Audio Christian Scott
Anthem

Wisdom and audacity typically make strange bedfellows.

But when they come packaged in Christian Scott, a 24-year-old trumpet player from New Orleans who has packed a life's worth of experience into a career that began at age 14, the result is superb jazz that doesn't sacrifice tradition for bravado and brings jazz fans both old and new along for the ride.

As the nephew of renowned saxophonist Donald Harrison, Scott was surrounded by some of the world's greatest jazzmen in New Orleans, receiving his first trumpet at the age of 12.

Like many a jazz great before him, Branford and Wynton Marsalis to name just two, Scott attended the New Orleans Center for the Creative Arts. He then became a standout at the Berklee School of Music in Boston, making his major label solo debut on 2006's Rewind That, which was infused with rock, funk, and soul and drew widespread acclaim.

Now Scott is back with a new record, Anthem, that draws on both the changes in his life and the tragic circumstances that have befallen his hometown in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.

Scott stopped by MP3.com to talk about the new album, his intent to push jazz in new directions, and two of his predecessors on the horn, Wynton Marsalis and Miles Davis.

PART 1

PART 2