CHRISTIAN McBRIDE DEBUTS NEW TRIO ON
LATEST RELEASE, OUT HERE, AVAILABLE AUGUST 6
VIA MACK AVENUE RECORDS
Features Pianist Christian Sands and Drummer Ulysses Owens, Jr., Showcasing Swing, Blues and The American Songbook
Out Here Marks Bassist's Second Album Release This Year,
Following Inside Straight's Critically Acclaimed People Music
"His trio has its own chemistry, brisk and youthful." - The New York Times
"McBride never disappoints, and his latest band [trio],
like its predecessors, is worth seeking out." - JazzTimes
"The bassist-as-bandleader is a fairly rare thing, with the torch being
passed over the years from Charles Mingus to Ron Carter... and now to
Philadelphia-born
"Throughout his prolific career, he has stood for a particular
vision of excellence, deeply grounded in both the jazz tradition and a more generalized philosophy of groove." - Nate Chinen, JazzTimes
With Out Here, premier bassist Christian McBride's
fifth recording on Mack Avenue Records, McBride introduces his latest
working group: a trio, fully embracing (at the soon-to-be age of 41) his
role as standard-bearer and mentor. Pianist Christian Sands and drummer Ulysses Owens, Jr. -
both younger, emerging artists - have been performing with McBride's
smallest group for about three years, honing their trio conception to a
fine point of expressive depth and nuance with select performances
around the world.
"It's
a pretty diversified trio," says McBride descriptively. "The real core
foundation is hardcore swingin,' blues and the American Songbook. Part
of that is because Christian [Sands] is so well-rounded and willing to
go to so many places, that I can't help but want to swing hard with him
and Ulysses."
McBride, however, thought he'd never helm a jazz trio.
When
he hit the jazz scene like a comet at age 17, McBride's huge, woodsy
sound and precocious agility invited comparisons to the legendary
bassist Ray Brown. The late jazz bassist was not only renowned for
performing on classic jazz dates with modern greats from the 1940s
onward, but also for his central role in trios led by Oscar Peterson as
well as his own stellar trio ensembles afterward. Once McBride recorded
with Brown as a member of the early '90s group Superbass, the
association was bound to stick. He loved Brown as a mentor and father
figure, but avoided leading a trio because of the inevitable
comparisons.
Helming
a trio was the furthest thing from McBride's mind - until an Inside
Straight appearance in 2009 became a trio date due of the absence of
saxophonist Steve Wilson and vibraphonist Warren Wolf. But instead of
calling for replacements for two members of Inside Straight, he opted for expedience and played the gig with pianist Peter Martin and drummer Ulysses Owens, Jr..
 |
| Christian McBride - JazzTimes April 2013 Bass Issue |
Out Here
is McBride's 11th recording as a leader. Since the early 1990s he has
recorded on over 300 dates as a sideman. Aside from relatively recent
travels with Pat Metheny; Chick Corea, Roy Haynes, John
McLaughlin and Kenny Garrett; the Monterey Jazz Festival on Tour - 55th
Anniversary; and residencies and artistic leadership roles with
organizations ranging from New York's 92nd St. Y and Jazz
House Kids to NJPAC, McBride has toured consistently for several years
with his own quintet, Inside Straight. He also fronts the Christian
McBride Big Band, whose Mack Avenue recording, The Good Feeling, won the GRAMMY® Award for Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album in 2012 - his third GRAMMY® win overall.
Owens
has been a mainstay in McBride's groups of late. He has regularly
subbed for Carl Allen in Inside Straight and is the drummer for the Big
Band. "Ulysses and I have a closely formed musical relationship, where
we know one another's time and feel very well," McBride says. "I think
he's picking up the tradition after Lewis Nash. I love his combination
of technique and artistry."
McBride had his eye out for Sands ever since hearing him on Marian McPartland's National Public Radio "Piano Jazz"
program. "I knew he was a student of Dr. Billy Taylor's. But when I
heard him he floored me. It was amazing hearing an 18-year-old really
dealing with the tradition. He had his technique together, and all his
tempos - ballads, medium, bebop. Plus he played the blues and could get
esoteric too. I thought: finally, a young player who has all of the
language. It was such a relief."
Considering
the tendency of many young players to focus on complex rhythms, baroque
technique, and being different for the sake of difference, hearing
these three gentlemen explore jazz fundamentals with such wonder, drive
and sensitivity serves as a welcome antidote. "My trio seems to be an
anomaly these days," says McBride. "I find myself, when listening to
young guys on the scene, it's very musically clever, but I'm not feeling
that kind of soul satisfaction that I felt at one time. There was a
time when the young guys took pride in paying tribute to the masters but
still keeping their own identity and remaining within their own
generation."
