Q&A: (Christian McBride)

Christian McBride: He'll play anything whether it's funk, R&B, rock or jazz. He does it all and his music is a superb manifestation of a fondness for what Duke Ellington once referred to as, "good music," since "there's good music and there's the other kind."

Noted among most esteemed jazz critics as one of the best acoustic bass players around today, McBride has a tone that comes from having some of the softest, thickest and most sensitive fingers in the business.

He's worked with everyone from classical artist Kathleen Battle and R&B soul guru D'Angelo to pop icons Carly Simon and Sting to jazz legends like pianist Chick Corea and guitarist Pat Metheny, along with pianist Diana Krall.

He is a member of a younger jazz generation - Joshua Redman, Norah Jones, Branford Marsalis, Nicholas Payton, Kenny Garrett, Roy Hargrove and Brad Mehldau - that unites the improvisational and emotional spirit of America's last great art form with their respective interpretations of various genres - folk, soul, rock, funk, R&B and hip hop - that maintain equally emotional inspiration and innovative insight as its musical partner in crime: jazz.

After a year at New York City's Julliard School on a partial scholarship, McBride left the prestigious performing arts university, like so many of his contemporaries, for life on the touring road and joined forces with trumpeter Roy Hargrove. In 1989, saxophonist Bobby Watson introduced the then-17-year-old to jazz. As a young adult, McBride had not only the talent, but also the resources to pursue a career as a bassist being that his father and uncle were both working bass players. He began playing electric bass at the age of 9 and later met famed trumpeter Wynton Marsalis at 14 who acted as a mentor.

A native of Philadelphia, McBride joined renowned trumpeter Freddie Hubbard's band in 1990 and later played with the Benny Green trio. In 1992, Rolling Stone magazine named him the hot jazz artist of the year.

In the mid-1990s, McBride received a commission from Jazz at Lincoln Center to compose an original piece he entitled "Bluesin' in Alphabet City." He later played the work with Marsalis and the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra as a special guest.

McBride recorded his sophomore work "Number Two Express" with Corea and drummer Jack DeJohnette, both of whom are former band mates of Miles Davis. It was the first time the two musicians had recorded together in more than 20 years. Since then, McBride has recorded several more albums, including "A Family Affair" in 1998, and his most recent, "Vertical Vision" on Warner Bros. Records.

With influences ranging from Jimi Hendrix, James Brown and Sly and the Family Stone to Miles Davis, Weather Report and Frank Sinatra, McBride has been able to evade the stylistic pigeonholes common to artists of every genre over the years which he says has been, "The most fun and challenging part of my career."

The Beach Reporter recently sat down with McBride and talked about everything from his recent album to recording with Sting to writing lyrics.

The Beach Reporter: Over the years, you've played on a lot of different records and because of that it seems as though you've kind of been able to expand and refine your playing that really encompasses many different styles. You've also been able to adapt to many different musical genres. So when it came time to making your own record like 'Vertical Vision,' is it hard to develop a grounding focus in presenting your own music because essentially anything goes?

It takes a while to finally get comfortable on settling on a concept with my own music. I've always had a vision in mind from the time I started touring with my own band in 1995. I always liked my music to sit in a stylistic middle ground in that it's very hard to discern what it is and so it seems neutral in a sense. It's influenced by so many different things. It has its own sound but you don't exactly know what it is. That's why I love groups like Weather Report and musicians like Salif Keita. They just have these sounds where you can identify with the sound but you can't call it anything and I've always wanted to have my music be like that.
With all of these artists you have recorded with in the past, there is now a collection of work that almost documents your progress as a bass player. Are there any recordings that stand out not so much in a technical sense but more as indicators of major emotional musical turning points in your life?

