory “A Drum is a Woman”, was a clever story that foretold jazz’s future as a musical style that would adapt to every culture on the globe, and even go to outer space, but no matter how far jazz may wander and change, its strength and substance comes from returning to the music of Africa. Exactly as during the concert I saw, songs here are quite long, being accessible and not too complex, the lengthiness can make the album simply sound a bit bulky as a result. There is a groove and a lot of African percussion, and in general this album is not much different from today's popular London based African fusion influenced sound. Comparing with some of Scott's last studio albums, music here is much more organic, and that's for good. Lawrence Field's retro keys sound great and add a lot of 70s spirit. Flutist Elena Pinderhughes is a night's star filling space with nice solos generally, not too knotty for the band's music. Exactly as during the gig I saw live, Scott speaks a lot, plays trumpet and manages his band well. He sounded quite similar to what is recorded on this newest album "Axiom", just here he sounds a bit better. But it's an independent outfit under very independent direction, and hopefully it can reconvene often enough to grow.Five years ago I saw Christian Scott playing live on his European tour with almost the same band (vocalist Isadora Mendez Scott is not on board, sax player Braxton Cook instead of current Alex Han and percussionist Joe Dyson instead of Weedie Braimah). He talked too much for a 90-minute set – a luggage-transit glitch had lost several instruments, and probably made a hole in this new group's planned repertoire. Mendez-Scott then returned for a patiently imploring R&B vocal embroidered by the soul-sax alto of Braxton Cook, and Ku-Klux Klan Police Department, with its tension between soft horn harmonies and urgent percussion, brought exhortatory fierceness and darkly insinuating low sounds from Scott.
The reflectiveness of Thom Yorke's The Eraser brought a mix of windy swoops and flawlessly timed runs from Pinderhughes. The Latin-inflected twister Jihad Joe cruised for a while on the deft riffing of pianist Lawrence Fields, bassist Kris Funn and drummer Corey Fonville before the leader began swerving between flaring New Orleans-inspired outbursts and more cryptic, electric-Miles phrasing. An intro of staccato motifs and rumbling percussion developed into an Afro-Latin pulse with tight flute-brass dialogues, and a slow soul-anthem, mimicked by the crowd. He opened with New Orleanian Love Song – inspired by stories of early collaborations between Native Americans and black slaves. Miles Davis, early New Orleans brass exhortations, Latin music, neo-soul and Radiohead all influence Scott, and his Jazz Cafe set cannily balanced all these and more.
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