Chief Adjuah
Multi-instrumentalist, producer and composer Chief Adjuah (formerly Christian Scott) opens Bærum Jazz Festival 2024.
Many names, many talents - Chief Xian aTunde Adjuah (formerly known as Christian Scott) is a master of the trumpet as well as customised instruments. He is a socially engaged composer, a pioneer in music technology and a proud carrier of tradition.
He's a two-time Edison Award winner and five-time Grammy Award® nominee. And that's not all: On 30 October, Chief Adjuah opens the third Bærum Jazz Festival.
He stylishly and tastefully blends traditional jazz, hip hop, post-rock, Afro elements and his own distinct New Orleans vibe in a form of music he calls stretch music.
Two traditions
Chief Adjuah was born and raised in New Orleans - a city and an environment that has given him two distinct musical traditions to follow. To understand why he and his band sound the way they do, it's worth looking back in time.
He learnt to play the trumpet by sitting close to his uncle and mentor Donald Harrison Jr - a renowned saxophonist and regular member of Art Blakey's band. This gave him a solid understanding of the American jazz tradition, and he could easily have slipped into the role of tradition-bearer, standing firmly on the shoulders of his trumpet-playing ancestors.
However, a completely different cultural-historical axis would have a lot to say about the direction Chief Adjuah's music would take. For generations, his family has identified as Mardi Gras Indians - a subcultural group also known as Black Masking Indians. During the annual Mardi Gras carnival, ever since 1885, groups of African-Americans have organised parades where participants proudly wear lavish costumes inspired by North American indigenous groups. A symbol of the cultural melting pot that New Orleans has always been.
You probably remember the TV series Treme that hit Norwegian screens about ten years ago? Think back to the colourful party costumes, parades, rhythmic and proud chants where African-Americans are inspired by the traditions of the American indigenous people.
And that's where the stately name comes from: Adjuah is a descendant of New Orleans' pivotal arts and culture families, the Harrisons, and the grandson of the legendary Big Chief, Donald Harrison Sr. who led four tribes in the city's Black Masking Indians parades.
Stretch music
These two different musical and cultural traditions have helped shape Adjuah as a performer. As a composer, his New Orleans background has been important in shaping his customised form of music: stretch music - a jazz-based, genre-blind musical form that attempts to ‘stretch’ the rhythmic, melodic and harmonic conventions of jazz to encompass multiple styles, languages and cultures. This can be heard in works such as The Centennial Trilogy (2027), which incorporates centuries of musical styles all the way back to the musical birthplaces of his ancestors in West Africa.
Adjuah's 12 studio recordings, three live albums and a collection of greatest hits have earned him critical acclaim, sold-out concerts on major international stages and global recognition. He has collaborated with major artists such as Prince, Radiohead's Thom Yorke, McCoy Tyner, Marcus Miller, Eddie Palmieri, Yasiin Bey (formerly known as Mos Def), Talib Kweli plus poet and musician Saul Williams.
Add to that the fact that he's coming to Sandvika in October with a very tight-knit live band, and you've got more than enough reasons to catch the opening concert of the Bærum Jazz Festival 2024.
Bark Out Thunder Roar Out Lightning from 2023 gives a good indication of what the audience can look forward to at the opening concert for Bærum Jazz Festival 2024. Here you can clearly hear how the Black Masking Indians tradition merges with New Yorleans grooves and gorgeous trumpet choirs. Highly recommended!
Concert information
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Wednesday 30. October 2024 Kl. 19:00This show is played
