Chief Adjuah celebrates 10 years of ‘stretch music’

When the doors of the new Blue Note Jazz Club in Los Angeles opened with Robert Glasper’s sold-out performances, it set the tone for what the venue aims to be: a cultural anchor for jazz on the West Coast. Now, six-time Grammy-nominated Chief Xian aTunde Adjuah — the trumpeter, composer and innovator formerly known as Christian Scott—is preparing to bring his own groundbreaking sound to the stage, curating a run of shows from Sept. 22-24 that honor his past while pushing boldly into the future.

For Adjuah, the moment feels like both a homecoming and a launchpad. “These shows are about celebrating the 10th anniversary of Stretch Music while also premiering new works,” he shared over the phone. His excitement was palpable. “Blue Note is a space that’s built to last, and I wanted the music to reflect that; it has to captivate, it has to touch people.”

Known for expanding jazz’s vocabulary through his “Stretch Music” record, which was released in 2015, Adjuah refuses to be boxed in by genre. As he likes to put it, his performances blend ancestral memory, contemporary rhythms, and experimentation that keep audiences leaning forward. That’s what stretch music is all about: creating a sound that not only stretches the concept of traditional jazz but also one that is “genre blind in its acculturation of other musical forms, languages, textures, conventions and processes.”

Onstage at Blue Note LA, fans will hear not just trumpet, but also the innovative instruments he designed himself: the Adjuah trumpet, the Siren trumpet, and the electric Adjuah Bow. Each was crafted to address the limitations of traditional instruments and to empower young players from marginalized communities.

“I wanted to create instruments that allowed freedom,” he explained. “So much of modern training locks musicians into old-world methodologies. The new instruments are about giving the next generation a way to express without barriers.”

Throughout his career, Adjuah has established a legacy of collaboration and mentorship. He calls working with jazz legend McCoy Tyner a defining milestone. His time with pop sensation Prince proved equally transformative, instilling in him the value of equity and artistic ownership. “Prince taught me to always navigate the industry as an owner,” Adjuah said. “That lesson has stayed with me every step of the way.”

Born into a New Orleans family deeply rooted in Mardi Gras Indian and Maroon traditions, Adjuah carries his cultural lineage as both responsibility and inspiration. His grandfather’s preservation work shaped his artistic vision, while his own decision to change his name, shedding what he described as “oppressive naming practices,” was part of his commitment to true personal liberation.

“It’s not lost on me why we were made to retain these names, so a man could come back and claim his property. I didn’t want to carry that legacy, and I certainly didn’t want to give that to my children,” he said. “For me, the most important thing was to be clear about my non-acceptance of that history. And since my path doesn’t require me to fight the same battles as someone filling out a job application at Winn Dixie, I knew I could be the one to take the hit. To accept the shot and still be standing.”

That choice came with both deep hostility and profound acceptance. “Everything from death threats in the form of checking into a hotel suite and finding a shoebox with a monkey and a noose in it, to people showing up at concerts saying they changed their names because of my story,” Adjuah said. “A woman came to me about nine months ago with her children, and she told me she had changed her name and her children’s names too. It’s fascinating to see the polarisation of responses to that.”

Adjuah has no intention of slowing down. Alongside the “Stretch Music” anniversary project, which hits 10 years this year, he has multiple albums in the pipeline: “Jese vs. Kaiju” set for next summer, followed by another in the works.

Tribune News Service