Christian Scott
Live At Newport cd/dvd
Concord Records
By George W. Harris

Caught in concert at the famous jazz festival, trumpeter Christian Scott shows the crowd that last year’s release “Anthem” was neither a fluke nor a yoke in which to hold. His touring band (Walter Smith III/ts, Matt Stevens/g, Aaron Parks/p, Joe Sanders/b Jamire Williams/dr) has fire in its bones as they give fiery readings of 3 songs from his first two discs (“Litany Against Fear”, “Rewind That” and “Anthem”) and debut some provocative and future looking originals. While compared often to Miles Davis, Scott during this concert seems more influenced by the classic Coltrane quartet, with dramatic rhythms serving the foundation for intense and searching solos. “Died In Love” and “Litany…” show Scott exploring harmonic sounds that show that hears looking for new musical territories. Parks and Stevens sound inspired throughout, with the former’s work on “James Crow Jr, Esq” quite inspiring. Stevens, who contributes writing skills as well, solos formidably on “Died” and “Litany” as well as his own “Rumor”. Like the Coltrane band, Scott’s group can get quite liturgical on the ballads, with “Isadora” being at it’s meditative best. It seems like every Scott release will be a transition, since this restless guy is always looking for something more. An appealing prospect, indeed-catch him at Catalina’s in December.