If you asked me or any other educated jazz listener their top 5 albums via trumpet/flugelhorn, most, if not all, would have been recorded 20+ years ago. Miles Davis's "Kind of Blue" almost always is mentioned, but the album was recorded in 1959. I loves Jazz, especially on trumpet, but there has got to be something new out there. Now I know Arturo Sandoval is still making recordings and Chris Botti is out there selling his soul to get big names to sing with him, but it's not the same. It's original composition I crave. An evolution from what has been the standard to a new one. I've been listening to this new cat, Christian Scott, and I'm impressed. New Orleans born, he composes new music about pain and heartbreak, while still continuing a long standing tradition of great Jazz performance from that city. He plays with a haunting tonality with spurts of anger. A cover of Radiohead's "Eraser", translated the alternative rock flow into a bluesy jazz riff without losing sight of the message. He brings a new voice to a scene of heavy hitters like Wynton Marsalis and makes a bold statement. Stop the rehashing. How many ways is "My Funny Valentine" or "Salt Peanuts" going to be played. Everyone knows Dizzy played Bebop best, why are you going to bring your "new" approach to it and play nothing more than an hommage to him?Also, a new thing is taking classical music and applying Jazz concepts. Wynton Marsalis is the forefront of this, having taken over "Jazz at Lincoln Center", and tirelessly replays Mozart and Beethoven. I want new music, not a new sound. No wonder people think jazz is dead. Jazz is not dead; as long as there are musicians like Christian Scott out there. Composing instead of reciting. Knowing your history is important, but so is creating your future.
