Axiom

Trumpeter Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah has released a steady flow of adventurous, genre-bending studio albums, yet its his live performances that often reveal just how accessible, emotionally visceral, and funky his ethereally textured brand of fusion actually is. Its a vibe he cultivates on his third concert album, 2020s Axiom. Recorded live at New Yorks Blue Note Jazz Club in March 2020, the set follows on the heels of his Grammy-nominated 2019 record Ancestral Recall and features almost the same group with flutist Elena Pinderhughes, pianist Lawrence Fields, bassist Kris Funn, drummer Corey Fonville, and percussionist Weedie Braimah. Its also essentially the same group with whom Scott recorded his 2015 LP Stretch Music, as well as his ambitious 2017 Centennial Trilogy of albums: Diaspora, Ruler Rebel, and The Emancipation Procrastination. In that sense, Axiom works nicely as an overview of Scotts work, showcasing his organic blend of expansive fusion harmonies, skittering electronic-influenced rhythms, and acidic, effects-laden improvisations. The album opens in dramatic fashion with X. Adjuah (I Own the Night) off Ancestral Recall. Built around an introspective, minor-key piano riff, the song builds in intensity as Scott lays down a psychedelic flamenco-sounding melody. Equally compelling is his woozy dreamscape take on David Crosbys 1968 composition Guinnevere. Building upon Miles Davis rendition from 1979s Circle in the Round, Scotts version is fiery and celestial as he dives headlong into Fields syrupy organ chords and Fonvilles spiraling drum groove. While Scotts mutative trumpet playing is certainly the focal point of Axiom, hes also not afraid to share the spotlight, giving plenty of space for his bandmates to stretch out as Pinderhughes does on the buoyantly earthy Diaspora. Its also illuminating to hear just how much Braimahs African djembe playing informs the overall sound of the band, as on the kinetic Sunrise in Beijing. Aurally expansive, global in scope, and rife with an emotional immediacy, Axiom is the perfect distillation of Scotts work in the 2010s. ~ Matt Collar

ピアノによるテーマから怒涛のドラミングとパーカッションで始まる《X.Adjuah》、音符が詰め込まれたリズムの中にクリスチャン・スコットの鋭いトランペットが異次元へと誘う冒頭から既に盛り上がりは最高潮。コロナ禍での休業直前に、ブルーノート・ニューヨークでステージが録音された本作は、歴史的な転換期における貴重な記録だ。ライヴでしか味わえない熱気やグルーヴがそこにはある。演奏者と観客が一体となって作り出すその場限りの空間。本作はそれが素晴らしい状態でパッケージされているが、現場でこれを体感出来ていたらどれほどのものだったのだろうか。
intoxicate (C)栗原隆行