October 28, 2025 • 39 mins
Nine-time Grammy winner Christian McBride says life is jazz—part preparation, part improvisation, and pure rhythm. In this conversation, the bassist, composer, and longtime NJPAC Jazz Advisor shows how listening deeply, reacting honestly, and staying curious keep his music (and life) in time. We discuss the surprising bass that travels the world with him, the art of arranging compositions for singers, and the balance between leading big bands and blending in with small ensembles.
McBride shares the making of his new album, Without Further Ado, Vol. 1—a project that captures live energy across studios in New York, L.A., and London—and previews this year’s TD James Moody Jazz Festival. Get tickets to see Christian McBride's Big Band on November 21st, featuring Andra Day, José James, Ledisi, and more.
It’s a masterclass in rhythm, resilience, and what it really means to find your groove.
Book your jazz vacation cruise with Christian at McBridesWorldatSea.com
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_00 (00:06):
Hey, what's good?
SPEAKER_02 (00:08):
The man of the hour.
The legend, Mr.
McBride.
SPEAKER_00 (00:12):
I don't know about all that.
SPEAKER_02 (00:14):
Oh, yeah, I mean I'm pretty sure.
SPEAKER_00 (00:16):
It's a pleasure.
SPEAKER_02 (00:17):
You are a nine-time Grammy winner.
It was fun before interviewingyou for both of us to go and
listen to music from all of yourdifferent projects and big band
and small groups.
And it was really fun to hearall the different collaborations
that you've done.
SPEAKER_00 (00:33):
Thank you.
I hope you enjoyed it at leastmost of what you heard.
SPEAKER_03 (00:39):
All of it.
All of it.
I was like trying to get to thebottom of how I think you have
done 16 albums and you've haddone about 300 plus.
Uh, you were a side man on it.
How we can't get through it all,but everything that we've heard
is incredible.
So I can't believe how much youhave done.
One thing I want to point outthough is I'm a rookie.
(00:59):
I've paid the bass clarinet likefor two years in junior high
school.
So when I was watching the tinydust concert online, your bass
clarinet or clo clarinet playerstood out to me.
I was like, oh, he's so good.
Yes, I agree.
But Rachel is a classicalviolinist.
SPEAKER_02 (01:18):
Played Suzuki method since I was three and a half.
Well, that's how I was trained.
SPEAKER_00 (01:22):
Amazing have a great ear.
SPEAKER_02 (01:24):
I would say though, the bummer about that was, you
know, once I got to college andplayed, I played in the symphony
there for a year.
And then I said, I I reallydon't want to do this anymore.
Classical.
So I had friends who were doinguh bands.
So I joined bands.
They would have to play it forme what they wanted me to play,
play it on the keyboard, andthen I'd play it fine for them.
(01:47):
But I was not great at likeplaying the key of C.
Or I was like, no, that my braincan't do that on the fly.
SPEAKER_00 (01:54):
It's totally fine because the real truth is you
can't get better at anythingunless you practice, no matter
what endeavor it is.
You know?
SPEAKER_03 (02:05):
That's so true.
On every little thing, I was ata wedding this weekend and I saw
this woman across the way thatwasn't talking to anyone.
And I went over there and Italked to her and I told her
that I I used to be like thelike her.
And I said, But ever since westarted doing this podcast over
we're over like almost 150episodes, you have worked the
muscle of talking to people.
(02:25):
The conversation might stall,but you know how to go to the
next level.
And I'm imagining that that'skind of the art form in some way
with everything, such as withmusic, I would assume.
SPEAKER_00 (02:36):
Absolutely.
That's correct.
SPEAKER_03 (02:38):
It's like a little bit of a jazz event, you know,
it's like uh improv improvising.
SPEAKER_00 (02:42):
Well, I mean, all of life is improvisation.
I mean, you don't really knowwhat you're gonna do.
I mean, you can plan, butsomething will happen where
you'll have to react a certainway.
And how you react is based uponwhat you've studied, what you've
learned, what you've practiced,you know.
