New York, NY (Top40 Charts) Grammy nominated trumpeter, composer, and producer Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah will release the third installment of a trio of albums commemorating the 100th anniversary of the first jazz recordings. Collectively titled The Centennial Trilogy, the final album in the series The Emancipation Procrastination will be released on October 20th via Ropeadope.
"The Cypher," the second single from The Emancipation Procrastination just premiered at Mass Appeal. The track was first written for a 2016 Complex City Cypher video, featuring Christian alongside A$AP Ferg, Wiki, and Your Old Droog. Stream the track via Soundcloud:
The Emancipation Procrastination the third and final chapter in the trilogy deals directly with the social and political issues of the day. Rather than descend into identity politics, Adjuah sees many disparate cultures in New Orleans being underserved and exploited. This worldview transcends New Orleans, as Christian has traveled and toured the world for almost 20 years, starting as a child and performing with extraordinary players (McCoy Tyner, Donald Harrison, Eddie Palmieri).
The scope of The Centennial
Trilogy is not limited to the music; Adjuah uses broad strokes to present his vision of the world. Growing up in New Orleans' Upper Ninth Ward, he witnessed people enduring the same challenges regardless of their race or ethnic background: He saw a community of people undereducated to serve the tourist culture, facing food insecurity, yet viewing each other as different through the lens of race. Seeing this around him, Adjuah came to understand that race is a social construct, and that people could work together to build and move forward.
"I'm not interested in harming anyone," Adjuah says. "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.
Christian is about to head out on a world tour throughout Asia, Australia,
Europe and North America, full list of tour dates below.
"Christian Scott is making some of the most interesting musicin the jazz world right now." - Stereogum
"Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah is the past, present and future of jazz" - Newsweek
"His music has reached a point of dazzling refinement—a dense, richly textured blendof acoustic and electronic elements in which foreground and background subtly shift focus.His trumpet playing, which often sounds majestic, never steals the spotlight.It commands from deep within." - Wall Street Journal
"It is music that sounds completely contemporary, yet fully integrated into a century of great black American music, from
James Reese
Europe to Miles Davis to Kendrick Lamar." - WNYC
"Mr. Scott's band crafts a throbbing beat that's equal parts trap music and New Orleanian march" - The New York Times
US Tour Dates:
October 12 - Oakland, CA - The New Parish
October 13 - Sacramento, CA - Harlow's
October 15 - Troubadour - West Hollywood, CA
October 24 - Jazz Market - New Orleans, LA
