Christian McBride and Ursa Major: Points of Light

Bass superstar Christian McBride seemingly has an infinite number of active projects at any given moment, but his group Ursa Major may be his most exciting. With Ursa Major, McBride leads a group of dynamic young musicians whose collective mission is to essentially fulfill McBride's creative impulses—an "all-in" band, as McBride has described it. Over the course of his distinguished career McBride has seemingly explored every jazz and jazz-adjacent genre and sub-genre out there, and he created Ursa Major to tie all those styles together. The group is neither fusion nor a straight-ahead bop outfit, but rather a malleable unit able to handle any kind of style, vibe or subgenre McBride sees fit to throw at them.

Having played its first gig in June 2022, Ursa Major has counted several young musicians as members, but the core of the group has always consisted of, in addition to McBride on bass, Nicole Glover (saxophone), Ely Perlman (guitar), Savannah Harris (drums), and Mike King  (piano). Since formation the group has, despite McBride's relentless schedule, toured fairly consistently, evidence of the group being among McBride's top priorities. Over time, the young musicians have matured and become industry veterans themselves. Consequently, the group has grown tighter and more cohesive over the years, and this chemistry is palpable on the group's debut album, Points of Light.

Produced by contemporary soul/jazz/R&B impresario Terrace Martin, who shares McBride's genre-hopping sensibilities, Points of Light acts as a primer for those unfamiliar with the band, and a reason to return for those who are. The group takes full advantage of Martin's production skills, with Martin creating a rich, layered canvas for the group, utilizing studio technology when necessary without becoming overly reliant on electronic bells and whistles. The group, and the songs on the record, are most certainly forward-thinking, but are nevertheless focused and are not simply "modern" or "experimental" as a substitute for musical discipline. McBride and his bandmates are students of the jazz tradition and work hard to ground the sound in the genre's sonic ancestry, though in keeping with the of-the-moment mission of the group, the band largely eschews covers or standards (with one exception) in favor of originals written by each of its members.

Points of Light opens with Nicole Glover's "Sakura," a dreamy, mediative piece primarily featuring a harmony led by Glover on tenor and King on electric and acoustic piano and synths. Martin also cameos on the Korg Kronos synthesizer. The track has no real rhythm, and in fact could be taken as a signal that the music to come would consist of a series of avant-garde mood pieces.

Such conveyed feelings are misleading, however, as for most of the remainder of the album Ursa Major moves into rollicking, accessible territory. "Two Check," written by King, and "Cows," written by Perlman, are both groovy crowd-pleasers. Glover leads with a dulcet saxophone melody following introductory McBride riffing, and King later delivers an impressively virtuosic, but structured, acoustic piano solo, before duetting with McBride out front showing the youngsters how it's done. "Cows" is a straight-up funk jam, with McBride, Harris and King (primarily on Rhodes and organ) holding down the rhythm and Glover absolutely working it on melody, before Perlman shreds on a banging guitar solo. Quintin Gulledge also appears on this track playing clavinet.

McBride is always generous on the album by spotlighting his bandmates and their talents. Taking McBride's lead, the musicians never attempt to outshine each other, no one group member (including McBride himself) dominating the album. For example, Glover has the talent on saxophone to blow the roof off of any venue where she plays, but here she shuns acrobatics in favor of effective restraint and successful harmonies with her bandmates. This coordination is particularly evident on the McBride composition "Familiar Steps," which is a straight-ahead, up-tempo post-bop piece, where each member both gives and receives, both soloing and comping.

Points of Light comes almost full circle with closing track and lead single "No Rhyme, No Reason." Written by George Duke, the song is the sole cover on the album, a beautifully delicate ballad (featuring Glover on soprano saxophone) that Martin (who plays Vocoder and Oberheim synthesizer on the track) enhances with layers of ambient electronic etherealness. The song and the equally wistful opening track bookend the record with vibes that act as the perfect come-up and come-down from the blistering grooves within.