Anthem

Christian Scott

Product Details

• Audio CD (August 28, 2007)
• Original Release Date: August 28, 2007
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Concord Records
• ASIN: B000SNUNWE
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #20,535 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

About the Artist

If such an award were given to a first-time leader in the jazz league, trumpeter Christian Scott would have hands-down scored Rookie of the Year honors for his superb Grammy nominated debut, Rewind That. A year older and a year wiser, the 24-year-old Scott returns with his remarkable sophomore disc for Concord, Anthem. It's a powerful collection of 12 pieces teeming with jazz, indie rock, neo-soul and hip-hop sensibilities. While the tunes are partially informed by the New Orleans native's ruminations on the havoc wreaked by Hurricane Katrina, Scott hastens to note that Anthem also reflects the many changes he's gone through in the past year, ranging from his romantic life to his maturation as an artist. "My life changed completely," he says. "So, the compositions on Anthem aren't just about one thing. They're about all kinds of things, while they definitely have some political undertones. But, one thing is certain. The house I grew up in is gone. There's no home in the Ninth Ward."

Like Rewind That, Anthem doesn't adhere to the swing-and-blues rules of straight-ahead jazz. As he told DownBeat last year, "Ninety-nine percent of the time, [jazz] musicians come out swinging. But why bother? It's not that I can't swing. I can, and I love it, but what I'm doing does not have to sound like what other people want me to sound like." On Anthem, Marcus Gilmore's drums often connect with a neo-soul, hip-hop groove; pianist Aaron Parks, who also mans a Fender Rhodes and synths, and electric guitarist Matt Stevens play with rock music in their veins; and the funky finale track, "Anthem (Post Diluvial Adaptation," features the rapping of X-Clan's Brother J and righteous-anger trumpeting by the leader.

Product Description

Grammy Award nominated trumpeter Christian Scott returns with his sophomore release, Anthem; a powerful collection of 12 pieces teeming with jazz, indie rock, neo-soul and hip-hop sensibilities.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars He deserves more press, November 17, 2007

By	M. Wells - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Christian Scott is quite the talent. Anthem, the follow up to his debut, Rewind That, finds Christian expanding upon his distinct sound with a maturity not often found in young musicians.

Christian Scott is exciting to listen to because there is no one that sounds quite like him. Anthem, while certainly a jazz album, incorporates many different styles of music and amazingly it all fits and flows together as one work.

New Orleans is Christian's home town and it should be noted that this album was written in response to Hurricane Katrina. The album is emotive, and it truly does sound like one long elegy to the New Orleans that existed prior to the summer of 2005. The fact that a young man is able to express tragedy through the medium of jazz music with such poignancy shows that Christian Scott is a special musician.

I recommend anyone reading this review buy Anthem. It isn't a five star album but it is a very good album that deserves the listener's patience. If anything, buy it and its predecessor just so you can experience the evolution of one of music's brightest hopes.

I look forward to more releases by Christian Scott in the future. I hope Christian continues to experiment with his sound and expand his musical horizons. This is one trumpeter I can see carrying Miles Davis' torch and this statement should not be taken lightly.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars miles would've dug it...., April 22, 2009

By	a_poet_grows_in_brooklyn "darktraveller57@bla... (Brooklyn, New York) - See all my reviews

i had been wanting to hear this dude for the longest, but was kinda apprehensive, because after miles, lee, dizzy and freddie, there's not too many contemporary jazz trumpeters i care for...but chrisitian made me pay attention...his style is more like rock/hip hop jazz, kinda like what miles would've played after he came back from his hiatus in the early 80's...but it seems to be more natural with christian....dude makes it all look effortless...when miles was messing with hip-hop on " doo bop" i branded him a sellout, but miles was just changing with the times...just looking to see what sold...just being relevant and changing with the times and being hip...miles didn't give a flip what people thought of him or his music...christian's the same way...anthem is christian's personal take on hurricane katrina and i will listen to it again...esperanza spalding ( my new favorite jazz bassist ) plays on a couple of songs...brother j from the rap group x-clan does a rap on the second version of anthem...it works...

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Late Miles meets Radiohead, or Ben Allison meets Marcus Miller, March 1, 2008

By	Anthony Cooper (Louisville, KY United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This CD stands out from the average jazz disc, because the band plays a lot like a rock band. The typical song (they all have the same 'sound', except for one which dips into smooth jazz territory) is midtempo, with the drummer hitting the snare on the 2 and 4 (like a rock or R&B drummer). The keyboardist plays a minor key melody, but in a rock style, playing sequential eighth notes. The bass player plays a funky bassline. That sets things up for Christian Scott, who plays a lot of slow moody trumpet on this CD. His trumpet playing is also minimalistic, it's reminiscent of late Miles, but with a stronger tone. I've probably done the equivalent of describing a birthday cake by talking about flour, butter, and whatnot, but it all comes together. The songs on Anthem are about Katrina and violence, and he keeps it consistant -- there's no Lee Morgan hard bop soloing over a walking bassline. This is a very good CD, and it's certainly unique. Mr. Scott walks the tightrope between good-simple and blah-smooth-simple very well. In addition, the final rap song ties together jazz and the spoken word better than Mingus was able to do (though if Mingus hooked up with a time-travelling rapper in 1959 - look out). Anyone who likes jazz with rock song forms should get this.