1. Rewind That
2. Say It
3. Like This
4. So What
5. Rejection
6. Lay in Vein
7. She
8. Suicide
9. Caught Up
10. Paradise Found
11. Kiel
Christian Scott – Trumpet
Luques Curtis – Bass
Thomas Pridgen – Drums
Walter Smith III (except track 1) – Tenor-sax
Matt Stevens (except track 4) – Guitar
Zaccai Curtis (except track 10) – Fender Rhodes
and Wurlitzer
Donald Harrison (tracks 4, 8, 10 and 11) –
Alto-sax
The
jazz world used to be full of tenor-saxophonists
pretending to be John Coltrane. Hearing this
debut album by a 22-year-old trumpeter, I
begin to think we are surrounded by trumpeters
who want to sound like Miles Davis. Christian
Scott has the same mournful tone (sometimes
sounding rather flat) and the same economy
with notes – playing short phrases above ostinato
patterns very much in the style of Miles Davis
when he was in his jazz-rock mode. Like Miles,
Christian occasionally breaks out into fierce
flurries of notes but most of his playing
is subdued – and sadly rather uninteresting.
Thomas
Pridgen’s cracking drums reinforce the jazz-rock
style, mostly using the eight-in-a-bar rhythms
of fusion, and Matt Stevens’ guitar adds some
abrasive commentary – which can intrude on
the ear in an otherwise well-recorded album.
Christian Scott wrote nine of the eleven tracks
himself but they tend to retread familiar
paths and have little melodic appeal, preferring
to depend upon repetitive grooves. Scott’s
version of Miles Davis’s So What is
rather lacklustre until Donald Harrison comes
in with some biting alto-sax. In fact the
outstanding soloists here are not Scott but
Donald Harrison and tenor-saxist Walter Smith
III, who both produce shapely solos. Despite
their contributions, I am unlikely to be tempted
to follow the CD title’s advice and rewind
this album to hear it again.
Tony
Augarde
CD Reviews
Concord Jazz
3122442
