Produced by McBride, Kind Of Brown is a collection of hard swing-to-bluesy groove tunes that the leader says he put together to give the members of his new ensemble "something to sink their teeth into."

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Jawn [jän]: noun. A slang terminology from Philadelphia. All-purpose term for a person, place or thing

 

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. The release will be available on October 26 via Brother Mister Productions, McBride’s own newly launched imprint of his longtime label, 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.

REVIEW:

Drawing upon the words of legendary civil rights leaders Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X, Rosa Parks, and Muhammad Ali, Christian McBride offers a heartfelt large-ensemble tribute to the civil rights movement of the 1960s with 2020's The Movement Revisited: A Musical Portrait of Four Icons.

The Movement Revisited is a reverent and theatrical recording, which isn't to say it's not harmonically rich with plenty of swinging improvisational intensity. The five-part work spotlights McBride's multifaceted skills as a composer, arranger, and lyricist as he frames the uplifting words of these four heroes with his soulful arrangements. The recording culminates in the final movement "Apotheosis," celebrating the 2008 election of Barack Obama as the first African-American President of the United States; an historic event that McBride beautifully ties directly to the civil rights and black power movements of the preceding decades. Helping bring the words of the civil rights leaders to life are narrators Wendell Pierce, Vondie Curtis-Hall, Sonia Sanchez, and Dion Graham. Also showcased throughout are McBride's bandmates, including vibraphonist Warren Wolf, pianist Geoffrey Keezer, and drummer Terreon Gully, among others.

While the album is orchestral in nature, all of the introductory prologues are stripped down, with McBride underlining the speaker's words with his dusky, bluesy basslines. As McBride points out in his liner notes, this is a personal work filtered through the prism of his own life and his feelings about these four individuals. It is a powerful and deeply considered work that invokes not just the words, but also the ebullient spirit of the civil rights movement.

-- AllMusicGuide.com (Matt Collar)

Christian McBride has toured and recorded extensively with his jammy, electric, Weather Report-like band but felt the urge to return to his jazz roots, so he assembled Inside Straight an acoustic quintet featuring: Warren Wolf, Carl Allen, Eric Reed and Steve Wilson. Recorded in the famed Fantasy Studios.

2016 Grammy� Winner for Best Improvised Jazz Solo on Cherokee. This record is the fruit of McBride's long association with the Vanguard, where his first appearance as a leader for the historic club was in 1995. In 2007, the bassist and charismatic club owner Lorraine Gordon started an annual one-week residency, which featured McBride's quintet, Inside Straight. "Lorraine enjoyed my trio and my quintet, Inside Straight. We had such large crowds, so after a few years with such supportive audiences, we added an extra week. Instead of doing the same band for two weeks, I just started bringing in a different band. This has been an ongoing relationship that I look forward to maintaining as long as I can."

Christian McBride is a loquacious raconteur in addition to his finger-busting bass skills, though make no mistake about it the only talk on this release is the musical kind two instruments make. Christian can converse with the best of them, as his Sirius/XM show will attest though these conversations sit him down in the studio with a diverse array of guests for unexpected and often amazing results. The resulting duets lay bare skill and emotion in the visceral tradition of real jazz improvisation. Angelique Kidjo, George Duke, Sting, Eddie Palmieri, Chick Corea and Roy Hargrove - along with the late masters Hank Jones and Dr. Billy Taylor - are among the guests.

2016 Grammy� Winner for Best Improvised Jazz Solo on Cherokee. This record is the fruit of McBride's long association with the Vanguard, where his first appearance as a leader for the historic club was in 1995. In 2007, the bassist and charismatic club owner Lorraine Gordon started an annual one-week residency, which featured McBride's quintet, Inside Straight. "Lorraine enjoyed my trio and my quintet, Inside Straight. We had such large crowds, so after a few years with such supportive audiences, we added an extra week. Instead of doing the same band for two weeks, I just started bringing in a different band. This has been an ongoing relationship that I look forward to maintaining as long as I can."

With OUT HERE, premier bassist Christian McBride introduces his latest working group: A trio, perhaps the most essential and meaningful postulation of jazz history. Pianist Christian Sands and drummer Ulysses Owens, Jr.. both younger, emerging artists have been performing with McBrides 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.

The meeting of great minds usually happens behind closed doors, but for two of the world's foremost bassists - Christian McBride and Edgar Meyer - the collaboration proved so fruitful that a duo album exploring their collective backgrounds in jazz, folk, classical, bluegrass and funk was born.

2021 live release. Christian McBride returns with his Inside Straight quintet for a new recording called Live at the Village Vanguard. This is the third album for Inside Straight, but it's only their first live record - even though the band was originally formed purely for a live setting. Live at the Village Vanguard is effectively a companion to the Christian McBride Trio's recording of the same name from 2015. The sessions for both ensembles were captured consecutively during the bassist's two-week engagement at the esteemed jazz club in New York in December of 2014. McBride first formed Inside Straight back in 2007 when he recruited drummer Carl Allen, saxophonist Steve Wilson, pianist Eric Reed (later replaced by Peter Martin) and vibraphonist Warren Wolf. They were supposed to just play for one week at the Village Vanguard, but their residency was so successful that A&R executive Bruce Lundvall signed McBride to a record deal with Mack Avenue.

While attending a show at the Village Vanguard in 2006, it occurred to Christian McBride that he hadn't played there in nearly 9 years, as he'd been touring the world over. In June of 2007, Christian returned to the Village Vanguard with a group consisting of Steve Wilson, Eric Reed, Carl Allen and a young vibraphonist whom he'd recently met, Warren Wolf. Due to prior commitments, Reed could no longer be in the group, but pianist Peter Martin joined the group immediately upon the release of Christian McBride & Inside Straight's first Mack Avenue recording, Kind of Brown, and Peter's been in the piano chair ever since. The Village Vanguard has been McBride and Inside Straight's home for one to two weeks every December. Although many iterations of his groups have played there, Inside Straight was birthed at the Village Vanguard. This particular set was recorded in December of 2014, titled Live at the Village Vanguard.

Japanese SHM-CD pressing. Universal. 2022.

McBride's 2nd Verve LP gathers a who's who of veteran and young players to present the next step in this acclaimed musician's career. Christian chose several of his mentors to record Number Two Express, many of whom were associated with Miles Davis; personnel includes Kenny Barron, Gary Bartz, Mino Cinelu, Chick Corea, Jack DeJohnette, Kenny Garrett and Steve Nelson (this album marks the first time that Corea and DeJohnette have played together since Miles' band).

WITHOUT FURTHER ADO VOL 1

WITHOUT FURTHER ADO VOL 1

COLOR & LIGHT: JAZZ SKETCHES

2008 album featuring Pandelis Karayorgis (on Fender Rhodes electric piano), Nate McBride & Curt Newton.

Renowned Russian jazz pianist Ivan Farmakovskiy makes his highly anticipated debut on SteepleChase Records with a stunning new album. Blending his signature hard-bop style with modern jazz sensibilities, Farmakovskiy delivers a masterful performance that bridges tradition and innovation with American rhythm section of Christian McBride and Jack DeJohnette. Ivan won the 1994 bi-annual Russia Jazz Competition, the biggest contest for young Russian performers and he won another prize at the 1997 Europe Jazz Contest in Belgium.

CHRISTIAN MCBRIDE - Christian McBride Big Band - VINYL LP In a stellar career that continues to showcase his remarkable talents as a consummate musician, bassist Christian McBride reaches another milestone with the release of "The Good Feeling," his first big band recording as a leader and newest release for Mack Avenue Records. Vinyl LP pressing.