Bringin’ It (Mack Avenue)
Christian McBride Big Band
Released September 22, 2017
DownBeat Five-Star Review
Grammy Award for Best Large Jazz Ensemble 2018
Grand Prix de l’Académie du Jazz 2017
YouTube:
https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=C_5IETaYe2o&list=OLAK5uy_m_cbOSki7j_7UGYMZbyM-Y7pNwTAfIuIw
Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/album/6H05nuaZcTcLAxu9yyry3B?si=ZavjVVcQSAuL6cs8duqWDg
About:
Iconic bassist Christian McBride has been doing what the title of his upcoming big band album implores for years: Bringin’ It. This highly anticipated release, which follows the Christian McBride Big Band’s 2011 Grammy® Award-winning debut, The Good Feeling, puts his status and skills as an all-around entertainer on full display. With a list of growing accolades including his recent appointment as Artistic Director at the Newport Jazz Festival, hosting shows on SiriusXM (“The Lowdown: Conversations with Christian”) and NPR (“Jazz Night in America,” as well as frequent online contributions to various programs including “All Things Considered”), speaking engagements, and occasional DJ performances under the alias DJ Brother Mister, he’s more than just a bandleader: Christian McBride is transcending that title to something more complete.
Track Listing:
1. Gettin’ to It (Christian McBride) 6:37
2. Thermo (Freddie Hubbard) 5:59
3. Youthful Bliss (Christian McBride) 6:59
4. I Thought About You (James Van Heusen / Johnny Mercer) 6:09
5. Sahara (McCoy Tyner) 10:09
6. Upside Down (Djavan Caetano Viana / Regina Werneck) 4:43
7. Full House (Wes Montgomery) 6:25
8. Mr. Bojangles (Jerry Jeff Walker) 6:16
9. Used ‘Ta Could (Christian McBride) 4:37
10. In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning (Bob Hilliard / David Mann) 3:55
11. Optimism (Steve Davis) 7:06
Personnel:
Christian McBride: bass
Steve Wilson: alto saxophone, soprano saxophone, flute
Todd Bashore: alto saxophone, flute, piccolo
Ron Blake: tenor saxophone, flute
Dan Pratt: tenor saxophone, flute
Carl Maraghi: baritone saxophone, bass clarinet
Frank Greene: trumpet
Freddie Hendrix: trumpet
Brandon Lee: trumpet
Nabate Isles: trumpet
Steve Davis: trombone (11)
Michael Dease: trombone
Joe McDonough: trombone (1-10)
James Burton: trombone
Douglas Purviance: bass trombone
Xavier Davis: piano
Quincy Phillips: drums
Rodney Jones: guitar
Melissa Walker: vocals (6, 8)
Brandee Younger: harp (10)
Recorded at Avatar Studios
Producer: Christian McBride
Associate Producer: Todd Whitelock
Executive Producer: Gretchen Valade
Recording Engineer: Todd Whitelock
Assistant Engineer: Timothy Marchiafava
Mixed at: ValveTone Studios – New York, NY
Mixing Engineer: Todd Whitelock
Assistant Engineer: Josh Welshman
Mastered at: Battery Mastering Studios – New York, NY
Mastering Engineer: Mark Wilder
Review:
A big band powered by a big bass is a mighty thing to hear. When its leader has a taste and talent for brassy virtuosity, orchestral nuance, urbane blues and irrepressibly swinging grooves, it’s likely the Christian McBride Big Band. McBride is among jazz’s highest-profile spokespeople via his NPR and SiriusXM radio shows, as well as his administrative position at New Jersey’s JazzHouse Kids, which he co-leads with his wife, singer Melissa Walker. Those duties have clearly not taken anything from the adaptable musicality he’s demonstrated over his nearly 30-year career. A Grammy winner with a fan base, McBride could choose to do anything. Speaking volumes, Bringin’ It nods to Count Basie, Oliver Nelson, Thad Jones and Charles Mingus while comprising compositions by Freddie Hubbard, McCoy Tyner and Wes Montgomery, three McBride originals and trombonist Steve Davis’ “Optimism.” The arrangements are vivid and varied: Rodney Jones’ guitar drives and crowns the funky opening “Getting’ To It,” while “Sahara” starts with tom-toms, bass clarinet, flutes, piccolo and other reeds in a twittering AACM style. Each track has bountiful, detailed pleasures, supported, inspired and generated by the man at the ensemble’s core. McBride and his big band have lots to offer; here they bring it all.
Howard Mandel (DownBeat)