Therefore, your reaction will bemore informed, more educated.
(03:06):
So I like to say life in generalis jazz.
SPEAKER_03 (03:10):
Yeah, I like it.
It is that makes sense to me.
Well, that's a ca kind of acurious thing.
I mean, we want to get into yourbackground, but uh since you
said that, I mean, I know thatyou do improv improvise, but do
you think ahead?
Do you plan ahead when you'replaying?
SPEAKER_00 (03:24):
Well, you have to, because when you are playing a
song and you're improvising,you're improvising within a
structure that involves certainchords, a certain number of
bars, you know.
So it's not just free form, playwhatever you want.
You're playing something basedon the form, the structure, and
(03:45):
the chords.
You know, in that sense, yes,you most certainly have to think
ahead.
SPEAKER_03 (03:50):
Right.
It's like a conversation, justlike, for example, this podcast.
We kind of have a structure.
We know we're gonna talk about afew things.
We know the overarching conceptis that we're gonna talk about
some New Jersey, we're gonnatalk about your your background,
we're gonna talk about yourjourney and you know, what
you're doing next.
It because it's kind of all itis a conversation jazz, right?
SPEAKER_00 (04:12):
That's correct.
SPEAKER_02 (04:13):
Yeah, yeah.
Yeah.
You also do arranging andcomposing, and we've been
listening to the big band albumthat's out now.
That's without further ado, partone.
It's so good.
When you're arranging certainthings that have a vocalist, do
you feel you're looking at thatand arranging differently than
when you don't have a vocalist,or are you treating horns like a
(04:35):
vocalist because they have amelody?
SPEAKER_00 (04:37):
Well, uh, with vocalists, it's very important
for that vocalist to feelcomfortable.
I know a lot of arrangers whofeel that their arrangement is
the most important thing.
Like it is important for thevocalist to learn the
arrangement of that person.
I'm the other way around.
(04:58):
I want my arrangement to fit thevocalist.
So I usually talk to anyone I'mwriting for.
It's like, hey, what kind ofvibe are you looking for?
You know, how can my arrangementserve you?
Because for me, it's sort of ispractical.
If the vocalist knows that thearranger wants to serve them,
(05:18):
they'll trust me and they'llthey'll want to work with me
again and again and again.
Absolutely.
Because they know that I'lllisten.
You know?
SPEAKER_02 (05:27):
You'll listen, they'll feel comfortable with
you.
SPEAKER_00 (05:30):
That's right.
Now, I I think with uh with hornplayers, all of this varies.
You know, you you have umcertain horn players who do like
a particular thing played behindthem, uh, some are more
freewheeling.
Same thing with vocalists.
Uh I do find that most of thetime vocalists like to have a
(05:50):
very specific thing behind themso they can feel comfortable so
they can interpret the song theway they want to interpret it.
But then you have somebody likeDiane Reeves, who is such a
master of what she does.
She won't say this, but hertalent says, You can do whatever
you want behind me.
SPEAKER_02 (06:09):
I got this.
SPEAKER_00 (06:10):
I can hear it.
I got this.
You can't stump me.
And like she's one of the onlyvocalists I know who's who's
that fearless and who's thatwho's that capable.
SPEAKER_02 (06:20):
I listened to that song multiple times.
I was like, oof, she takes youplaces.
SPEAKER_03 (06:25):
Yes, she's like, she does.
Well, that whole album is it, Iwas telling Rachel, it's like it
it's a throwback, so much likeas a lot of jazz is, but you
really it transports you back intime, but in a fresh way.
And I was saying that for some alot of people, you know, there's
jazz periods of their life thatthey really got immersed in jazz
(06:46):
and they were like listening to,you know, all the greats,
mingas, you know, uh Coltrane,everything, you know, Dexter
Gordon, whatever it may be, theywere just immersed in it.
And then it kind of a seasonpasses, right?
That you're not maybe listeningto it as much as you used to.
And then when I listened to thisalbum, all of a sudden I was
like, you know, I forgot, youknow, I forgot, and bring it
(07:09):
back, bring it back.
