Four-time GRAMMY®-winning jazz bassist Christian McBride can be likened to a
of a seasoned journeyman. Powered by a relentless energy and a boundless love of
swing, McBride’s path has described a continuous positive arc since his arrival on the
scene. With a career now blazing into its third decade, the Philadelphia native has
the music world today. Raised in a city steeped in soul, McBride moved to New York
in 1989 to pursue classical studies at the Juilliard School. There he was promptly
recruited to the road by saxophonist Bobby Watson. In 2000 the lessons of the
road came together in the formation of what would become his longest-running
project, the Christian McBride Band. In 2009 McBride began focusing this same
energy through a more traditional lens with the debut of his critically-acclaimed
Inside Straight quintet, and again with the Christian McBride Big Band, whose 2012
release The Good Feeling won the GRAMMY® for Best Large Ensemble Jazz Album.
As his career entered its third decade, McBride added the role of mentor, tapping
rising stars pianist Christian Sands and drummer Ulysses Owens, Jr. for the Christian
McBride Trio’s GRAMMY®-nominated album Out Here.
Brian Blade, the multi-talented young veteran, is already widely respected in the jazz
world as drummer/composer/leader of Brian Blade and The Fellowship Band, with
whom he has released three albums. He is also known as the drummer for many
heroes of the music world, including Daniel Lanois, Joni Mitchell, Bob Dylan, Wayne
Shorter, Seal, Bill Frisell and Emmylou Harris. Brian Blade was born on July 25, 1970
in Shreveport, Louisiana. During his childhood, Brian would hear Gospel music in his
everyday life, as well as the music of Al Green, Stevie Wonder, Earth, Wind and Fire,
and the Staple Singers. In elementary school, his music appreciation teacher, Lucy
Bond, introduced her students to the music of Maurice Ravel and in this class, Brian
would play the recorder and various melodic percussion instruments associated
Quartet with Danilo Perez and John Patitucci. His 2009 album Mama Rosa marked
deeply rooted in a rich vein of personal experience. "All That Was Yesterday", "You'll
Always Be My Baby" and "Nature's Law" show Blade to be a soulful and expressive
vocalist and a songwriter capable of rendering evocative stories that resonate with
insight and empathy. "Revealing more of ourselves is always daunting," says Blade,
"but I feel like I need to keep challenging myself and peeling away layers to get to the
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