Christian Scott was born March 31, 1983, in New Orleans, into a family with deep roots in the city's Black Masking Indian culture — he is the grandson of the late Big Chief Donald Harrison Sr. and nephew of NEA Jazz Master saxophonist Donald Harrison Jr., who began mentoring him on trumpet at age thirteen. He and his twin brother, Kiel, joined their grandfather's Guardians of the Flame tribe at age five. After graduating from the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts (NOCCA) in 2001, Scott earned a full-tuition scholarship to Berklee College of Music, completing his degree in Professional Music and Film Scoring in thirty months.
Signing with Concord Music in 2005, Scott built a run of critically acclaimed albums exploring what he called “Stretch Music” — a jazz-rooted, genre-blind form designed to stretch jazz's rhythmic, melodic, and harmonic conventions across cultures and languages. In 2012 he began performing as Christian aTunde Adjuah, and in 2023 completed the transition, taking the name Chief Xian aTunde Adjuah and the title of Chieftain and Oba of the Xodokan Nation. Along the way he has earned six Grammy nominations, two Edison Awards, the Doris Duke Performing Artist Award, and designed his own instruments, including the Adjuah Trumpet and Chief Adjuah's Bow, while continuing to serve as Grand Griot of New Orleans.
