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Christian Scott - Rewind That
Artist: Christian Scott
Title: Rewind That
Release Date Mar 28, 2006
Recording Date Feb 9, 2005-Feb 11, 2005
Number of Discs: 1
Label: Concord Jazz
Genre: Jazz
Styles: Contemporary, Funk/Groove, Neo-Fusion
Source:Original CD
Extractor: EAC 0.99 prebeta 4
Used drive : HL-DT-STDVDRAM GSA-E10L
Read mode : Secure
Utilize accurate stream : Yes
Defeat audio cache : Yes
Make use of C2 pointers : No
Codec: Flac 1.2.1; Level 8
Single File.flac, Eac.log,
File.cue Multiple wav file with Gaps (Noncompliant)
None of the tracks are present in the AccurateRip database
Size Torrent: 377 Mb
Cover Included
Tracklisting:
01. Rewind That
02. Say It
03. Like This
04. So What
05. Rejection
06. Lay in Vein
07. She
08. Suicide
09. Caught Up
10. Paradise Found
11. Kiel
Personnel:
Christian Scott: trumpet;
Walter Smith III: tenor sax (2-11);
Matt Stevens: guitar (1-3,5-11);
Zaccai Curtis: Fender Rhodes (1,2,5,6,9) and Wurlitzer (3,4,8,11);
Luques Curtis: bass;
Thomas Pridgen: drums;
Donald Harrison, alto sax (4,8,10,11).
Listen to sample
http://www.amazon.com/gp/recsradio/radio/B000EGDAGG/ref=pd_krex_dp_a
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mrP9Ua9kaU8
Bio
When trumpeter Christian Scott was growing up in New Orleans in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s, his grandfather gave him and his brother Kiel extra reading assignments each week as a supplement to their assigned schoolwork. If the young students failed to finish their books within the week, their grandfather would say, “Yesterday you said tomorrow…” It was the older man’s way of emphasizing the importance of recognizing the work at hand, and making the most of the available time to complete it.
In the end, the two brothers graduated at the top of their high school class at the New Orleans Center for the Creative Arts. Armed with a full scholarship, Christian headed north to Berklee College of Music, where he earned two degrees in two years and eventually launched a music career that has positioned him as one of the great innovators of his generation. But along the way, Scott has learned that there’s still much work to be done – not just within the jazz idiom, but also in the larger world in which jazz exists. Yesterday You Said Tomorrow, his March 30, 2010, release on Concord Jazz, reflects the legacy of some of his musical heroes of the ‘60s, and at the same time wields the music as a tool to address some of the very important issues of contemporary culture.
“I’ve never worked on an album as hard as I’ve worked on this one,” says Scott, who did the session work in April 2009 at Van Gelder Recording Studios in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey. Scott co-produced with Chris Dunn, and veteran jazz engineer Rudy Van Gelder engineered the album. “I wanted to create a musical backdrop that referenced everything I liked about the music from the ‘60s – Miles Davis’ second quintet, Coltrane’s quartet, Mingus’ band – coupled with music made by people like Bob Dylan and Jimi Hendrix. The music from that era just had more depth, whether it was jazz or rock or folk or whatever. The political and social climate at the time was much heavier, and there were a few musicians who weren’t afraid to reference that climate in their work. The ones who did that – and at the same time captivated people in a way that referenced their own humanity – were the ones who ended up lasting the longest.”
Aided by guitarist Matthew Stevens, pianist Milton Fletcher, Jr., bassist Kristopher Keith Funn and drummer Jamire Williams, Scott addresses the issues head on, regardless of how uncomfortable the subject matter may be. He opens the set with “K.K.P.D.,” a track full of dark harmonies and tense, competing polyrhythms. The title stands for “Ku Klux Police Department,” a reference to what Scott calls the “phenomenally dark and evil” attitude by the local police toward African American citizens of New Orleans when he was growing up – and the similar dynamic that persists there and in other cities to this day. “If you’re black, and you get caught in the wrong place on the wrong night, they may do some Klan stuff to you,” he says. “That’s always the thought in the back of your mind.”
Scott wipes away some of the darker shades in “Eraser,” the melodic followup track penned by singer-songwriter Thom Yorke, co-founder and frontman of Radiohead (the song is the title track to Yorke’s solo debut, released in 2006). The aptly titled piece resets the tone of the overall recording, says Scott. “With that song, we’re erasing the issue that was raised in the previous song, and then the album starts,” he says. “Those first two songs are very much a part of the album, but they’re there to establish an environment where you’re willing to listen to whatever else we have to say, because you’ve been opened up to the validity of the original argument.”
The introspective “The Last Broken Heart” was inspired by the debate over gay marriage. “It’s a very challenging song to play, but the small dissonances within the song make it very captivating,” says Scott. “What could be more beautiful than two people deciding to love each other? It’s better than two people deciding to hate each other, but somehow that’s more acceptable.”
