Christian McBride’s New Jawn at The Arden Gild Hall

Christian McBride's New Jawn
Arden Gild Hall
Arden, DE
March 30, 2023

Nestled in a residential neighborhood in the little historic town of Arden, Delaware, just outside of Wilmington, is the Arden Club and Gild Hall. The mission of the hall according to its web page is to be "dedicated to the enjoyment of and the participation of the arts." This show was presented by The Arden Concert Gild, which is one of the various artistic organizations that use the hall as their central gathering place. The building itself is a historic Tudor barn circa 1850 and dedicated in 1910 which holds about 250 seats for concerts and a bit more for dance, non-seated events. It's a wonderful, intimate space to see and hear music performed, though the folding chairs did prove to be a bit hard and I was happy to rise for the well-deserved standing ovation we all gave at the end of the set. The seats this night were sold out for the maestro bassist Christian McBride's New Jawn.

The quartet, saxophonist and bass clarinetist Marcus Strickland, trumpeter Josh Evans at stage left, bassist and leader Christian McBride center stage and the magnificent drummer Nasheet Waits on the right. They opened the 90-minute, no-intermission set with "Head Bedlam," which opens their second album Prime. The song began with the four musicians playing flat-out freestyle in a deceptively aimless way that then transformed into a solid groove led by the bass and drums and then deconstructs again at the end of the song. Announcing the songs from the stage, McBride proudly mentioned that a reviewer of a recent gig they did in Chicago commented that this opening number left the audience members' mouths agape. "Mission accomplished!" the bandleader stated, to applause from the gathered jazz lovers.

Clearly, McBride is aiming for something different from his past pop collaborations or more accessible jazz outings with this quartet, and he made another reference to it in his comments this night as well. This is challenging music the band is playing, both for the musicians and the audience. Having listened to the record repeatedly of late while writing a review, I came to the gig prepared for the challenges to me as a listener of the opener and the music from the album as a whole.

When Evans would take a solo, for example, Strickland would step off stage, and vice versa. I liked this, as often if the non-playing band member stays on stage during an extended solo, it can distract listeners from concentrating on the music being performed. Conversely, bandleader McBride stayed on stage throughout. The only times he wasn't playing were during the the solos by the standout player Waits. In fact, when introducing the band members twice during the night, McBride, naming each member and their instruments, called out Waits with "on drums, the great Nasheet Waits." When Waits soloed, McBride stood center stage watching him with a huge smile on his face, as if to proudly say, This amazing guy plays with me in my band! Truly, Waits is an amazing player, at times pushing the horns and the whole ensemble. In the second piece of the evening his drum solo was mesmerizing, and he almost seemed to be playing a whole song himself. It and his other solos got shouts and the loudest applause from the audience this night.

On stage McBride has a friendly demeanor when making stage announcements, and is so powerful and in control when playing his upright bass. Whether bowing it or fingering and plucking solos, his sound is crisp and up-front—no bass in the background with this band. Evans is a good player but seemed to struggle with focus on his solos this evening, while Strickland seemed to have a better night and his solos were received well by the crowd. When the horns played together in harmony they were in perfect unison complimenting the music's demands.

Most of the music played was from the Prime album including the title track, "Dolphy Dust" and Waits' "Moonchild." They also played McBride's "John Day," a beautiful and solemn song written for a friend, from their first self-titled album.

It was ironic that the last song played, also from the Prime album was "The Good Life" by free-jazz founder Ornette Coleman. It was the most melody based and musically succinct song of the evening, and so aptly titled. It is indeed a good life where we can go to a special place like the Arden Gild Hall and hear exceptional musicians such as Christian McBride & New Jawn play jazz music live. While McBride may intend this music to challenge his fans, it is a challenge worth accepting and digging into with rewarding results.

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