Conversations with Christian Christian McBride

• 1 Afirika 04:21
• 2 Fat Bach and Greens 04:40
• 3 Consider Me Gone 04:19
• 4 Guajeo y Tumbao 06:19
• 5 Baubles, Bangles and Beads 05:22
• 6 Spiritual 07:07
• 7 It's Your Thing 05:09
• 8 Alone Together 05:32
• 9 McDukey Blues 05:35
• 10 Tango Improvisation #1 09:06
• 11 Sister Rosa 06:39
• 12 Shake 'n Blake 05:37
• 13 Chitlins and Gefiltefish 06:44
• Total Runtime 01:16:30

Info for Conversations with Christian

Although McBride’s leader and sideman c.v. includes no small number of pungent duos with various game-changers—to name two, McCoy Tyner and Jim Hall—he has heretofore refrained from devoting an entire recording to the genre. That discographical gap is now rectified with Conversations with Christian, on which the 39-year-old maestro places himself in the forefront of the flow on a duet apiece with “13 of my closest musical friends and cohorts”—singers Angélique Kidjo, Sting and Dee Dee Bridgewater; pianists George Duke, Eddie Palmieri and Chick Corea, as well as Dr. Billy Taylor and Hank Jones (who both passed away in 2010); violinist Regina Carter; trumpeter Roy Hargrove; guitarist Russell Malone; tenor saxophonist Ron Blake; and actress Gina Gershon. In the process, McBride unleashes the full measure of his already legendary skills, crafting as complete a portrait of his diverse interests—different vibrations of the blues and African-American church experience, bebop, the American Songbook, the Latin Tinge, the Freedom Principle, even comedy—as he has ever presented.

“I love and appreciate so many different styles and cultures,” he remarks. “Changing hats, going from one project to another, from a straight-ahead session to an R&B session to a pop session, has always fueled my activity. I try to put all those different sounds into one pot and make it a coherent, jazz-inflected sound.”

"Conversations with Christian is an unusual release, as it features the veteran bassist playing duets with a number of good friends. The vocal meetings include Angélique Kidjo, Sting, and Dee Dee Bridgewater (the latter with a hilarious, funky cover of the Isley Brothers' signature song "It's Your Thing"). The pairings with musicians of McBride's generation (trumpeter Roy Hargrove, tenor saxophonist Ron Blake, and guitarist Russell Malone) all exceed expectations. There are several enjoyable duets with pianists, one featuring Latin jazz master Eddie Palmieri, a duo improvised tango by Chick Corea and the leader, plus an all too rare acoustic outing by the talented George Duke (who tears up the keyboard with his hard-charging "McDukey Blues"). But McBride's meetings with Dr. Billy Taylor (playing his beautiful "Spiritual" with some potent arco playing by the bassist) and the elegant, swinging meeting with the gifted jazz master Hank Jones ("Alone Together") remain moments to savor, as they are among the final recordings by the two jazz greats, both of whom died in 2010. The last track is a funky blues just for laughs, with actress Gina Gershon joining the bassist by playing a Jew's harp, and featuring lots of comic spoken exchanges between the two. Throughout it all, Christian McBride plays with the chameleon-like adaptability of a Milt Hinton or Ray Brown. In the two-plus decades since arriving on the jazz scene, Christian McBride has demonstrated that he is a jazz master in the making, and this is easily one of his most compelling sets." (Ken Dryden, AMG)

Christian McBride, double bass

Christian McBride
When Philadelphia-born bassist/bandleader Christian McBride arrived in New York in 1989 as a Juilliard student, he was the “Godchild of the Groove” with unlimited potential.

Christian McBride is a master musician who has appeared on over 300 records. He is easily one of the most accomplished bass players alive, and his resume as a bandleader is also quite impressive. Join us at Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola to experience New Jawn, which, translated from Philadelphian, could be described as McBride’s “new joint.” The quartet includes Josh Evans, Nasheet Waits and Marcus Strickland, musicians that are regularly featured at Jazz at Lincoln Center and all over the city both as bandleaders and as sidemen with some of jazz’s biggest names. Fans of McBride’s other small groups will surely love this ensemble, and its unusual two-horns, no-piano lineup gives it a unique flavor. With just bass and drums holding down the rhythm section, McBride and Waits provide as rich and driving a foundation as any group could hope for.

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