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I used to hear Christian Scott perform in New Orleans on a regular basis, at clubs such as The Funky Butt (no longer in business) and Snug Harbor (still kicking), leading his own fine group or backing up guys who were the young lions of the city at that time, Devin Phillips and Troy Andrews, among others. Katrina scattered them everywhere, with Scott landing in New York. ANTHEM, Scott’s sophomore release following 2006’s REWIND THAT, is both a tribute and a renewal to New Orleans from a native son.

Those whose familiarity with Scott is limited to REWIND THAT will be surprised by ANTHEM, which harkens back to his pre-Katrina work. ANTHEM is much closer to Scott’s Wynton Marsalis / mid-period Miles Davis roots, a beautiful piece of work for the most part, one that merits repeated and careful listening yet which rewards and is considerate of the casual listener as well. There is a cool, streetwise savvy that informs ANTHEM, but it is the street in the hour of dawn, rather than the hour of neon, when the heat has burned off and the aftermath, whether it be of love or anger, is left. The cover photograph --- Scott with his horn, backdropped by urban decay complete with crime scene tape, while a little girl transforms a chalk figure into a hopscotch board --- gives a hint of the somber mood of the disc.

Scott is a multi-instrumentalist who favors wind instruments and makes use of several --- cornet, trumpet, flugelhorn, saxophone, and trombone --- as well as piano on ANTHEM. While Scott is fully capable of blowing a cacophony of notes, he for the most part eschews the practice in ANTHEM, choosing instead to strike a fine and delicate balance between the note that is played and what is not. “Litany Against Fear,” which begins ANTHEM, sets the mood for what is to come, with a riff repeated on piano (brilliantly handled throughout ANTHEM by Aaron Parks) and guitar (the same, by Matt Stevens), leaving Scott to intermittently weave in and out throughout the piece. There are a number of compositions here that could become genre classics, easily --- I keep coming back to “Void,” “Katrina’s Eyes,” and “Like That” --- but my favorite track on ANTHEM is, ironically, it’s shortest and perhaps most up tempo. “Re:” is a sinister, spare track which builds suspense from beginning to end, with Scott’s trumpet soaring majestically over a very simple piano, bass and drum riff. “Cease Fire” and “Dialect” come in at a close second, with both featuring duets between Scott on flugelhorn and Louis Fouche on alto sax. If there is a failed track on ANTHEM, it is the closing version of the title track, subtitled “Post Diluvial Adaptation,” on which Brother J of X Clan makes a guest appearance, apparently as an exchange for Scott’s appearance on RETURN TO MECCA earlier this year. Scott, alas, provided more in his appearance than he receives on ANTHEM, where J’s appearance is more an irritating interruption that a contribution.

ANTHEM as a whole is a stellar work by a talented, inspired musician whose best work may well be still ahead of him. Regardless, this is a disc that will stand up on its own for years and years. Highly recommended.