Christian McBride – The Q Sessions (2021)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/192 kHz | Time – 31:02 minutes | 1,18 GB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Mack Avenue Records

The Q of these sessions is by no means an allusion to the James Bond character responsible for the gadgets of 007, but to Qobuz! Only for us, the double bass god Christian McBride has entered the studio with three no less legendary colleagues: guitarist Mike Stern, drummer Eric Harland and saxophonist Marcus Strickland. On the program of their impeccable musical exchange are two cover versions (Ornette Coleman’s Blues Connotation and the Jazz Standard On Green Dolphin Street) as well as an own composition of the master of ceremonies (Brouhaha). As a sideman on hundreds of albums, as leader of several bands, as artistic director of the Newport Festival and as host of a radio show, McBride is a kind of musical torrent that nothing can stop. And an equally improvised torrent is the subject of this recording. The four jazzmen may be more than savvy and have impressive résumés, but what they talk about for half an hour is a dizzying vitality, the opposite of a lulling jam session. As soon as Ornette’s melody sets the events in motion, the concentration is there and the mutual listening and tuning into each other becomes the program. Mike Stern knows how to bring out his phrasing perfectly, and Eric Harland impresses with his ability to let sparks fly without exaggerating. The funk theme that concludes these Q sessions is the lightness and fluidity (thanks to Marcus Strickland’s suppleness!), which round off the improvisations. Pure silk jazz

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Christian McBride – The Movement Revisited: A Musical Portrait of Four Icons (2020)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 01:04:48 minutes | 1,31 GB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Mack Avenue Records

The Movement, Revisited: A Musical Portrait of Four Cultural Icons is culminating documentation of a richly inspired piece – lauding four key figures of the Civil Rights Movement: Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Malcolm X, Rosa Parks and Muhammad Ali. Marshalling his ever-sharpening skills as a composer, arranger, conductor, musician and lyricist, McBride has created a historically and culturally illuminating five-part suite for an 18-piece big band, chorus and narrators that places the motivating forces as well as the goals of the Civil Rights Movement within a powerfully relevant artistic context. It is a one-from-the-heart project McBride was, apparently, destined to undertake. This recording of The Movement, Revisited marks the addition of a fifth movement, “Apotheosis,” which acknowledges the election of Barack Obama as the first African American President of the United States.

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Christian McBride Big Band – For Jimmy, Wes and Oliver (2020)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 01:11:52 minutes | 1,43 GB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Mack Avenue Records

Christian McBride solidifies his role as the champion of the past, present and future of jazz with his GRAMMY® Award-winning Big Band’s new album in tribute to Jimmy Smith, Wes Montgomery and Oliver Nelson. Featuring special guests Joey DeFrancesco and Mark Whitfield, “For Jimmy, Wes and Oliver” honors the historical legacy of the jazz legends who shaped the soul of music for generations to come.

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Christian McBride – Conversations with Christian (2011)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 01:16:31 minutes | 1,28 GB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Mack Avenue Records

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

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Christian McBride – Christian McBride’s New Jawn (2018)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 57:49 minutes | 1,23 GB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Mack Avenue Records

If there’s one thing the acclaimed bassist knows, it’s that when it comes to grit there’s no better resource to draw from than his own hometown, Philadelphia. So, McBride turned to one of the city’s most beloved colloquialisms to christen his latest project, Christian McBride’s New Jawn. On the band’s eponymous debut, these four stellar musicians ably walk the razor’s edge between thrilling virtuosity and gut-punch instinctiveness.

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