Bassist, composer and bandleader Christian McBride also serves at NJPAC’s jazz advisor.
As NJPAC’s jazz advisor, Christian McBride is one of the primary architects of The TD James Moody Jazz Festival, whose 13th edition will take place throughout most of November at NJPAC and other Newark venues. He is also usually one of the performers, and this year is no exception. He is, in fact, a key part of the two of the festival’s biggest shows. Playing bass, he will anchor the band at the Nov. 14 tribute to funk (also featuring George Clinton, Nona Hendryx, Vernon Reid, Savion Glover and others). And his big band will perform with vocalists Philip Bailey (of Earth, Wind & Fire), Dianne Reeves and Lisa Fischer, on Nov. 21.
For a complete list of festival events, click HERE.
I talked to McBride — who lives in Montclair, and also serves as artistic director for the Montclair-based educational organization Jazz House Kids (founded and led by his wife, singer Melissa Walker) — in mid-October.
Q: Let’s talk about the funk show first. I get the impression that funk was your first musical love, even before jazz. Is that true?
A: Oh, that’s not a secret (laughs). That’s McBride 101 knowledge.
Q: How did you make the transition from funk to jazz? What opened your eyes to jazz at first?
A: Well, I always heard jazz growing up but it wasn’t the music that really touched me. When you’re listening to Michael Jackson and Prince and James Brown … Miles Davis’ ’50s albums aren’t exactly what you want to dance to. But once I started playing the double bass in middle school … I have a great-uncle who is also a bass player, and once I started playing the upright bass, he got so excited. He called me over to his house and he basically gave me a crash course in jazz bass over the course of six hours. And that one visit sort of singlehandedly turned me around. I became so curious about jazz and wanted to learn the legacy and the art form even more. So my great-uncle is responsible for getting me into jazz.
I never stopped liking funk, though. And I think the tightrope that me and a lot of my peers have had to walk is that, rightfully, the jazz community is very protective of the legacy. And a lot of times there’s not a lot of welcoming when it comes to mixing (laughs). So if you try to say, “Both Nat King Cole and James Brown are great,” you might get raised eyebrows from jazz fans. But I don’t think there’s anybody born after 1960 who would disagree with that. So that’s really not much of a tightrope anymore. That was the tightrope I had to walk when I first started getting into the music. The tightrope now is for someone to say that, you know, Biggie Smalls and (John) Coltrane are both equally great. And I agree with that as well.
RAY CHEW
Q: What was your thinking behind putting together this particular show? Was there a particular flavor, or particular mix of musicians, you wanted to have?
A: Well, this emanated from a show … it actually wasn’t even a show. It was our Spotlight Gala (an annual NJPAC fundraising event) from two years ago. Ray Chew was the musical director and Ray and (NJPAC executive vice president and executive producer) David Rodriguez are good … well, we’re all good friends, the three of us. And usually for the Spotlight Gala, my big band has been the house band. But I couldn’t do it in 2022. So David hired Ray to be the musical director and he did a funk show. And he had George Clinton, he had Savion Glover. I flew in from somewhere that day and he said, “Look, if you could just stop by NJPAC before you go home and come sit in on a tune, that would be great.” So basically, this funk show is the same thing that happened at the Spotlight Gala, two years ago. Ray is the driving force behind this show.
Q: Will it be the same material as that show?
A: No, it will be a little different. I don’t like giving away material. People gotta come and find out (laughs).
Q: I have to say, as someone who has been writing about the jazz festival since, literally, the first year … this year’s lineup looks really impressive. A lot of really great shows. What are you particularly looking forward to this year?
A: I have to say I’m looking forward to playing with my big band again. I don’t get a chance to play with my big band very often, and we’re just about to cross the finish line with our new album, which features 12 special guests — 12 vocalists — and three of those 12 are going to be with me at NJPAC. We’ll have Diane Reeves and Philip Bailey and Lisa Fischer. So I’m very much looking forward to that.
Cindy Blackman Santana will perform at NJPAC, Nov. 17.
One of the shows that I was really looking forward to just happened (Sept. 29), and that was Herbie Hancock. That wasn’t necessarily part of the Moody festival. But it nevertheless was so great, to have Herbie there (at NJPAC). And, you know, Cindy Blackman Santana, I’m looking forward to, on Nov. 17. She’s been a dear friend: She’s been like a big sister to me for a long time, and everything that she does is really great. And Paquito D’Rivera, he’s always great.
So many mainstays here, you know: John Pizzarelli, Catherine Russell, Brandee Younger. And then you have The Sarah Vaughan International Jazz Vocal Competition, of course. I’m really proud of what that has become: So many major singers on the scene today have won that competition, or have participated in that competition, from Cyrille Aimée to Jazzmeia Horn, Nicole Zuraitis to Samara Joy. So it’s doing its job.
I think all of these shows are going to bring something very special to the listener and it’s going to be a great experience. You know, Madeleine Peyroux … she’s someone who I don’t think Newark gets to see too often.
Q: Besides the festival, is the job of being jazz advisor a whole-year thing? Are you involved in bringing other jazz programming to NJPAC besides just the festival?
A: There’s not a lot of jazz programming that goes on outside of the festival. You can get a couple of special shows that happen in the spring, but generally speaking, my area tends to be in November for the Moody festival. Like, when we had Chick Corea’s trio with myself and Brian Blade (in April 2019). That wasn’t part of the Moody festival. And I believe we had Diana Krall there once (in April 2022). That was not for the Moody festival. You know, certain people, you just have to get them when they’re available (laughs).
Q: Besides the big band album, do you have any interesting projects coming up?
A: I always have a little something going on, behind the scenes, but this big band project really has been dominating my landscape for the last several months. A lot of music to write. My quintet, Ursa Major … we’re going to be going into the studio in January. So, I’m looking forward to recording something with them. I don’t know when any of these recordings will be released.
Oh! I’m also reuniting my old band from the early naughts: The Christian McBride Band with (saxophonist) Ron Blake and (keyboardist) Geoff Keezer and (drummer) Terreon Gully. 2026 will mark the 20th anniversary of the release of our album Live at Tonic. So we’re going to play The Mercury Lounge for the Winter Jazzfest in January. We’re going to do our best to recreate that album like we recorded it in 2005. (Note: The album was recorded in January 2005 and released in May 2006.)
Q: The big band album sounds like something that maybe could get out to mainstream pop/R&B audiences, not just jazz audiences. Do you see that as a more mainstream project?
A: Not really. It’s not really a mainstream album. It’s not trying to be.
I think I’ve done a number of albums that could have possibly crossed over to there, you know. I don’t really make albums for that. But if you get a clever PR team… yeah, we’ll see what happens (laughs).
For more on Christian McBride, visit christianmcbride.com.
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