For nearly 20 years, Christian McBride has been renowned as one of American jazz’s most gifted bassists. And in 2013, he’s reigning supreme with not one but two new albums:People Music with his urban bop outfit Inside Straight and Out Here, his very first LP with a trio rounded out by pianist Christian Sands and drummer Ulysses Owens, Jr. McBride, who also teaches at his wife’s educational facility in Montclair, NJ called Jazz House Kids, recently took some time out of preparations for his Thanksgiving holiday tour of the Netherlands to speak with Jambands about the new albums and how they factor into a never-ending highlight reel of a career.
The first time I ever heard you play was on Diana Krall’s 1997 album Love Scenes. What do you remember most about recording with Diana and what is your fondest memory of those sessions?
I’ve played on quite a few of Diana’s recordings. This is my favorite out of all of them. It’s bare bones. It’s pure music. Just piano/vocals, bass and guitar. I always thought Diana shined in this instrumentation. This session happened just as her career was about to explode. Just after the release of this CD, she practically became a household name. I was glad to be a part of it.
Do you still stay in touch with Diana? Are you a fan of her husband, Elvis Costello?
I don’t keep in touch with Diana quite as much as I used to. We’re both very busy, plus she has two young children she and Elvis are raising. Elvis is a very cool guy. I certainly knew who Elvis and the Attractions were as a kid, but I didn’t really get around to listening to a lot of their records. I was more of a soul/R&B guy. But when I finally saw him live with the Mingus Big Band sometime in the 90’s, I became a fan.
Elvis just worked with your pal ?uestlove on his collaboration with The Roots for Blue Note, Wise Up Ghost. Have the two of you been in touch since doing The Philadelphia Experiment? How was Ahmir as a partner in a rhythm section?
Ahmir is exactly how you would think he would be in a rhythm section: Funky. We recorded together with Joe Jackson on his most recent recording, The Duke. We also played some live shows with Booker T. Jones and also the few Philly Experiment live shows. Yes, we’re always in touch.
Is another hip-hop related project in your future plans? Would you consider your upcoming project with DJ Logic to be a hip-hop thing or something different? I’d love to hear more about your new group A Christian McBride Situation.
I’m dying to record A Christian McBride Situation! If things go as planned, I’ll get into the studio with this band (DJ Logic, Patrice Rushen, Jahi Sundance, Alyson Williams and Ron Blake) sometime at the end of 2014. Back in 2004, I think it was ’04, I was playing a gig with my band at the Monterey Jazz Festival. About a week before the gig, two of the guys had to back out due to family issues. That only left me and Ron Blake. I was stuck for a band. My road manager said, “It looks like we have a Christian McBride situation.” That’s where the name came from. Everyone I called to sub was unavailable, so as they say, necessity is the mother of invention – I looked at the festival schedule to see what musicians were performing and I picked DJ Logic and Patrice Rushen. Since we had no time to rehearse, we went onstage and did a completely improvised set. Much to my surprise, everyone liked it. After that, I decided to keep the band together as much as I could and do a few gigs here and there. When you freestyle completely, there’s going to be some serious peaks and valleys. You have to have enough courage to take the ride. This band has the courage. I can’t wait to record with them.
As a child of the 70s and 80s, how much did hip-hop factor into your music education growing up?
At age 41, I’m pretty much the same age as hip-hop, so it didn’t play a part of my education, we grew up together. I spent my teenage years intensely studying jazz albums, so I was very aware of exactly which jazz records hip-hop artists sampled. I pretty much jumped off the hip-hop train in the late 80’s/early 90’s when 2 Live Crew and NWA started to take over the minds of the younger generation. When Frankie Smith, The Sugar Hill Gang, Grandmaster Flash, Kool Herc, and later on, Queen Latifah, Public Enemy, MC Lyte, EPMD and A Tribe Called Quest were doing their thing, I was in. But after studying and immersing myself in the spirituality of John Coltrane and Duke Ellington, this oncoming tsunami called “gangsta rap” did nothing for me.
Were there any particular piano trios from the past that inspired your approach to Out Here ? If so, how?
I feel like I’ve had enough experience with enough groups not to use any one trio as an inspiration. They’ve all been inspirations – Oscar Peterson’s, Ahmad Jamal’s, Nat King Cole’s, Ray Brown’s, my old friend Benny Green’s…..a lot of them. My band members are huge inspirations as well. All I have to do is listen to them and I get ideas.
How was it to work in a small ensemble like you do on Out Here versus your normal big and large band operations? Is the trio format more freeing for you or is it the opposite?
I think I can find a big comfort zone with any size group. Be it trio, big band or whatever, I’m almost always comfortable.
I love the artwork for the new Inside Straight album, People Music. How did that concept come about?
I’m not sure, really. For starters, Christian and Ulysses are two of the very few young musicians I know who like to get real sharp. They love wearing suits. They both read GQ and stay on top of men’s fashions. It’s a real breath of fresh air. I don’t know where this notion that suits make a musician conservative came from. No one thinks Morris Day and the Time are conservative, right? How come when jazz musicians wear suits, it’s automatically assumed they’re conservative? Not us. My brother-in-law, Chi Modu, who’s photographed Biggie and Tupac, took the photos. He’s a bad man.
You’ve compared People Music to ‘a classic car – a ’69 Lincoln Continental’. Speaking of ’69, is that era of jazz in your mind when you play with Inside Straight?
No. The only era of jazz in my mind when we play is the current one. I only compared to a ’69 Lincoln because it’s pretty comfortable. I will own one one day!”
I’d love to hear more about the jazz school in Montclair that you are involved in with your wife, Melissa. What is the scope and depth of your involvement in the school and the curriculum? What is the age range of the students? Are there any kind of music appreciation classes?
Oh, my goodness. What my wife Melissa has done with Jazz House Kids is just beyond words. We have up to 1,000 kids from 8 to 18 from all over New Jersey who come and study at JHK taking private lessons, playing in large ensembles and small ensembles. We have adult classes, jazz appreciation classes, a summer camp and more. I urge the readers to go to jazzhousekids.org.
Do you think programs like Jazz House Kids are the future of arts education in America? Do you feel at this point music and arts education for children is better served as a private venture as opposed to a public or state/federal funded thing? Why or why not?
Yes. In this day and age, organizations like JHK have supplanted what used to be taught in public schools. The arts should be federally funded, but we all know it isn’t, and sadly, probably won’t ever be again. I hope I’m wrong on that. People like my wife, Wynton Marsalis, John Clayton and anyone else who dedicates their life to educating children to the creative process are saints.
Who is still out there in terms of musicians you wish to collaborate or sit in with and have you made any moves to make it a reality?
I feel so lucky. Everyone I’ve ever wanted to play with, I’ve played with. After I worked with James Brown, I was afraid I would be terribly depressed. Sort of like “It all goes downhill from here,” you know? Fortunately, that wasn’t the case. I want to continue to play with every great musician in the world. Period. I think maybe the last two people on my bucket list are Bobby Womack and Dolly Parton.