Yeah, there was a record I did with Benny Carter, which really means a lot to me. It's always meant a lot to me because at the time, Benny was 85 and I was 20, and I was so honored that such a living legend would ask me to play on his recording. It was the ultimate honor. I really felt like working with Benny was somewhat of an arrival for me. It was a confirmation that I was now in it. I wasn't just like this young hotshot who was trying to get a few gigs on the scene. I'm like, "Wow, I'm playing with Benny Carter, I must be doing something right." Another recording session that was completely surreal because I was playing with some more of my heroes from another era of jazz was when I did a record with Joe Henderson, and on that record was Herbie Hancock and Jack DeJohnette. One of my desert island albums is a Joe Henderson record called "Power to the People." It features Herbie and Jack and Ron Carter's playing bass on that record, so when I did this record with Joe in 1994, I just remember going into the studio - each guy individually is already a jazz legend in their own right - thinking "I don't belong here. I think you guys really meant to call Ron Carter. Oh I get it, Ron was unavailable, so you called me. OK, I got it." I've been fortunate to be on some great records. Another experience was on Sting's new recording since it was my first time being a part of a project by a true pop icon.

Speaking of Sting, I watched the documentary 'All This Time' and you mention that you always like to show up to gigs and rehearsals really prepared. I wanted to know, are you preparing in ways other than learning the music? Are you preparing as a listener, trying to figure out what a particular artist is about through their music?

Yes, a little bit of both. I think it's a challenge for musicians to be able to listen to something with just a listener's ear. I like to listen to music for the sake of enjoyment as an average listener would, just to kind of enjoy the overall vibe and the overall statement of what it is. But then once I do that, then I want to start to get in the middle of it and dissect it, using my musician ears and my musician reactions and instincts. I like to be very thorough when I play with someone else, especially if it's going to be a recording or if I'm going to be in somebody's band. I really like to take the time and learn what's going on so I don't compromise the music.

On your album 'A Family Affair,' you are writing lyrics as well as music. How would you compare the two different processes?

Because I'm not a very experienced lyricist, I won't speak on that from the lyricist side. But I will say, I've always liked to have my hands in a whole lot of different things. The term "complete musician" is something that people use very loosely and I've always felt that I've wanted to be a complete musician. That meant playing, performing, composing, arranging and writing lyrics for the whole gamut -- jazz, pop, R&B, classical, reggae, funk. I really want to be a part of all of it, so when I did "A Family Affair" I put this challenge on myself. I wanted to have a few singers on the album singing my own songs. I was really proud of both of the songs that have lyrics.

I think someone who plays the upright bass obviously really has to fine-tine their sense of pitch. I think this is usually true for any good musician, but I think especially true for good musicians who play instruments like the trumpet or the upright bass because with the latter, there is no fret board.

You're absolutely right. I had a discussion with some students about this recently. It's very difficult to play the acoustic bass in tune and it has been a problem. It's been an issue with some bass players you've heard on records for years. They stay in a certain position because they know if they get out of that position, it's going to start getting a little questionable. I think for me, I've always been really sensitive to that because I personally hate playing out of tune. I think what amazes me most of all is I know a lot of bass players who play out of tune and they think it's OK. As long as it's somewhere in the ballpark of what they meant to play, then it's all right and that just won't do, that's not correct. I think a bass player should be as in tune as a piano or a saxophone. There is no reason why it can't. Sure it might take a little more work and time in learning how to develop the skill so the intonation is right on the money with a bass, but hey, it's the instrument you chose so you've got to play it the right way.

Were there other things you did to develop your sense of pitch other than just playing?

Well, there's a certain theory, a certain concept like hand positions that kind of work with any bass. First of all, all basses are different. If you play two different basses, both of those basses are going to have different spacing in between the notes. So, one, it helps if you play the same instrument consistently. But, two, it helps that you can recognize when you are playing out of tune. If you recognize the fact you are playing out of tune, then the goal is to get it in tune and not just brush it off and think, 'I'll get it next time.'

With the acoustic compared to the electric, most people think that it's easier to go from the acoustic to electric. Do you think this is true?

Well, the electric bass is certainly a hell of a lot easier to play in tune. Not the electric fretless bass, though, that' s another animal. Both instruments have their own personality. It's very difficult, I think to jump back and forth from the acoustic bass to the electric bass is difficult in general because they are so different. They serve the same musical function, but the execution in getting a note from the instruments is different.

How would you describe your relationship with the electric and acoustic?

