Chief Adjuah (formerly Christian Scott)

Chief Xian aTunde Adjuah (formerly Christian Scott) is an artist who has never been content to stand still and inhabit only the present. Adjuah changed his name out of a desire to connect with his family roots in West Africa and clear a stronger path to the future. His music similarly embraces the African roots of jazz while simultaneously embodying the genre’s spirit of innovation.

Adjuah has developed custom instruments — including the Adjuah trumpet, Siren, Sirenette, and the Adjuah bow — as part of an ongoing quest to explore new sounds. His work as a composer and bandleader rejects restrictive ideas of genre, shattering boundaries in pursuit of limitless innovation. That pursuit has earned him awards and critical acclaim across thirteen albums.

Adjuah and his band will bring Adjuah’s vision of music that blends past, present, and future to the Frederick C. Tillis Performance Hall stage following a day spent working with students from throughout New England at the UMass Department of Music and Dance’s annual High School Jazz Festival. This — a composer, performer, and scholar who is fully committed to the evolution of his artform working with young musicians — is the very essence of our future-oriented Next50 series.

Total price starts at: $35.00.
Total price for youth 17 and under and Five College students starts at: $20.00