Some people wear power on their sleeve, which is to say they make an ostentatious display of it. It relies on others to see it and give it credence. Others inhabit their power from their gut, it needs no explanation. It only needs one to sense its Ki, as if it were an episode of Dragonball Z. If you ever wanted to understand the meaning of the word Verve, Christian Scott has offered us a musical definition in Ruler Rebel.
I can go further, this song contemplates the consciousness of power, a power aware of its surroundings and its ability to create and destroy. It is like a black hole, who can discern its heart? Malevolence is swirling around the hi-hat. Yet so is responsibility in the questioning flute. Yet so is conceit in the bass. And what of the sagacity in the trumpet?
Further still? Well only because Scott goes further in the outro. Scott doesn’t bring the song to a conclusion, he simply heightens the tension in a creative outburst. The ultimate question at the end of the song is How will we handle the power that has been given to us? Every individual, every social group, every nation and every empire has continually faced this question. Will we exercise our power to bring greater order to the world, or will we rebel and destroy what has been built? Or will we end up doing both these things at the same time. Maybe we need all three flutes playing at the same time.
poetic reverb 