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About Christian McBride

Album Review

Prime's opening track, “Head Bedlam," opens with a cacophony of horns playing in a style reminiscent of Sun Ra's Arkestra. This transforms into a quiet, cool riff with bass and drums leading the way, shifting the music into a more accessible groove before returning to the aptly titled bedlam in the track's closing seconds. It is a brave opening to New Jawn's second release because it is not the easiest way to attract the casual jazz listener. ...

Album Review

Christian McBride's New Jawn: Prime

by Mike Jurkovic
March 4, 2023

"Head Bedlam," crashes from the gate with a gale force which instantly gives away the plot of Prime. Put simply, the sophomore release from maverick bassist Christian McBride's New Jawn (Philadelphia slang for something not yet named or created) is a free-form steeplechase. Crying, screeching, testifying, New Jawn trumpeter Josh Evans and saxophonist & bass clarinetist Marcus Strickland blow wild and loud over drummer Nasheet Waits' tumbling manifesto and McBride's deep-rooted thrumbling, to summon forth the ancestors (Ornette Coleman for starters) to jam ...

Album Review

Harry Skoler: Living in Sound - The Music of Charles Mingus

Read "Living in Sound - The Music of Charles Mingus" reviewed by Angelo Leonardi

by Angelo Leonardi
February 23, 2023

Tra i vari tributi alle composizioni di Charles Mingus, pubblicati nell'anno del centenario della nascita, questo di Harry Skoler conferma la plasticità di quei temi, articolati e mutevoli, frutto della sua complessa personalità. L'autore e primo solista di questo progetto è un clarinettista--già allievo di Jimmy Giuffre al New England Conservatory e da anni professore al Berklee College--la cui vita è stata radicalmente influenzata dalla passione per l'opera di Mingus. In collaborazione col sassofonista ...

Album Review

Redman / Mehldau / McBride / Blade: Long Gone

Read "Long Gone" reviewed by Scott Gudell

by Scott Gudell
February 15, 2023

The mid-1990s saw the first recorded and officially preserved union of four up-and-coming jazz newcomers--Joshua Redman (saxophone,) Christian McBride (bass,) Brad Mehldau (piano) and Brian Blade (drums.) All four were dedicated followers of classic jazz and came together, but soon scattered and began charting their own individual courses. There was a long delay before they reunited for a second quartet recording in 2020. By then, each and every one of them had earned the respect of their peers and risen ...

Album Review

Chick Corea: The Montreux Years

Read "The Montreux Years" reviewed by Doug Collette

by Doug Collette
September 26, 2022

If there is anything more ambitious than curating an extensive, comprehensive collection covering the history of an artist, it is collating selected works which vividly outline a particular timeline or theme. Chick Corea's The Montreux Years is a fine example of the latter; this seventh edition in the archive series devoted to the iconic festival not only reflects the late composer and pianist's technical skills, but also his eclectic stylistic tastes. And that is not to mention his fondness for ...

Live Review

Nice Jazz Festival 2022

by Martin McFie
July 27, 2022

Nice Jazz Festival Nice,South of France July 15-19, 2022Deputy Mayor for Culture Robert Roux officially opened the Nice Jazz Festival 2022, together with artistic director Sebastien Vidal, who is also director of TSF jazz radio in France.Nduduzo Makhathini Quartet From the land of Zulu kings in South Africa, Nduduzo Makhathini played the piano and Logan Richardson alto saxophone. With influences from John Coltrane and African spiritual heritage the quartet delivered insistent drum rhythms and ...

The Jazz Life

I Hear a Rhapsody

by David Caudill
July 13, 2022

We put out a call to visitors to AAJ to tell us their stories about how jazz has impacted, indeed shaped their lives. David Caudill heard the call. David has lived in Cincinnati for three decades and spent a long career writing, both in journalism and for a short while in corporate communications. He has two sons who mostly listen to hip-hop, but he's trying to persuade them to give jazz a chance. This essay is partly the ...