And it really had that in afresh way.
SPEAKER_00 (07:12):
Well, thank you.
Well, it's it it took over twoyears in total to make the
album.
As you may have noticed, thealbum is called Um, Without
Further Ado, Volume One.
SPEAKER_02 (07:23):
Yes, yes.
SPEAKER_00 (07:24):
Which would imply that there's a volume two.
So we actually wound uprecording both volumes over that
two plus year span.
When you start trying to get abunch of vocalists who live in
various different places, uhscheduling can be an absolute
nightmare.
So uh some of the vocalists werelive with us in the studio in
(07:47):
New York, some overdubbed theirparts in LA and England, and we
had to send the tracks here andsend them there, and you know,
so the origin story of how thisrecord came about was uh
directly related to myinvolvement with NJPack.
SPEAKER_03 (08:02):
We interviewed the president of NJPack recently,
was it he talked about you?
SPEAKER_00 (08:06):
Oh, John is John is my man.
SPEAKER_03 (08:08):
Yeah, he said he just saw you and you're a little
kid in Philly.
SPEAKER_00 (08:12):
That's correct.
SPEAKER_03 (08:13):
He said, Who's that guy up there?
You're a prodigy.
SPEAKER_00 (08:17):
I'm uh I'm grateful for his friendship and and to
have known him for more thanhalf of my life.
When he became the CEO of NJPack, he immediately called me
and said, uh, I would like ajazz advisor here.
Uh-huh.
And uh I think you're the guyfor that role.
So since then, for our annualgala, my big band serves as the
(08:41):
house band.
And we've invited all of theseincredible vocalists to come and
perform either at the gala orone of the TD James Moody Jazz
Festival concerts.
So since 2012, I've had to writenumerous big band arrangements
for all of these singers thatare coming with the big band.
Oh but the flip side of that isthat these arrangements only get
(09:06):
played once.
We play them at the gallery andthat's it, you know.
And so I just noticed that Ijust kept this growing stack of
music that I had written throughthe years for these NJ Pack
gallons, and I thought, it'sreally a shame that these are
going to waste, you know.
SPEAKER_02 (09:24):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (09:24):
Uh I should record these.
And so that that's what you hearmostly.
SPEAKER_03 (09:29):
Oh, that's so great.
SPEAKER_00 (09:31):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (09:31):
What a good origin story.
At the festival that's comingup, the the Moody Festival, that
you're going to be having your17 piece band there.
Is that correct?
With special guests singing, areyou going to be singing off of
this album or are you going tobe doing more new arrangements?
SPEAKER_00 (09:48):
Well, uh uh a little bit of both.
So the the special guest thatwill be with my band this year,
forgive me for not knowing thedate, I think it's November
21st.
SPEAKER_02 (09:58):
It's November 21st.
SPEAKER_00 (09:59):
Thank you.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_02 (10:00):
You're welcome.
SPEAKER_00 (10:02):
Uh the special guest will be Andrew Day, Jose James,
and Leticy.
Jose James, of course, is on thenew album.
He sings.
So I'm sure we're going to bedoing that.
Umrea, we we've worked togetherin the past, but I haven't
written any big bandarrangements for her.
(10:22):
So this is going to be uh areally fun maiden voyage for the
both of us.
SPEAKER_03 (10:27):
No, she's powerhouse.
SPEAKER_00 (10:29):
She's got a lot of fun.
Yeah.
Now, Let us see, even thoughshe's not on my new album, I'm
on her new album, which is a bigband record.
It's a tribute to DinahWashington.
And uh her album was releasedtwo weeks after mine.
And so uh I produced it, Iarranged it, I did all of the
orchestrations.
(10:50):
So we're going to be playingsome music from her new album,
which I arranged.
So uh and I I can't wait forthat also.
SPEAKER_03 (10:58):
That'll be a blast.
I mean, 17 people, 17, you know,I'm sure, and more are involved
in this.
That's a big uh group to try tocoordinate.