I think it's actually a bigger jump to go from the electric to the acoustic because the electric is a lot smaller - you have frets, you know where all the notes are, you have volume control. On the acoustic bass, you're standing up, you have no frets, no volume control and you have to put more energy to get sound out of it. It's a completely different instrument. I also think that if electric bass players don't ever touch an acoustic bass, they're kind of missing out on something. The acoustic bass is kind of like Mother Earth with the feel and vibration of the wood, the natural sound of that instrument is unsurpassed; it's pure beauty. The strings against the wood is the most beautiful sound, I think.

On the album 'Number Two Express,' you're able to bring together Jack DeJohnette and Chick Corea, both of whom played together in the 1970s, so that must have been a great reunion of sorts?

Yeah. Miles Davis' two most legendary groups were the band with John Coltrane, Red Garland (piano), Paul Chambers (bass) and Philly Joe Jones (drums); and the second, which is one of the most revered bands in the history of jazz, with Wayne Shorter (saxophone), Herbie Hancock, Ron Carter (bass) and Tony Williams (drums). But among many musicians, I think everybody's favorite band of Miles' that really never got the credit it deserved was the band with Wayne, Chick (piano), Dave Holland (bass) and Jack (drums). That band was absolutely on fire. Unfortunately, they weren't as prolific in the studio as the other bands were, but in recent years there have been some bootleg recordings and Columbia has found some stuff in the vault. When I did this record, it was kind of my dream to play with those two guys together and little did I know, they hadn't recorded together in 20 years.

Which artists who don't play the bass have affected you?

Actually, my biggest influences are non-bass players. My biggest influences on the bass are Ray Brown, Ron Carter, Jaco Pastorius and Paul Chambers. Those are the four immediate names that come to mind. My other influences are Freddie Hubbard (trumpet), Joe Henderson (saxophone), Wayne Shorter, McCoy Tyner (piano), Herbie Hancock, Bobby Hutcherson (vibes), Frank Sinatra and Nat King Cole. These people influenced me because they were and are original, but they were and are also very musical. When you talk about jazz sometimes, people always want to get into a conversation about innovation: "Oh, well, it's not new, we've heard this before. The younger generation is just copying." But the fact is, all these people I just named, while they were innovators they were also very musical. It was innovation that was listenable and I think too many times nowadays the closest thing to being innovative isn't listenable.

What is it about someone like Frank Sinatra?

He was always about the basics. He wasn't into trying to fool people. He sang songs very simply and as beautifully as possible. There was always a deep beauty and simplicity in his voice, and a lot of people tend to forget that, particularly, a lot of vocalists nowadays, which is why I hate listening to pop music. Nobody sings anymore. It's all about these vocal backflips and summersaults. Nobody knows how to sing a note. Haven't these people ever heard of Ella Fitzgerald or Sarah Vaughn or Helen Humes or Tony Bennett?

In your latest work, 'Vertical Vision,' what do you think epitomizes this album?

I think it's all about the band. It's not necessarily about me per se, or my own personal journey or my own songwriting or playing. The concept behind the album was to capture the energy of the band. This is the first band I've had where I feel like everybody is on the same page. Everything today has to be hinged on some kind of concept. It has to be a concept record - what's your focus? What's your direction? My focus and direction were the guys. I really feel like we have such an energy that it didn't matter what the repertoire was.

What are some of your favorite bass lines?

I think the bass line to James Brown's "Lickin' Stick" is one of the greatest of all times, and James Brown's "Soul Power;" both were played by Bootsy Collins. Anything James Jamison played on those old Motown records. The stuff that Verdine White did with Earth, Wind and Fire, particularly "Mighty, Mighty." You know what one of my favorite bass lines is? (laughs) Remember the theme song to "Night Court"? My buddy Jack Elliot wrote it and I don't know who played bass on it, but it's a really funky bass line. Also, a lot of that stuff Chuck Rainey played on those old Quincy Jones records. Almost anything Larry Graham played with Sly and the Family Stone. His bass playing almost changed the way the bass was played forever because he was arguably the first person to slap an electric bass.