New York, NY (Top40 Charts) The 8-time GRAMMY Award winner Christian McBride has released his new album recorded with renowned bassist and composer and 7-time GRAMMY® Award winner Edgar Meyer, But Who's Gonna Play The Melody? The album explores the vast variety possible with the pairing of two limitless bassists, encompassing diverse original compositions, American Songbook standards, and familiar classics by jazz and bluegrass masters. McBride and Meyer have also shared a new video performance of "Bass Duo #1." The album releases today via Mack Avenue Records, and is currently available for digital and CD purchase here, and will be available as an exclusive 2-LP vinyl Record Store Day Release on April 20.
"Edgar and I come from two different places," McBride explains. "I come from the jazz and R&B worlds with a little bit of classical, and he comes from the bluegrass and classical worlds with a little bit of jazz. With this album we're meeting each other in uncharted territory."
In January, McBride and Meyer released the track "Barnyard Disturbance," which draws on both blues and country influences and finds McBride and Meyer extracting the full range of sonic possibilities from their instruments. This was followed by the single "Philly Slop."
McBride and Meyer were initially introduced by their mutual mentor, the legendary jazz bassist Ray Brown. It took nearly a decade before they shared a stage together in 2007 under the auspices of Jazz Aspen Snowmass, the Colorado-based non-profit jazz performance and education organization. The pair quickly discovered that the common ground between their disparate backgrounds was a firm foundation in the blues.
Hundreds of miles separate Meyer's hometown of Oak Ridge, Tennessee, and McBride's in Philadelphia, but their roots feel intertwined throughout But Who's Gonna Play the Melody? "The center of our connection is in things that are earthy and funky and rooted in a blues dimension," Meyer says. "Then it ranges out from there."
Intimate and raucous, playful and exquisite, gritty and refined - But Who's Gonna Play the Melody? reveals worlds of influence, experience and inspiration in just two basses. While Meyer is the first to profess that "the bass is a pretty limited instrument," in his and McBride's hands it sounds as close to limitless as it ever has.
McBride is renowned as both a globally esteemed artist and one of the most respected and influential advocates and educators in jazz. He's been awarded eight GRAMMY Awards, garnered acclaim for his poignant ode to the Civil Rights era, The Movement Revisited, and performed at the White House. He leads several acclaimed and diverse ensembles, including the Christian McBride Big Band, the scintillating quintet Inside Straight, and the adventurous New Jawn.
McBride's most recent album Prime exemplifies jazz greats at the zenith of their powers who insist on scaling greater heights, and received praise from The New York Times, NPR's World Cafe, Forbes, Jazziz, and many more. In 2023 Christian also performed on NPR's Tiny Desk Concert Series, released the track "Why Am I Treated So Bad" with
Norah Jones and Questlove, and performed on Saturday Night Live with Billie Eilish. McBride also received acclaim at the 2024 GRAMMY Awards for producing
Nicole Zuraitis' album How Love Begins, which won in the Best Jazz Vocal Album category.
Beyond his own work he's a tireless champion for jazz's continued relevance through his work as Artistic
Director of the Newport Jazz Festival, host of the NPR radio program Jazz Night in America, Artistic
Director of the music education organizations Jazz House Kids and Jazz Aspen, Artistic Advisor for the New Jersey Performing Arts Center and its TD
James Moody Jazz Festival, and Associate Artistic
Director for the
National Jazz Museum in Harlem.
He is a living example of the torch-passing tradition of jazz, having worked and apprenticed with genre icons like
Sonny Rollins, McCoy Tyner, Milt Jackson, Chick Corea, Freddie Hubbard, and Ray Brown, as well as giants of R&B, rock, hip-hop, and classical music, while sharing that priceless experience with new generations through his work as a bandleader (rising stars who've risen through the ranks of his ensembles include vibraphonist Warren Wolf, pianist Christian Sands, and drummer Ulysses Owens, Jr.) and as an educator.
In demand as both a performer and a composer, Meyer has formed a role in the music world unlike any other. He has won seven GRAMMY® Awards for his artistry, bridging the realms of bluegrass, classical and folk music in a fashion that appeals to broad audiences and connoisseurs alike. His expansive list of collaborators include many of the most acclaimed figures in contemporary music, including Joshua Bell, Hilary Hahn, Yo-Yo Ma, Jerry Douglas, Béla Fleck, Zakir Hussain, Sam Bush,
Stuart Duncan, Chris Thile, Mike Marshall, Mark O'Connor, and
Emanuel Ax.
Tracklist:
1. Green Slime
2. Barnyard Disturbance
3. Bebop, Of Course
4. Bass Duo #1
5. Solar
6. Canon
7. Philly Slop
8. Interlude #1
9. FRB 2DB
10. Bewitched, Bothered And Bewildered
11. Bass Duo #2
12. Lullaby For A Ladybug
13. Days Of Wine And Roses
14. Interlude #2
15. Tennessee Blues
Christian McBride Tour Dates:
Mar. 21-24 - Knoxville, TN - Big Ears Festival
Mar. 26 - Toronto, ON - Toronto Metropolitan University +
Mar. 29 - Phoenix, AZ - The Nash (with Kenny Barron and Lewis Nash)
April 4 - Fairfield, CT - SCU Community Theatre
April 5 - Reading, PA - Berks Jazz
April 6 - Homer, NY - Center for the Arts of Homer
April 7 - Arlington, MA - Regent Theatre
April 9 - Pittsburgh, PA - August Wilson African American Cultural Center
April 10-11 - Baltimore, MD - Keystone Korner
April 13 - Germantown, TN - Germantown Performing Arts Center
April 16 - Berlin, Germany -
Pierre Boulez Saal @
April 19 - Warsaw, Poland - Jassmine
April 21 - Vienna, Austria - Club Porgy & Bess
April 22 - Bologna, Italy - Sala Paradiso
April 23 - Torino, IT - Torino Jazz Festival
April 24 - Basel, Switzerland - Jazz Festival Basel
April 26 - Stockholm, Sweden - Stockholm Konserthuset
April 27 - Espoo, Finland - April Jazz
April 28 - Tallinn, Estonia - JazzKaar
May 3 - Durham, NH - Paul Creative Arts Center ^
May 7-12 - New York, NY - Blue Note
May 22 - Roanoke, VA - Shaftman Performance Hall ^
May 24 - St. Louis, MO - The Sheldon Concert Hall ^
May 25-26 - Cincinnati, OH - Caffe Vivace ^
June 15 - Los Angeles, CA - Hollywood Bowl Jazz Fest
June 20 - Aspen, CO - Rio Grande Park (McBride conducting the JAS Academy Big Band with Lisa Fischer)
June 22 - Aspen, CO -
Limelight Hotel (Christian McBride's Tribute to Ray Brown)
July 5-7 - East Sussex, UK - Love Supreme Festival
July 17 - London, UK - Wigmore Hall
Aug. 2-4 - Newport, RI - Newport Jazz Festival
Aug. 10 - Telluride, CO - Telluride Jazz Festival
+ Speaking event
@ with Jason Moran
^ Christian McBride & Inside Straight.