SPEAKER_00 (11:07):
It must be my my band members live in New York.
And and and you know, we've beenplaying together now for a good
15 years almost.
Uh the the core of the band hasbeen together for 15 years.
So we know each other extremelywell.
SPEAKER_02 (11:23):
So you probably have a shorthand.
I I know that just playing withmy band over the years, uh, my
friend Deb is the one who sortof runs it.
She plays piano, she sings, andshe plays guitar.
She'll just look at me and I'llbe like, oh, I know what I mean.
SPEAKER_00 (11:36):
You know what that means.
SPEAKER_02 (11:37):
I know, I know.
I get to sweat.
I start sweating.
I'm like, oh, okay, okay, giveme another shot.
Well, you know, that'sinteresting.
Is Deb considered the lead ofthe band?
Is she like the kind of the thedirector?
Oh, yeah, because she's amusical genius.
Like she can hear, we'll beplaying a rock song, and and she
always adds violin in and shetotally arranges everything.
The bassist or guitarist willplay one note that is just not
(12:00):
right, and she'll say, Stop, youplay that line again.
And it she's right every time.
She she hears it.
SPEAKER_03 (12:06):
Well, that's the thing though, is it's usually
the sing the lead singer orsomebody that's the head of the
band, and you're the bassist,and you're you're the head that
you're usually kind of in not.
How did that come about?
How did you rise to the placewhere you are now the you are
the heartbeat, you are theconductor of the bands?
SPEAKER_00 (12:26):
Well, I gotta tell you, the bass player and the
drummer have always been therulers of the band.
Don't let anyone ever tell youany different.
SPEAKER_02 (12:35):
It's very true.
Because if we're not followingthe bass line or the drums,
we're off and it's over.
SPEAKER_03 (12:40):
So did everybody look to you in the in in the
early uh days, look back at you,go, are we doing this right?
SPEAKER_00 (12:52):
They're the heartbeat.
They're they're the they're theengine, you know.
Yeah.
And so for any music to besuccessful, you need the bass
and the drums to be oneinstrument.
Um so there's a lot of pressureon the bass and the drums, but
at the same token, I think thatmost band leaders should be they
it would be smart for them to bekind to the bass player and the
(13:15):
drummer.
Because we can we could easilysabotage it if we want to.
SPEAKER_02 (13:19):
Oh, we've had the sabotage for fun when the um
drummer decides that he's in anexcellent mood and just super
happy and all of a sudden playsa little bit too fast and we're
all just trying to keep up.
SPEAKER_00 (13:30):
That can happen, you know.
And then you get those bandleaders, somebody like uh Betty
Carter, rest her soul, you know,she was she was relentless.
She was always all over therhythm section.
Yeah.
Come on, fellas.
You know, you have to follow herheel.
That's where she wanted thetime, you know.
I I think just for me, there's anotion that it's rare that the
(13:54):
bass player is the band leader,but uh there's always been a lot
of great bass playing bandleaders.
You know, you mentioned CharlesMingus earlier, probably the
most popular one.
But you've had Ray Brown, you'vehad Jaco Pastores, you've had
Marcus Miller, Stanley Clark,who's coming to T.
D.
James Moody Festival this year.
All kinds of great bass playingband leaders.
(14:16):
So uh I'm just one of many, youknow.
SPEAKER_02 (14:20):
You grew up in a musical family, right?
I mean, you're you're tell usabout that.
You have bass players in yourfamily.
SPEAKER_00 (14:27):
Yep, my dad and my great uncle.
So uh I'm in the familybusiness.
SPEAKER_02 (14:31):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (14:32):
I started playing the electric bass when I was
nine and started playing theupright bass when I was eleven.
SPEAKER_02 (14:38):
Did you ever like rebel and want to say, No, I
don't want the bass, I wantsomething else, or you know, you
just loved it.
SPEAKER_00 (14:45):
I mean, what when I got to middle school and had to
play in the school orchestra, Iironically did not pick the
double bass.
