Christian Scott – Ruler Rebel album review: hits the right hip-hop notes

Ruler Rebel is the first in a trilogy of albums to be released this year by New Orleans trumpeter Christian Scott.

Like the late Miles Davis – the clear inspiration for Scott’s sound and image – the 33-year-old is consciously plugging into contemporary black musical culture, and in the 21st century that means hip-hop, not jazz.

In fact, like many of his predecessors, Scott is not a fan of the word jazz, preferring his own “stretch music”, a term expansive enough to embrace a forest of contemporary genres from jazz to New Orleans trap to EDM, as well as a root system of ethnic influences.

The results are strutting, grandiose statements that will resonate with the hip-hop generation, though Scott’s supreme self-confidence and princely swagger will strike some “jazz” listeners as vainglorious.

[ christianscott.tv ]