Live At The Village Vanguard (Mack Avenue)
Christian McBride & Inside Straight
Released November 26, 2021
70th DownBeat Annual Critics Poll Top 20 Album of the Year
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https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_lRA1yIyMBwyqEhqasVf1ySR0mdenfBRnM
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About:
There is no doubt that Christian McBride is one of the most versatile musicians on the scene today. His artistry has been documented in recordings and performances with the widest possible range of musicians in the most varied settings and genres one might imagine. While attending a show at the Village Vanguard in 2006, it occurred to McBride that he hadn’t played there in nearly 9 years, as he’d been touring the world over. In June of 2007, Christian returned to the Village Vanguard with a group consisting of Steve Wilson, Eric Reed, Carl Allen and a young vibraphonist whom he’d recently met, Warren Wolf. Due to prior commitments, Eric Reed could no longer be in the group, but pianist Peter Martin joined the group immediately upon the release of Christian McBride & Inside Straight’s first Mack Avenue recording, Kind of Brown, and Peter’s been in the piano chair ever since.
The Village Vanguard has been McBride’s home for one to two weeks every December. Although many iterations of his groups have played there, Inside Straight was birthed at the Village Vanguard. This particular set was recorded in December of 2014. McBride’s Trio also recorded at the Vanguard and the GRAMMY® nominated CD/LP was released in September 2015.
Track Listing:
1. Sweet Bread (Warren Wolf) 12:01
2. Fair Hope Theme (Christian McBride) 13:41
3. Ms. Angelou (Steve Wilson) 10:02
4. The Shade of the Cedar Tree (Christian McBride) 08:18
5. Gang Gang (Warren Wolf) 14:54
6. Uncle James (Christian McBride) 10:57
7. Stick & Move (Christian McBride) 09:52
Personnel:
Christian McBride: bass
Steve Wilson: alto (1, 4-7) & soprano saxophone (2,3)
Warren Wolf: vibes
Peter Martin: piano
Carl Allen: drums
Recorded on location at The Village Vanguard, New York, NY – December 5-7, 2014
Producer: Christian McBride
Recording Engineer: Damon Whittemore
Assistant Engineer: Dan Cherouny, Trevor Fedele
Mixed by Todd Whitelock
Mastered by Chris Muth
Art Direction: Raj Naik
Cover: Keith Henry Brown
Review:
At the end of a brightly swinging run through “Fair Hope Theme,” bassist and bandleader Christian McBride tells the Village Vanguard audience, “This band was born here.” Indeed, apart from a pandemic-induced break in 2020, Inside Straight has played the Vanguard every year since 2009; Live At The Village Vanguard was recorded there in 2014. Funny thing is, the album has such a strong sense of connectedness and familiarity that it’s easy to believe we’re listening to a performance from much later in that run. Take, for instance, vibraphonist Warren Wolf’s solo on “Fair Hope Theme.” After a driving two-bar break, he unleashes a string of swung eighth notes. Carl Allen’s drums respond by kicking accents across the beat, which Wolf answers with a bouncy, broken cadence. Immediately, McBride’s bass goes from walking to punching afterbeats, filling the holes in Wolf’s line as Peter Martin’s piano slams accents on two and four. It’s just the start of Wolf’s solo, yet it delivers more rhythmic magic in a few seconds than many bands manage in an entire set. Live At The Village Vanguard is full of bravura moments — the bass and drums Exchange at the end of “Stick & Move” is especially spicy — but the band’s real strength is the writing. Between their varied rhythmic structures and use of orchestrated countermelody, the tunes are intricate and complicated, and because the thematic elements are sometimes continued under the solos, as on “Uncle James” or “Gang Gang,” the music offers the breadth of big band writing while maintaining the turn-on-a-dime immediacy of a small group. More, please.
J.D. Considine (DownBeat)