I wanted to try the trombonebecause my musical hero already
was James Brown, and some of myfavorite moments on James
Brown's records were thetrombone solos of Fred Wesley.
(15:06):
Well, I wanted to try to playtrombone like Fred Wesley.
Uh, but when it became painfullyobvious rather quickly that I
had no talent for the trombone,uh, the brass instructor said,
Well, you play the electricbass, right?
I said, Yes.
He said, Well, why don't whydon't you play the upright bass?
I went, uh, I don't know, Idon't want to play the upright
(15:27):
bass.
He says, Well, you know, g giveme the trombone.
You should try the you shouldtry the bass.
You know.
So uh he nicely coaxed thetrombone out of my hand, and I
kind of, you know, sulking, wentinto the bass room, and then it
it took a it took a while, butit grew on me and I I came to
(15:47):
love it.
SPEAKER_02 (15:48):
Oh, that's it's so great to hear that because it's
always so interesting when youmeet someone so talented at an
instrument and you wonder, youknow, were they always just
attached to that instrument?
Did they try anything else?
Like how did this happen whereit's like you meet your soulmate
of an instrument and and why whythat one?
Right.
You know?
It wasn't love at first sight.
SPEAKER_00 (16:10):
Not really.
Yeah, you know, but you know,because I thought the electric
bass was the coolest instrumentin the world, you know, just
playing the bass guitar, youknow.
SPEAKER_01 (16:20):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (16:20):
I thought one day I would get a gig with James Brown
or Michael Jackson or somebodylike that.
You know.
Um and you can't do that with anupright bass, you know.
So uh when I started playing theupright bass, you know, the like
I said, it it it took a minute,but then my great uncle said,
uh, well, now that you'replaying the upright bass, I got
(16:41):
something for you.
So I went over to his his houseand uh he had a big, huge stack
of jazz albums waiting for me.
Oh and uh, you know, I was 11years old, so my initial
reaction was kind of like, ohno.
SPEAKER_03 (16:56):
Well, that's true.
You're like, why do I have this?
This is gonna be intense.
It's like homework here.
SPEAKER_00 (17:01):
I gotta look at the jazz albums.
Oh, man.
You know, but the way hepresented it to me, uh, I was
deeply in love with jazz by theend of that visit.
And I had always associated,probably because of him, I had
always associated the uprightbass with jazz.
And then I realized after thatvisit that not only was jazz
(17:25):
really good music, but it wasreally cool.
You know, like because my greatuncle is cool, you know, like
everything about him, the way hewalks, the way he talks, his his
mannerisms, and I just thought,well, if jazz makes him that
cool, then I want to be cooltoo.
SPEAKER_02 (17:42):
Yeah.
It is cool.
It's like a random questionabout the the instrument because
I I obviously I played inorchestras growing up for so
long.
And it's such a massive, likephysically big instrument.
And you travel so much and youplay everywhere.
Do you bring your bass with youeverywhere?
Or do you have like a favoritebow that you bring instead that
you'll borrow other people'sbases?
SPEAKER_00 (18:04):
What I use now is it's called a uh flyaway bass.
Because of the way traveling hasbeen over the last uh, I would
say, particularly in the last 15years, the restrictions that
keep coming up on like what youcan bring and what you can't,
they just made it virtuallyimpossible for musicians to
(18:26):
travel with their owninstruments anymore.
Uh I can remember my very firsttour in 1990.
I mean, you know, our drummerbrought his entire six-piece
drum kit, two cases.
I had my bass in one of the big,you know, fiberglass coffins
that we used to pull.
And uh our saxophone player hadhis alto saxophone, a soprano
(18:49):
saxophone.
Like we probably had 20 piecesof luggage between the two of
us.
Right.
SPEAKER_02 (18:56):
Right, right.
SPEAKER_00 (18:56):
And uh you can't do that now, obviously.
You know, so there was a companyin California uh called Lemur,
like like the animal Lemur, andthey started making bases that
come apart.
SPEAKER_02 (19:09):
I can't even imagine this.
