Trumpeter Christian Scott channels Miles Davis and Bob Dylan

Since his major label debut in 2006, trumpeter Christian Scott has carved out an enviable reputation as one of the most gifted musicians of his generation, with an ability to combine several genres to stunning effect.  This has resulted in a number of impressive accolades including a Grammy nomination, topping the Downbeat 2009 Critic’s Poll for Trumpeter of the Year and collaborations with the likes of Prince, Jill Scott and Mos Def.

Scott’s profile is set to soar with the release of his fourth record, Yesterday You Said Tomorrow, an album that blurs the boundaries of jazz, hip-hop and rock.  The album was recorded and engineered by the legendary Rudy Van Gelder, who is known as one of the greatest recording engineers in jazz history for his work with John Coltrane, Miles Davis and Herbie Hancock among others.

Born in New Orleans in 1983, Scott has always been acutely aware of the legacy of jazz and its role within the broader context of 20th century history. “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.  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. The album opens 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 held by some of 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.

Tell me about your new album, Yesterday You Said Tomorrow. What’s the concept behind it?

I wanted to try and create an album that was about compatibility of textures and marrying things that aren’t technically married. I wanted to do that with music that is prevalent today and I also wanted to marry those things with stuff that was highly prevalent musically in the Sixties then I wanted to record it like it was the Sixties: live off the floor, minimum mics, no headphones, that sort of thing.

You’ve said previously that the music of the Sixties had much more depth. What did you mean by that? What the music was about, the way it was played or how it was recorded?

Actually, all three. In the context of the recording, you can hear the distances between the instruments a little bit differently in the spaces and how it was recorded. If you listen to those old LPs that Rudy van Gelder did, there’s space. The saxophone is all the way to the left so you can hear the interplay between the relationships.

As far as subject matter, the Sixties was a very tumultuous period in American history. There were people that were going through profound things in the context of their identity politics, race relations and sexuality. So a lot of the music reflected that and people didn’t seem afraid to speak up and say things that they felt.

And in the context of the depth of the music I think some of the music that was being created at that time had an undercurrent of struggle. I like music that sounds like it’s struggling.

What contemporary issues did you draw on to create that struggle in your music?

My music stands from a space where it’s all about making change happen. We’ve seen what the by-product of the Sixties has been and we’ve had a chance to refine ourselves based on that. The people who would like to keep the world down have also refined themselves and tried to keep a certain type of control of people. The difference between what’s going on with the music that’s coming out of this generation as opposed to that of the Sixties is that we’ve put ourselves in a position where, when the opportunity presents itself for us to actually try and procure change, we’ll in a better position just because we’ve learned from our predecessors, whereas they didn’t have anyone to learn from. Charles Mingus couldn’t have listened to something that was going on 70, 40 or 30 years earlier than him and say, “I can use this as a launch pad to build my musical palate and the subject matter of my music on”. There was no equivalent to the Haitian Fight Song in 1910.

So do you feel that, as a jazz musician, it’s your role or duty to talk about these things?

I don’t think that’s my role. I just think it happens to be something that I do as a facet of my job for me personally but I don’t see it as something that I have to do. Tomorrow I could write music about lollipops and be just as happy.

Tell me about your audience and the type of people you connect with through your music?

It’s all ages. What I’ve seen more commonly now is young, fashionable, hip people have started to come to the shows. But it could be from that to blue-haired old ladies, depending on where you are in the world.

What do you think it is about your music that attracts that diverse audience?

I think it’s the mindset behind it. We may be investigating some of the older forms but we’re not tracing it.

Copyright Kiel Scott

Jazz is associated with a certain type of audience and person. Is that part of the reason why you work with other artists and genres, to connect with a more diverse audience?

I work with them because I like them as people. All of the extracurricular stuff, that never even enters my mind. I think they’re dope human beings. Any of the artists I’m working with means I like them as a person because I don’t sign contracts, I make my own choices. Since I was 17 years old I’ve been able to say no and that’s important to me.

One of your musical influences is Bob Dylan…

I like Bob Dylan because, to be blunt, he doesn’t really give a f*ck. Bob Dylan seems like the type of personality type that grew out of a situation where, at some point, he felt that there was something that he needed to say and people probably dismissed him so he refined himself to make them listen. I’m into that.

What’s your favourite song on your new album and why?

No one song sticks out. The album was written to be one document. I knew programmatically what the album was going to be two years ago. So no one song sticks out.

Why did you call it Yesterday You Said Tomorrow? Great title!

There are so many reasons but one, which is more personal, is that when I was a boy my grandfather used to give us a different book to read each week and if you didn’t finish reading it, he’d say: “Yesterday you said tomorrow”.

What’s next for you?

I’m taking a little break to actually experience life and hang out with my lovely girlfriend in the time period that I’m not actually touring.

Aside from music, what do you like to do?

I like feeding hungry people. When I go back to New Orleans I go to the wards where they have orphans and bring food and food programmes. I know that sounds weird but that’s what I’m into.

In terms of New Orleans and the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina in 2004, what’s the situation like now?

It’s bad. There’s no school system. The roads still need to be paved. Two thirds of the city is still not back so New Orleans is in bad shape.

New Orleans is synonymous with jazz music. What is the jazz community doing to rebuild the city?

We have this thing that we call a land grab where we try to buy all of the property that we can in the black neighbourhoods to make sure that they don’t get taken. A couple of weeks ago I just closed on three homes to make sure that people don’t just come in and take our neighbourhoods away from us. I have a non-profit called The Guardians Institute. I have a jazz camp. So we do all types of stuff to make sure that the city’s OK. We protect our city.

How important is it for you to mentor young, up-and-coming musicians?

The most important thing. When you’re mentoring a young musician you’re giving the next generation a means to a voice. It’s incredibly worth it. It’s important in the work that I do on the bandstand.

For more information on Christian Scott visit www.christianscott.net or click here to watch a video.

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