Scott freely admits that the subject matter within Yesterday You Said Tomorrow is anything but lighthearted. But like his grandfather, he has little patience for falling behind on the important work at hand that can’t wait. “There’s no better time than right now to fix all of the problems and issues that we face as individuals and as a society,” he says. “The problems that some of the musicians of the ‘60s addressed still exist. They may look a little different, but they’re still around. The intent of the album was to make a document that illuminated that fact, and illuminated the means to change the dynamics and solve the problems.”
Review
Being a child prodigy can be both a blessing and a curse if you're serious about doing what you're good at. On one hand you catch the attention of the media and can score major label record contracts, on the other people judge you by a much finer-calibrated yardstick than musicians twice your age. The bottom line is that unless you're Mozart himself, you're probably going to start out good and get better over time, so maybe it's better for the rest of us not to study those talented youngsters too carefully. Step back and watch them grow up or burn out, however it works out.
Christian Scott is 22, comes from New Orleans, finished Berklee in half the normal time, and has already released a self-titled, self-produced debut. If this trumpeter had come out on Fresh Sound New Talent, he would have pulled plenty of ears in the indie jazz world. But Scott's second effort is going to draw a whole lot more of the spotlight, and you can bet that both he and Concord knew right away that they would be playing up his youth with this recording.
The opening title track—the best thing on the record—simultaneously whispers and screams, riffing off a distorted guitar right into a hard polyrhythmic funk groove, Scott blowing an oblique, incredibly fat-toned melody line on top. The smart, surreal contrast instantly recalls Ron Miles' now out-of-print masterpiece My Cruel Heart (Gramavision, 1996), which blended guitars, horns, bass and drums in the same twisted way.
Scott's other pieces (nine of these eleven tracks are originals) are also heavy on the groove, making full use of his band's electric instrumentation to pump out manly energy. Scott's trumpet, Walter Smith's tenor and Donald Harrison's alto glide and dart on top and around the blown-up rhythm section.
Unfortunately the general vibe tends to be a little too smooth at times, which flattens it and reduces excitement. "Like This," for example, could easily have dispensed with the rest of the band and substituted it with programming, for all the interest it generates. But the interwoven "Lay in Vein" is quite the opposite, so don't draw any hasty conclusions.
The really amazing thing about Christian Scott, all others aside, is his ability to play rounded, almost furry notes that just don't sound like they could come from a trumpet. And that ability allows him to bring amazing warmth to his music. As for the rest, let's see what happens next, but I suspect a lot of people are going to be listening to this guy.
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Every now and again there comes an artist who captures your interest from the very first prodigious note that is made. As if by osmosis, their music is absorbed into the very essence of your extra sensory perceptive personified mind. That is exactly what trumpeter Christian Scott has done on his debut release for Concord Records entitled Rewind That.
For some jazz connoisseurs who have watched the evolution of jazz over the last 30-plus years, Rewind That is the culmination of every thing that has been retrofitted from the 1970s, when fusion jazz was just beginning to make a statement of its own. During that era, many up and coming musicians such as Herbie Hancock, Bennie Maupin, Chick Corea, Wayne Shorter, Randy Brecker, Eddie Henderson and even the legendary Miles Davis to a large extent were pushing the elements of fusion jazz into the mainstream. What once began as a foray into the unknown reaches of blending rock, R&B and popular music into a commonality of style has now become standard practice. Christian Scott’s latest release rides that same wave and continues down a path that was blazed superbly by his predecessors.
At 22, Scott is somewhat of a prodigy. He received his first trumpet from his mother and grandmother at age 12. Upon receiving his instrument, he began learning the rudiments of jazz from his uncle, saxophonist Donald Harrison. Under that superb level of instruction, Scott enrolled in the New Orleans Center for the Creative Arts, where additional mentoring was received from Clyde Kerr and Kent Jordan. When examining the history of the NOCCA, the list of alumni reads like a “Who’s Who in Jazz” to include Harry Connick, Jr., Terence Blanchard, Nicholas Payton and the Marsalis brothers. Upon completing that course of study, Christian received a full tuition free scholarship to the prestigious Berklee School of Music, where he completed five years of jazz studies in just 30 months. Upon graduation, he then released a self-titled, self-produced album. In a short span of time, Christian Scott has accomplished more than some musicians have been able to do after many years of toil.
Rewind That is a product of everything imaginable in jazz. As a derivative of fusion, Scott has embraced hip-hop rhythms, soulful melodic grooves and harmonic nuances to bind with an improvisational standard seldom seen coming from an artist of his years. His music has a built-in simplicity about it, whereby even the most complex note structures are easily assimilated into the realm of intuitive acceptance. As one attunes himself to the creativity of Christian Scott, the influences of Miles Davis and Eddie Henderson radiate like beacons in the night. On the other hand, the ever-present shadow of Chet Baker also looms in the background. But make no mistake about this music, Rewind That is all about Christian Scott’s own personal odyssey into fusion and the intuitive creative spirit that comes from within. His laid back style of play creates a sense of sanctuary in an environment where jazz is often too commercial and seldom very cerebral.
In my mind, Christian Scott’s dynamic release containing eleven outstanding tracks of fused improvisational magic is an excellent example of what jazz should be about. This album is definitely an unqualified sphere of strategic importance. |
