I believe Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah requires practically no other introduction than his name – especially for people savvy within the realm of jazz. The award-winning musician along with his band has managed to throw together a marvelous collection of songs as his third live album, titled succinctly, Axiom. This all went down across four days during March last year and we saw the finished product at the end of August. The few lucky ones that participated at the show at the famed Blue Note in NYC definitely had the prime cut of this experience.
Stretching across a solid one hundred something minutes (with the bonus tracks), Axiom is one hell of a ride. I’m still digesting the contents to varying extents even after a lot of spins, not to mention how most of this was done in four days and how it manages to sound so great. While it’s a bulky journey, don’t think it’s the kind of a record that is as dense as it is long (like Kamasi Washington’s The Epic), because it only needs your sustained attention. There aren’t any like nested details in layers, underneath subtle nuances, like some kind of twisted sonic Matroshka doll.
Although, once you put the time in, the reward is worth every invested moment. It’s rare that jazz comes up packed like this. I mean, this is the kind of musical content that would warrant an academic level of research, in order to unearth on a technical level what goes into it and why all those things make it so great and fun to listen to. Christian Scott actually talks a little at the end of the first song, sort of like opening the gig to the crowd with an interesting train of thought (which I slightly abridged here for brevity and clarity):
“ […] what you’re experiencing tonight, what you’re gonna experience tonight - is the reevaluation […] uh, we’ve just crossed into the second century of creative improvised music […] and I guess if you prefer in pejorative terms – jazz […] but this is also part of what were reevaluating, we’re reevaluating what we’re playing and why, while also reevaluating this relationship – uh oftentimes when we’re coming to environments like this to play creative improvised music, you know, someone uses the word jazz […] and that’s cool you know - but this has nothing to do with, where this music’s power rests and so what you’re gonna hear tonight hearkens to that – the new relationship that’s being created […] ”
I’m not sure I fully understand the extend and depth of his statement, although it is also entirely possible, I may be trying to read to far into it, either way, I’m definitely feeling what he’s going for. It certainly becomes clearer as one passes through the album a few times and the dust settles. There’s a veritable plethora of ideas to pass through and many different textures to assimilate, so piecing them together at the end to gaze at the whole picture will require a fair amount of effort. Again, it’s well worth working with all of it, the reward is maybe even greater than what we, as listeners, go through to achieve it.
While the record is simply bristling at its seams with the kind of exuberant and upbeat energy that has made jazz so great in the first place, it retains something of a contemplative overtone beneath this glistening surface. I can’t really articulate this aptly into any wording that makes sense, other than to state that it feels like it draws from the pensive and wistful nature of post-rock in a spiritual and metaphoric sense – if that makes any sense whatsoever.
Axiom also comes charged with an intense aura that gives it an uncanny warmth, which I can only define as that feeling of presence you have when you’re alone in a room. That unshakable feeling that there’s an entity there with you, although you clearly know there isn’t. I’d file it under the opposite side of eerie of that kind of phenomenon. There’s something inherently comforting and reassuring as you glide along the highly energetic grooves and the scintillating melodies. I believe that Christian Scott and his band manage to tap into the magical ethos of music, as a universal language, at a metaphysical level. Tapping in and bringing back the essence which has been touched might be the very explanation for the experience imparted with us over the course of the album.
I also feel the need to mention that I see this journey as an ascent towards something ineffable, where the ascent consists of the first four/five tracks. Reaching the summit and admiring the view spans across the sixth and respectively seventh songs, offering a spectacular moment to live for the spectators involved. I personally vibed intensely with the sixth and seventh song and I can only praise them for their impeccable songwriting both rhythmically and in terms of usage of harmony in their melodies. The rest of the record after this moment, glides gracefully downhill, wrapping up the trip with alternate takes of two of the previous songs.
I think it’s somewhat redundant, however I’d feel remiss if I didn’t mention how great the record sounds. I have no doubt that everyone involved in producing this album, is as good at what they do, like the musicians animating the songs. Everything about this record screams virtuosity at an apex level. So, if you’re even partially into creative improvised music, hit this up, it’s worth it all the way!
