Christian McBride's Two Bass Hits - Bob Stewart

Bassist Christian McBride birthed his acoustic group a few years ago by necessity of desiring a return to the hallowed Village Vanguard in New York. His then current electric band was not deemed appropriate by club owner Lorraine Gordon ("You can come back, Christian, but not with that rock 'n' roll band.") Thusly, Inside Straight was born and then named at their seminal gig at the Monterey Jazz Festival by the fans in attendance. The three-time Grammy Award-winner brings back another installment of this group on the new CD, "People Music." This sojourn is augmented by a couple youngsters on the rise-Ulysses Owens, Jr. and Christian Sands, who play on two tracks-the remainder handled with the usual aplomb my Messrs. Steve Wilson, Warren Wolf, Peter Martin and Carl Allen.

McBride also has a part on the new disc from Michael Dease, "Coming Home." As he writes in the liner notes, Dease's "staggering command of the trombone has rightfully made him the in-demand player that he is today." The trombonist has played in a host of great big bands over the years, including those of Illinois Jacquet, Jimmy Heath, Charles Tolliver, and Wayne Shorter. For his fourth CD as a leader, he's joined by reedmen Steve Wilson and Eric Alexander and pianist Renee Rosnes, while McBride is joined in the rhythm section by his drummer from Inside Straight, Ulysses Owens, Jr. The disc features five inventive Dease originals complemented by rare covers of songs by Oscar Peterson, Freddie Hubbard and Duke Ellington.

Christian Rocks!

KCCK hosted superstar Bassist Christian McBride over the weekend, when he came to Cedar Rapids for a residency and performance at Kirkwood. Christian was delightful, chatting in-studio with Bob Stewart for nearly an hour. Listen to that interview here.

The concert was outstanding, as Christian led the Kirkwood Jazz Ensemble and CR Jazz through tunes by Dizzy Gillespie, Horace Silver and even an original chart by Cedar Rapids' own Denny Redmond. Christian also "walked the tightrope," as he called it, playing one duet with piano using his bow.

Another highlight was Coe Senior and Kirkwood jazz alum Rene Ybarra stepping out with CR Jazz and just ripping up "A Night in Tunisia" with a soaring lead and torrid solos.

Kirkwood Media Services recorded the concert. It will be broadcast several times on the Kirkwood Channel, the first being May 12 at 10pm. Ch. 11 in most of Eastern Iowa. Check the program schedule here. KCCK will also feature the concert in a future Wednesday Special.