Christian McBride

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Christian McBride

Jazz musicians Christian McBride & Jimmy Heath
Background information
Birth name Christian Lee McBride
Born May 31, 1972 (1972-05-31) (age 37)
Origin Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
Genre(s) Jazz
Occupation(s) Bassist
Years active 1989–present
Label(s) Verve Records, Warner Bros. Records, Ropeadope Records, Mack Avenue Records
Website Official Website

Christian McBride (born May 31, 1972, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) is an American jazz bassist. His father, Lee Smith, and his great uncle, Howard Cooper, are well known Philadelphia bassists who served as McBride's early mentors. In the jazz community, McBride is widely considered to be one of the best bassists of his generation.

Contents

[edit] Biography

McBride has performed and recorded with a huge number of jazz legends and ensembles, including Freddie Hubbard, Joe Henderson, McCoy Tyner, Herbie Hancock, Pat Metheny, Diana Krall, Roy Haynes, Chick Corea, Wynton Marsalis, Joshua Redman, and Ray Brown's "Superbass" with John Clayton, as well as with hip-hop, pop, soul, and classical musicians like The Roots[1], Kathleen Battle, Carly Simon, Sting, Bruce Hornsby, and James Brown.

Since 2000, McBride has fronted his own acoustic, jazz, fusion and funk ensemble, "The Christian McBride Band." As writer Alan Leeds has stated, it is "one of the most intoxicating, least predictable bands on the scene today." McBride also plays on occasion under the moniker "A Christian McBride Situation," McBride's "blanket term for a passing arrangement of sympathetic players" according to writer Nate Chinen.

McBride primarily plays upright bass, but is equally adept on the electric bass. During his tenure with Sting (2001-2003), he also played bass for the collaborative project, "The Philadelphia Experiment." The Philadelphia Experiment included keyboardist Uri Caine and hip-hop drummer Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson. Recent projects have included tours and recordings with the Pat Metheny Trio, the Bruce Hornsby Trio, and Queen Latifah. His Live at Tonic three-CD set was released in 2006.

McBride performed with Sonny Rollins and Roy Haynes at Carnegie Hall on September 18, 2007, in commemoration of Rollins' 50th anniversary of his first performance there.[2]

He is also co-director of the new National Jazz Museum in Harlem.

McBride is currently playing in a "straight-ahead" quintet called "Christian McBride & Inside Straight" featuring alto/soprano saxophonist Steve Wilson, vibraphonist Warren Wolf, pianist, Eric Reed and drummer Carl Allen, as well as performing as "A Christian McBride Situation" with saxophonist Ron Blake, guitarist David Gilmore & turntablist DJ Logic. Also, McBride is rounding out fusion quintet with John McLaughlin, Chick Corea, Kenny Garrett and Vinnie Colaiuta. This jazz supergroup, the Five Peace Band, began playing a world tour in 2008 and is continuing into 2009. Brian Blade took over from Vinnie Colaiuta as drummer in Asia and some US concerts.

[edit] Discography

[edit] As leader

Title Year of Release Label
Gettin' To It 1995 Verve
Number Two Express 1996 Verve
A Family Affair 1998 Verve
Sci-Fi 2000 Verve
The Philadelphia Experiment 2001 Ropeadope
Vertical Vision 2003 Warner Bros. Records
Live at Tonic 2006 Ropeadope
Kind of Brown 2009 Mack Avenue

[edit] As sideman

This section requires expansion.

With Freddie Hubbard

With Joe Henderson

WIth McCoy Tyner

WIth Benny Green

With Roy Hargrove

With Joshua Redman

With Diana Krall

With Sting

With George Duke

With Chick Corea

With David Sanborn

With Chris Botti

[edit] References

  1. ^ http://www.philly.com/philly/hp/news_update/20090412_Late_night_with_the_Roots.html
  2. ^ Garnegie Hall official website

[edit] External links

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_McBride"
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