The Emancipation Procrastination (Ropeadope)
Christian Scott aTunde Adjua
Released October 20, 2017
Grammy Nominee for Best Contemporary Instrumental Album 2019
YouTube:
https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=TPClPlEeQow&list=OLAK5uy_ngbMNeMEpeokGhCaeCr7hi6fozrRbhF1s
Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/album/7edttukwBaQEAiPtS0rnmV?si=Sdx6Maw2T7Ch6l1XkxuvEQ
About:
The Emancipation Procrastination, the third and final chapter in The Centennial Trilogy, deals directly with the social and political issues of the day. Rather than descend into identity politics, Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah sees in New Orleans many disparate cultures in one space being underserved and exploited. His worldview is not just New Orleans, as he has traveled and toured the world for almost 20 years, starting as a child in some of the most revered jazz groups of the day (McCoy Tyner, Donald Harrison, Eddie Palmieri..).
“‘I’m not interested in harming anyone. I have a responsibility as an artist to create a space where people feel welcome. When I walk outside this hotel room, that is not the reality. There is a difference when music is made with love. When people come into my space they are going to feel that. We are trying to figure out a way to treat each other better. We are all responsible for healing each other.‘” The vision of Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah is clear – that this is an opportunity for all of US to come together and address issues that affect ALL of us. Emancipation Procrastination means that we all have an opportunity to liberate ourselves from old world ideas. Let the healing begin.
Track Listing:
1. The Emancipation Procrastination (Christian Scott) 06:25
2. AvengHer (Christian Scott) 05:02
3. Ruler Rebel [X. aTunde Adjuah Remix] (Christian Scott) 05:53
4. Ashes of Our Forever (Christian Scott) 04:07
5. In the Beginning (Weedie Braimah) 02:24
6. Michele With One L (Christian Scott) 03:11
7. The Cypher (Christian Scott) 04:45
8. Videotape (Colin Greenwood / Jonny Greenwood / Edward O’Brien / Phil Selway / Thom Yorke) 04:39
9. Gerrymandering Game (Lawrence Fields / Cliff Hynes / Christian Scott) 02:02
10. Unrigging November (Christian Scott) 05:00
11. Cages (Lawrence Fields / Christian Scott) 09:33
12. New Heroes (Lawrence Fields / Christian Scott) 10:45
Personnel:
Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah: trumpet, siren, sirenette, reverse flugelhorn, SPD – SX, sonic architecture (1-4, 6-10, 12)
Elena Pinderhughes: flute (1, 3, 4, 7, 8, 12)
Braxton Cook: alto saxophone (1, 3, 4, 7, 8, 11, 12)
Stephen J. Gladney: tenor saxophone (11)
Lawrence Fields: piano, Fender Rhodes (1, 3, 4, 6-12)
Kris Funn: bass (1, 3, 7, 8, 11, 12)
Luques Curtis: bass (4, 6, 10)
Matt Stevens: guitar (1, 12)
Cliff Hines: guitar (3, 4, 9, 10)
Dominic Minix: guitar (8)
Corey Fonville: drums, SPD – SX (1, 3, 6-12)
Joe Dyson, Jr.: Pan African drums, SPD – SX (1, 3, 4, 7, 10)
Marcus Gillmore: drums, SPD- SX (2)
Weedie Braimah: djembe, bata, congas (2, 5, 10)
Recorded April 16-21, 2016 by Matt Grondin & Nick Guttmann at The Parlor, New Orleans, LA
Mixed by Nick Guttmann
Mastered by Paul Blakemore Produced by Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah & Chris Dunn
Executive Producers: Christian Scot aTunde Adjuah & Louis Marks
Creative Direction: Kiel Adrian Scott & Kevin Kedroe
Art Direction: Kevin Kedrue & Allan Cole
Photography: Kiel Adrian Scott
Package Design: Kevin Kedroe
Review:
During the ’90s, hip-hop artists, DJs, and electronic producers borrowed heavily from jazz artists, often sampling their recordings and reworking them into their own rave anthems and ambient soundscapes. On the third volume in his ambitious Centennial Trilogy, 2017’s The Emancipation Procrastination, trumpeter Christian Scott, aka Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah, flips the paradigm, and fully embraces his own brand of trip-hop-inflected electronic jazz fusion. Its an approach he’s been exploring since at least 2015’s Stretch Music, an album whose title Scott also uses as an all-encompassing definition for his particular style of jazz. The definition might even be more applicable than ever here, as Scott pushes his sound even further away from the strict jazz tradition and into a multi-hyphenated region of jazz-tinged trip-hop electronica. Ironically, while Scott’s music is as contemporary as jazz gets, the intention behind much of the Centennial Trilogy is to mark the recording of the first jazz album in 1917 and, in the process, celebrate the social and historical impact of the genre. It’s a dichotomous intent, reflected in the album’s title, a reworking of President Lincoln’s 1863 proclamation freeing the enslaved people of the United States. Helping Scott achieve this vibe are his bandmates, saxophonist Braxton Cook, flutist Elena Pinderhughes, keyboardist Lawrence Fields, bassist Kris Funn, and drummer Corey Fonville. Also featured are several longtime associates, including guitarist Matt Stevens, percussionist Joe Dyson, Jr., bassist Luques Curtis, and others. The opening title track, with its noir-ish atmosphere and trip-hop beat, sounds like something Miles Davis might have concocted with Portishead in the early ’90s. Other tracks — like the flamenco-inflected “AvengHer_Slams 2 Mix” with its skittering beat and multi-tracked Harmon-muted leads, and the shadowy “Ashes of Our Forever” with its gauzy, midnight-drive atmosphere — bring to mind the ’70s and early-’80s albums of longtime Herbie Hancock Mwandishi band trumpeter Eddie Henderson. With his often muted horn and inclination toward long, extended phrases, Scott feels as much like a vocalist as he does a trumpeter. It’s a sound contrasted nicely by his bandmates Cook and Pinderhughes, who accent what are often purposefully pixelated grooves with soulful, harmonically nuanced improvisations. As the title implies, The Emancipation Procrastination is a break from the past, and is so forward-thinking and contemporary that it really doesn’t sound like a jazz album in any traditional sense. But you get the distinct impression that Scott wouldn’t have it any other way.
Matt Collar (Allmusic)
