Yesterday You Said Tomorrow

Christian Scott, aka Chief Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah, is one of a number of interesting artists whose work I've discovered via the Amoeba Records What's In My Bag? YouTube series. He was featured there back in March last year, which prompted me to seek out some of his music on-line, which, in turn, led to a few CD purchases. I recall ordering Yesterday You Said Tomorrow (2010) from an ebay seller.

This is an album I've listened to at least a couple of dozen times, but one where I still feel I'm finding my way around. The tunes are familiar now, but I struggle to relate them to their corresponding titles. It's a quintet performance, with Scott's trumpet accompanied by electric guitar, piano, bass & drums. Scott also wrote or co-wrote all but one of the tracks, the odd one out an arrangement of Thom Yorke's 'The Eraser'. The album was recorded at Rudy Van Gelder's New Jersey studio by the legendary Blue Note engineer himself.

Some of the track titles suggest political awareness & engagement: for example 'K. K. P. D.', 'American't' and 'Angola, LA & The 13th Amendment', with the last-named one of the stand-out pieces on the disc for me. I look forward to deepening my acquaintance with this music, and seeking out some of the same artist's more recent work.

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