SPEAKER_00 (19:12):
It's an engineering miracle.
It is an engineering miraclebecause it isn't the whole point
is like the body and the woodtype and the and the sealant and
like So Yeah, and and so uhthere were a couple of people in
around 2007, 2008 that startedexperimenting with these ways
that you could travel with aninstrument that comes apart.
(19:34):
There was a guy named CharlieChadwick in Nashville of the
Lemer Company in California, andthey just had these various
prototypes where you could takethe you could take the neck off.
The as as you well know, being aviolinist, the the body of the
instrument that that's all wood.
That's all pressure on wood.
So with the bass, you know howthe sound gets from the front to
(19:58):
the back is the sound post.
SPEAKER_02 (19:59):
Soundposts, yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (20:00):
And if there's no pressure on the front of the
instrument, that sound post isgonna fall.
SPEAKER_02 (20:05):
Yep.
SPEAKER_00 (20:06):
And so I thought, well, how can you make a bass
that comes apart where you takethe bridge off, you take the
neck off?
There's no pressure on thefront, so the soundpiece is
gonna fall.
So the Lemur Company puts thislittle tiny thumb tack in the
front of the instrument that alittle adhesive on the bottom of
the soundpost that keeps it fromfalling when you take the bridge
(20:27):
off, you know.
SPEAKER_03 (20:28):
Oh that's just such a simple solution that seems
credible that it would be thatsimple.
SPEAKER_00 (20:36):
So you could sort of take off the the neck and then
you can now the only drawback isthat you have to detune the
instrument every single time.
Oh, of course.
SPEAKER_02 (20:44):
Oh, of course.
And then so your strings aren'tgonna be you have to use oh then
retuning and then it is such apain.
SPEAKER_00 (20:53):
It's the worst.
Can I say the A word?
Yeah, you can.
It is such a pain in the ass,you know.
But but on the flip side is thatI can travel with it.
At least I know what I have.
You know, it's a full-sizeupright base, but you just have
to take it apart every gig, youknow.
Uh it has like a little chartinside of the case, you know, so
(21:16):
we like IKEA, like how to put ittogether?
We we we start calling it theIKEA base.
SPEAKER_03 (21:22):
Oh my god.
Oh my gosh.
I'm gonna need to go online andsee how you have to check that
out, Rachel.
I well, you what I want to dofor the listeners so that they
know your journey to New Jersey.
I know that you came fromPhiladelphia originally, then
you went to Juilliard for ayear.
Yes.
And you started getting a lot ofphone calls to come play gigs
and then left Juilliard.
(21:43):
Can you tell us about that, youknow, and transition that you
made there?
SPEAKER_00 (21:47):
Sure.
Um once I fell in love withjazz, it became obvious that if
I wanted to be in that circlewith all of these great
musicians who I admired onrecordings, I had to move to New
York because they all lived inNew York.
Even though Philly is not thatfar from New York, I just felt
that in terms of opportunity ofwhere I wanted to go, it was a
(22:11):
completely different universe,you know.
SPEAKER_01 (22:13):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (22:14):
And uh so I could not wait to move to New York
City.
So I I I went to Juilliard.
You know, within that firstyear, I started playing gigs
with the great alto saxophonistBobby Watson, and I also met my
my dear friend Roy Hargrove, andhis career started to blossom
around the same time.
(22:34):
So I finished my my freshmanyear.
I went on the road with RoyHargrove, and uh, while I was
out on the road with Roy, I alsogot an opportunity to start
playing with the legendaryFreddie Hubbard.
And so it was obvious to me thatI was like, well, I'm not gonna
be able to do this and school.
SPEAKER_02 (22:54):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (22:54):
So I have to make a decision here.
So uh, you know, I I had a verydifficult conversation with my
well, it wasn't a difficultconversation.
It was just difficult gettingthe nerve to tell her that I
didn't want to go back toschool.
Uh but after we had a talk, shewas she was very, very, very
cool.
And um, yeah, I I then juststarted my career going on the
(23:18):
road and playing with all ofthese musicians who I greatly
admired.
