Jazz Articles about Christian McBride

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Think Tank

by Victor L. Schermer
October 30, 2003

It could be said that Pat Martino most fully represents the evolution of jazz guitar artistry from the 1960's to the present day. His playing displays a striking continuity over time, even though disrupted in mid-stream by his well-known bout with a brain aneurysm that led to nearly total amnesia, and from which he more than regained his full abilities and gifts by a heroic recovery process. Yet within that continuity are all the developments in “straight ahead" jazz from ...

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A Fireside Chat With Christian McBride

by AAJ Staff
October 7, 2003

Christian McBride is the most recorded bassist of his generation. That should say something of the value of having a Christian McBride on a record. But mostly, it says something about his versatility. Is he the Macgyver of jazz? Come to your own conclusions after this conversation with Christian McBride, coming to a town near you, unedited and in his own words.

Fred Jung: Let's start from the beginning.

Christian McBride: My father plays bass and ...

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Pat Martino: Think Tank

by Clifford Allen
October 5, 2003

It is difficult to make mainstream jazz (hard bop, etc.) relevant in light of the subversion or destruction of its form that occurred over thirty years ago. But, as many improvisers proved, it was possible to make consistently engaging and advanced music in the hard bop idiom well after the innovations of Ornette and Cecil took hold, and though the case for it is a little tougher today, there are a number of musicians who have found something new to ...

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Uri Caine / Christian McBride / Ahmir Thompson: The Philadelphia Experiment

by Richard Anderson
February 1, 2002

List the capital cities of jazz and one finds the usual suspects--New York, San Francisco, New Orleans, Chicago--but one city is too often forgotten: Philadelphia. Yes, the City of Brotherly Love, so often the butt of jokes and unkind (if not always inaccurate) characterizations. Say what you want about the city of Benjamin Franklin and Mayor Frank Rizzo, but anyone who knows, knows you can't say Philly doesn't smoke.Bassist Christian McBride, pianist Uri Caine and drummer Ahmir “Questlove" ...

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Uri Caine / Christian McBride / Ahmir Thompson: The Philadelphia Experiment

by Todd S. Jenkins
July 1, 2001

Just what is it that makes Philadelphia such a darned soulful city? Is it all that brotherly love floating around, or the deep funk fermented by undying Phillies fandom? All the cholesterol in those cheesesteaks, maybe? Whatever the case, the city has a profound and enduring musical legacy, from Sun Ra to T.S.O.P., Grover Washington Jr. to Khan Jamal. Here, three tight homeboys have distilled the essence of the Philly legacy down into one insanely funky disc that commands repeat ...

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Christian McBride: Sci-Fi

by C. Andrew Hovan
November 1, 2000

Undeniably a great technician and one of the best jazz bassists of his generation, Christian McBride is so much in demand that he might safely be considered a Paul Chambers for the new millennium. But like many talented men who find themselves viable artists in the role of sidemen, McBride has been inconsistent in his efforts as the person in charge. Sci-Fi, his fourth set for Verve as a leader, is still meandering in spots but has a creative edge ...

like 307

Christian McBride: Sci-Fi

by C. Andrew Hovan
November 1, 2000

Undeniably a great technician and one of the best jazz bassists of his generation, Christian McBride is so much in demand that he might safely be considered a Paul Chambers for the new millennium. But like many talented men who find themselves viable artists in the role of sidemen, McBride has been inconsistent in his efforts as the person in charge. Sci-Fi, his fourth set for Verve as a leader, is still meandering in spots but has a creative edge ...