With Sands and Owens, McBride exhales with relief since they play the full spectrum of the music at will. Out Here
opens with "Ham Hocks and Cabbage," a flowing, feel-good, down-home
blues with intro by Sands and melody by McBride. Oscar Peterson's
"Hallelujah Time" is a praise song to the divine taken up-tempo, with
rejoicing solo turns by McBride on bow; and Sands, who trades eights
with Owens before the trio closes with panache. An even faster tempo
emboldens their reenactment of the Ahmad Jamal trio arrangement of
"Cherokee," alternating a waltz tempo with jet-speed precision rarely
attempted since the glory days of bebop. Owens especially shines here,
demonstrating a range of brush and stick work worthy of envy.
Wistful memories inspirit "I Guess I'll Have To Forget," originally recorded on McBride's Sci-Fi
date in 2000. On that recording, McBride says the song had "all these
detours and side roads to it. I brought it back this time for some
variety, to break up the mood and atmosphere. The way the song is played
now is actually the way I originally wrote it: very simple, something
that a vocalist could write lyrics to."
Dr.
Billy Taylor's "Easy Walker" is taken at what McBride calls a
"grown-folks tempo," what with a deep-in-the-pocket, no-rush flair and
the luxuriant insouciance of swing. "My Favorite Things" is performed in
5/4, and is the most experimental number. "We let our imaginations run
wild," he says. "It's a song that everybody knows so we wanted to do
something different so folks won't tune out."
Tuning
out is no option on other standards present. "Most of the standards
that inspire me come from Frank Sinatra," admits McBride, regarding
"East of the Sun, (and West of the Moon)." He adds Ella Fitzgerald, Nat
King Cole and Carmen McCrae to the array of vocal lights he turned to
when he "really started listening to singers. They understood the beauty
of simplicity; they sing the story the way the writer intended. They
don't put their own artistic expression before the story."
Sinatra's version of "I Have Dreamed" from The Rat Pack: Live at the Sands recording in 1963 was the longing spark for his heartfelt, bowed interpretation of a memorable song from The King and I.
The closing number, "Who's Making Love," features McBride's tributes to
Johnnie Taylor and, humorously, to Robert Wilson of The Gap Band. It's
also the trio's nod to McBride's roots in soul and R&B. "My bone
marrow is soul music. I never had to learn how to play soul music or
R&B as I did for jazz and classical music."
McBride's
talent and mark on the music scene transcend genre, so he's no longer
under Ray Brown's shadow. And on this recording, his trio hits a jazz
sweet spot. For listeners of Out Here, the result is music for the soul.
Upcoming Christian McBride Appearances:
Christian McBride + Inside Straight:
June 20 / The International Festival of Arts & Ideas - Elm Street Stage / New Haven, CT
June 21 / Xerox Rochester International Jazz Festival / Rochester, NY
December 27 / Teatro Duse via Cartolleria, 42 / Bologna, Italy
December 28, 2013 - January 1, 2014 / Umbria Jazz Winter -
Teatro Mancinelli Corso Cavour, 122 / Orvieto, Italy
Christian McBride Big Band:
August 31 / Curacao North Sea Jazz Festival- Celia WTC / Netherlands Antilles
November 9 / 2nd Annual James Moody Democracy for Jazz Festival / Newark, NJ
January 7-12, 2014 / Village Vanguard / New York, NY
January 21, 2014 / University of Texas - Austin Bass Concert Hall / Austin, TX
Christian McBride Trio:
May 23 & 24 / 92nd Street Y - Kauffmann Concert Hall / New York, NY
May 30 / Venue 505 / Sydney, Australia
June 1 - 3 / Melbourne International Jazz Festival / Melbourne, Australia
October 22 - 27 / Dizzy's Club Coca-Cola / New York, NY
October 30 / Festival Miami at Frost School of Music / Coral Gables, FL
January 14-19, 2014 / Village Vanguard / New York, NY
February 19 - 22, 2014 / Jazz at the Bistro / St. Louis, MO
February 23, 2014 / Murray's / Columbia, MO
March 5 & 6, 2014 / Fort Lewis College - Community Concert Hall / Durango, CO
March 7 & 8, 2014 / Dazzle Restaurant & Lounge / Denver, CO
Special Appearances:
* September 6 / University of Maryland - Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center -
Dekelboum Concert Hall / College Park, MD
Various Dates (Exact Dates at Link Above) / Various Venues / Various Cities
Various Dates (Exact Dates at Link Above) / Various Venues / Various Cities
*= Christian McBride's The Movement Revisited with Big Band and Choir.
^ = Indicates Christian McBride on select dates only.
Christian McBride Trio· Out Here
Mack Avenue Records· Release Date: August 6, 2013
Christian McBride + Inside Straight· People Music
Mack Avenue Records· Release Date: May 14, 2013
For more information on Christian McBride, visit christianmcbride.com
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