Christian McBride

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. He is regarded as a virtuoso, and is one of the most recorded musicians of his generation, having appeared on close to 300 recordings as a sideman before the age of 40. He is also a 3-time Grammy award winner.

Biography
After starting on bass guitar, McBride switched to double bass and studied at the Juilliard School.

He 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, John McLaughlin, Wynton Marsalis, Hank Jones, Lewis Nash, Joshua Redman, and Ray Brown's "Superbass" with John Clayton, as well as with pop, hip-hop. soul, and classical musicians like Sting, The Roots, Kathleen Battle, Carly Simon, Bruce Hornsby, and James Brown.

McBride was heralded as a teen prodigy having joined saxophonist Bobby Watson's group at age 17. From age 17 to 22, he played in the bands of older legends such as Watson, Freddie Hubbard, Benny Golson, Milt Jackson, J.J. Johnson and Hank Jones as well as his peers such as Roy Hargrove, Benny Green and Joshua Redman. In 1996, jazz bass legend Ray Brown formed a group called "SuperBass" built around McBride and fellow Brown protege', John Clayton. The group released two CD's: "SuperBass: Live at Scullers" (1997) and "SuperBass 2: Live at the Blue Note" (2001).

McBride began leading his own groups in 1995 after his debut CD Gettin' To It (Verve Records) was released. Saxophonist Tim Warfield, pianists Charles Craig and Joey Calderazzo, and drummers Carl Allen and Greg Hutchinson are a few of the musicians who played in McBride's early groups. From 2000 to 2008, McBride fronted his own acoustic / electric, jazz, fusion and funk ensemble, "The Christian McBride Band" with saxophonist Ron Blake, pianist/keyboardist Geoffrey Keezer and drummer Terreon Gully. As writer Alan Leeds stated in 2003, it was "one of the most intoxicating, least predictable bands on the scene..." The band released two CD's - Vertical Vision (Warner Brothers Records | 2003) and their Live at Tonic three-CD set was released in 2006.

In 1996, McBride contributed to the AIDS benefit album Offbeat: A Red Hot Soundtrip produced by the Red Hot Organization.

McBride primarily plays upright bass, but is equally adept on the electric bass. He played bass for the collaborative project, "The Philadelphia Experiment." The Philadelphia Experiment included keyboardist Uri Caine and hip-hop drummer Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson. Other projects have included tours and recordings with the Pat Metheny Trio, the Bruce Hornsby Trio, and Queen Latifah. And like Paul Chambers, McBride can solo by playing his bass arco style.

In 2006, McBride was named to the position of "Creative Chair for Jazz" with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, taking over from Dianne Reeves. He was initially signed to a two-year contract that was subsequently renewed for an additional two years. He was eventually succeeded by Herbie Hancock in 2010.

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. McBride was also tapped by CBS to be a producer for the tribute to Rollins on the 2011 Kennedy Center Honors broadcast.

In 2008, McBride joined John McLaughlin, Chick Corea, Kenny Garrett and Vinnie Colaiuta in a jazz fusion supergroup called the Five Peace Band. They released a CD in February 2009 and completed their world tour in May of that year, as Brian Blade took over for Vinnie Colaiuta as drummer in Asia and some US concerts. The CD "Five Peace Band Live" won the 2010 Grammy Award for Best Jazz Instrumental Album, Individual or Group

McBride released his first big band album, titled "The Good Feeling" in 2011 for which he won the Grammy for Best Large Jazz Ensemble Performance.

As of 2013, McBride currently leads four groups - "Inside Straight" featuring alto/soprano saxophonist Steve Wilson, vibraphonist Warren Wolf, pianist Peter Martin and drummer Carl Allen; a trio featuring pianist Christian Sands and drummer Ulysses Owens, Jr., his 18-piece big band, and an experimental group called "A Christian McBride Situation" with pianist/keyboardist Patrice Rushen, turntablists DJ Logic and Jahi Sundance, saxophonist Ron Blake and vocalist Alyson Williams.

Personal Life
Christian is married to jazz singer and educator Melissa Walker.

As sideman
With Regina Belle With Chris Botti With Don Braden With Chick Corea With George Duke With Benny Green With Roy Hargrove With Joe Henderson With Bruce Hornsby With Freddie Hubbard With Hank Jones With Diana Krall With Queen Latifah With Joe Lovano With Pat Metheny and Antonio Sanchez With Joshua Redman With David Sanborn With Sting With McCoy Tyner With Michael Wolff
 * Lazy Afternoon (2004)
 * To Love Again: The Duets (2005)
 * December (2006)
 * Italia (2007)
 * After Dark (1994)
 * Remembering Bud Powell (1997)
 * Rendezvous In New York (2002)
 * Super Trio: Corea/Gadd/McBride (2006)
 * Chillin' In Chelan (2007)
 * ''Five Peace Band (with John McLaughlin) (2009)
 * After Hours (1998)
 * Face the Music (2002)
 * Duke (2005)
 * Dukey Treats (2008)
 * Greens (1991)
 * Testifyin': Live at the Village Vanguard (1992)
 * That's Right! (1992)
 * The Place To Be (1994)
 * These Are Soulful Days (1999)
 * Naturally (2000)
 * Public Eye (1991)
 * Family (1995)
 * Lush Life: The Music of Billy Strayhorn (1992) – GRAMMY WINNER
 * Double Rainbow: The Music of Antonio Carlos Jobim (1995)
 * Big Band (1996)
 * Camp Meeting (2007)
 * Live at Fat Tuesday's (1992)
 * God Bless the Child (1998)
 * West of 5th (Chesky, 2006)
 * Only Trust Your Heart (1995)
 * Love Scenes (1997)
 * The Look of Love (2001)
 * Live in Paris (2002)
 * The Girl In The Other Room (2004)
 * Trav'lin' Light (2008)
 * Tenor Legacy (Blue Note, 1993)
 * Quartets: Live at the Village Vanguard (Blue Note, 1995)
 * Day Trip (2005)
 * Tokyo Day Trip (2008)
 * Joshua Redman (1993)
 * Moodswing (1994)
 * Back East (2007)
 * Pearls (1994)
 * Time Again (2003)
 * Closer (2005)
 * Here and Gone (2008)
 * ...All This Time (2001)
 * Sacred Love (2003)
 * Prelude and Sonata (1995)
 * What the World Needs Now: The Music of Burt Bacharach (1997)
 * Illuminations (McCoy Tyner album) (2004) – GRAMMY WINNER
 * Quartet (McCoy Tyner album) (2007)
 * Jumpstart (1995)
 * 2AM (1997)

CD reviews

 * Christian McBride | "Kind of Brown"
 * Christian McBride | "Live At Tonic"
 * Christian McBride with Pat Metheny | "Day Trip"