Christian McBride
MY FAVORITE THINGS
Christian McBride
With Sci-Fi Christian McBride, the most gifted bassist of his generation, has aligned his obsessions with jazz's past and future. The result is his most satisfying recording to date. The super bassist spoke with B&N.com's Ted Panken about recorded inspirations and diversions.
Barnes & Noble.com: You're a connoisseur of the '70s, as many of us know, and Sci-Fi reflects some of the music of the period that made a big impact on you.
Christian McBride: Let me say that I became a connoisseur of the '70s by accident. I think the one thing I would never want to adapt is being an "old school" kind of guy. I use my knowledge of the '60s and '70s to make some new stuff. So many cats of my generation are known as throwbacks. And even though I know that's a compliment, my main priority is not to focus on what happened before, but to kind of use it as fuel to make some new stuff.
Barnes & Noble.com: Who were some of the performers from that period who turned you around when you were coming up?
CM: I'd have to say Earth, Wind & Fire with Maurice White.
Barnes & Noble.com: Why?
CM: I think Earth, Wind & Fire more than any other band of their generation was able to successfully combine lots of different elements from other cultures. They used a lot of jazz, they used a lot of African music and instruments.I always tend to like transition albums, and I think Open Your Eyes was their transition record between being one of the hottest underground R&B bands of the era to becoming the most successful R&B band of the era. That's probably one of my favorite records from that time.
Barnes & Noble.com: What other R&B artists?
CM: If there's one thing I could never deny, it's being a James Brown aficionado. But if I had to pick one record, I would probably pick The Big Payback. Revolution Of The Mind: Live At The Apollo, Vol.III would be the second record. James Brown at the Apollo is always an event. That record was the beginning of his '70s era. Fred Wesley had taken over as musical director, and it was ushering in a new era.
Barnes & Noble.com: Any jazz from that time?
CM: I would pick Weather Report's Heavy Weather, their most popular record. There wasn't one high school big band in the whole country who didn't play "Birdland." If you were a part of some school big band, you had "Birdland" in your book. So that holds a lot of personal memories of me.I would also have to say Jaco Pastorius, his first solo album. Obviously because of the mastery of his instrument on that record.It's funny to hear musicians who were around when that record came out say, "Man, Christian, you just don't know, man. When Jaco came out with that solo record, there were a whole lot of electric bass players really screwed up! They just didn't know what to do." Something about the energy in that record I kind of figured out, even at that young age.
Barnes & Noble.com: Name some bassists who defined and formed your the groundwork of your approach to the acoustic bass, and some favorite albums they played on.
CM: The first record I heard that Ron Carter played on that showed me how much of a genius he was probably was Miles Smiles or My Funny Valentine. He has showed me more than anybody else how much power the bass has in any band. As much as people always talk about Wayne (Shorter), Herbie (Hancock), and Tony (Williams), it always seems like Ron is the last guy mentioned in the band -- but the band would not have sounded the same without Ron. They leaned on Ron a lot.
Barnes & Noble.com: How's about Paul Chambers?
CM: That's easy. The first record I heard Paul Chambers on was Kind of Blue. Just the overall feeling of the way he walked, his pulse, the combination of his sound and his feeling, particularly his sound. I was 11 years, and I'm thinking, "Wow, this guy has to be one of the greatest bass players in the world." I late heard him on a bunch of Blue Note records, like John Coltrane's Blue Train and Kenny Dorham's Whistle Stop, Sonny Clark's Sonny's Crib. There's so many records I heard Paul Chambers on after that, but it all started with Kind Of Blue.
Barnes & Noble.com: You play with Ray Brown in the Super Bass band.
CM: The first record I heard Ray Brown play on was a record he had just made in 1984, and it was called The Red Hot Ray Brown Trio Live with Gene Harris and Mickey Roker. I just remember thinking I'd never heard anyone swing that hard before. I had never heard a three-piece group that swung that hard. Of course, Ray was like the jet fuel in the band! Just the overall drive of his bass. To me it felt a lot like R&B.I felt the same kind of drive on that record that I felt on a Motown or James Brown record. Later on I worked backwards and heard all the records he made with Oscar Peterson. Probably the first Peterson album I heard with Ray on it that caught my attention was Night Train.I was able to figure that out at a young age, that obviously he was pretty much come close to mastering his instrument.
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