Christian Scott plays at The Jazz Cafe on Saturday 26th July. Joe Stoddart interviewed him:

Joe Stoddart: You started playing at a young age with your uncle Donald Harrison. How integral to your musical development would you say playing in that environment was?

Christian Scott: It’s hard to put into words how important the experiences my uncle gave me were to my development. I can’t imagine where I would be if it weren’t for his sacrificing certain aspects of his own career, to make sure I had the brightest future possible. He taught me to lead by example. He taught me to navigate the musical landscape, & the world with compassion & empathy.

JS: You’ve released an impressive amount of material for your age. Would you say your approach to playing or composition has changed markedly since your debut ‘Christian Scott’ and if so, how?

CS: My approach to everything that I do in music has changed. The biggest thing for me early on, was to figure out what I wanted people to know about me, my community, my culture & my generation. Now, I’m more concerned with reevaluating the way we communicate as musicians. It’s sort of what this “Stretch Music” thing is all about.

JS: I read a quote from a few years ago where you said your uncle had told you ‘not to listen to many of the trumpet players who are playing today so I wouldn’t sound like them’. Do you still follow this practice?

CS: Absolutely.

JS: Hip-hop influence in jazz is reasonably prevalent in jazz these days but the alternative rock slant that you put into your music is altogether more rare. Where do you see the future of jazz both personally and as a genre?

CS: It’s hard to say where a music this dynamic is trending. I happen to be a huge fan of alt rock music & to me it’s only natural that my style of playing has been inundated with some of the conceptual elements that are indicative of that form.

JS: You’ve been working on the score for your brother’s film ‘Epilogue’. How did you find the transition to composing for film?

CS: When I was at Berklee my concentration was film scoring. When Kiel came to me with this project, I was elated to finally take a break from my touring life to create a back drop to this incredibly dynamic & heart wrenching story. Right now we’re working on the sound palette & back drop to his next film “Samaria” the short version of his first full length feature “Epilouge”. I feel both of these films are really going to blow people away & I’m excited he likes my music enough to have me involved in his film works.

JS: You’ve said that you have 27 songs catalogued that you are planning on forming into albums, are you expecting to do this soon?

CS: Yes. The next albums will be out in 2015. Touring with a new band, figuring out what the new sound will be and we’ll probably be going into the studio to record the new projects in November.

Tickets for the gig are on sale HERE:.