Rewind That

Rewind That

At 22, trumpeter Christian Scott plays beyond his years. He not only has chops to spare, and the Berklee College of Music education to go with them, but also an understated elegance you don’t often find in players this young. A New Orleans native, Scott also has an uncanny ability to juxtapose benchmark jazz styles, nearly all of which he no doubt absorbed through prolonged exposure to Miles Davis: fusion, funk, postbop, modal, smooth. On his Concord debut, <i>Rewind That</i>, a standout fellow Crescent City product, alto saxophone veteran Donald Harrison, is on hand to enliven several cuts, including a lovely, languorous arrangement of Davis's "So What" (from <i>Kind of Blue</i>). But whether feeding atmospheric effects with his purring notes or pushing against the groove to brassier effect, Scott is very much in the driver's seat with his assured band, including guitarist Matt Stevens, tenor saxophonist Walter Smith III and drummer Thomas Pridgen. He sometimes settles for decorative, Chuck Mangione-type phrases, but most of the time, the substance of his playing is right up there with the style. Nine of the 11 tracks are originals. <i>--Lloyd Sachs</i>