But specifically moving to NewJersey, you know, I I'd only
lived in two places my wholelife, Philly and New York City,
you know, and I lived innumerous neighborhoods when I
lived in New York.
Uh I lived in Harlem, I lived inBrooklyn, uh, I lived in on in
(23:39):
Murray Hill, I lived on theUpper East Side for uh almost 10
years.
And so uh the last place in theworld I ever thought I would
move to was New Jersey.
SPEAKER_02 (23:52):
That's usually what most people say, including what
we said before we moved here.
SPEAKER_00 (23:57):
Man, I ain't moving to New Jersey, man.
Like people who moved to NewJersey, I thought I was like,
you know, it's like, you know,they can't handle the city, you
know.
Uh they're soft, you know, youknow, they want to start their
old corny family life with thehouse and the, you know, the car
and the kids.
SPEAKER_03 (24:14):
They need trees and why.
You know, I tell a funny storyabout that because I thought the
exact same thing.
Yeah.
But when I when I moved out hereand I was still, you know, like,
I don't know if I'm gonna beable to hack it.
I was had my kids in a preschooland I was waiting in line to
pick up my kid, and there was awoman that was checking her,
like de-enrolling her child.
(24:36):
She said, she's like, we'removing back to the city, we just
can't do it.
And all of a sudden I was like,this is a challenge.
SPEAKER_01 (24:42):
Yeah.
Okay.
SPEAKER_03 (24:46):
That was a throwdown for you.
We you're weak, weak woman goingback to the city.
I am gonna dig it out.
It was like I flipped it, youknow?
SPEAKER_00 (24:56):
Yeah, yeah.
And and and so uh, yeah, I I hadno plans ever to, you know, I I
thought of New Jersey as onelong bridge between New York and
Philly.
SPEAKER_02 (25:07):
I'm sure.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (25:09):
And um I I had deep respect for Newark.
I knew a lot of I knew a lot ofpeople in in Montclair, I knew a
lot of people in Teaneck andInglewood, West New York, but
you know, we hawking, but I'mnot, I'm not moving there, you
know.
And and then I met Melissa, mywife Melissa.
SPEAKER_01 (25:26):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (25:27):
And uh when we started dating, she lived in
West Orange.
And I remember going to visither a couple of times, and you
know, I'd go to Port Authority,somewhere I'd never really had
any real reason to go to.
SPEAKER_02 (25:41):
It's not the nicest place in the world.
SPEAKER_00 (25:43):
Not the nicest place.
No.
And so I would go to visit her.
I'll take the bus from PortAuthority, and I would think,
well, I now I know I'm notmoving to New Jersey.
This this bus situation.
SPEAKER_02 (25:55):
Just sealed the deal.
I am not coming.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (25:58):
This is crazy.
SPEAKER_00 (25:59):
But then, you know, Melissa and I, I fell in love,
and you know, we decided to getengaged, and we thought, uh,
okay, well, how are we gonnahandle this uh this living
thing?
Like it it really it reallybecame an issue, you know.
She said, Well, she said, I Ihate New York.
I said, Well, I hate New Jersey,you know.
(26:20):
And uh she said, Well, we gottafigure this out, you know.
SPEAKER_02 (26:24):
That'd be a good jazz song.
I hate New York and I hate NewJersey.
Okay, yeah, let's do that.
Let's fight.
SPEAKER_00 (26:33):
And, you know, some some pragmatism came into play.
I thought, well, you know,seriously, like she had a really
nice house in West Orange.
And even though I had a verynice, I had a two-bedroom,
two-bathroom in Manhattan.
Wow.
And uh, but still, like, Idon't, I don't want to get
married and live there.
(26:54):
Okay, let me be real.
You know, for the kind of spacethat we would want, it's not
gonna happen in New York.
So I thought, well, okay, Ican't believe I'm saying this.
Can't believe it.
Okay, I'll come to New Jersey,but we gotta find somewhere
really cool, you know.
And uh we settled on Montclairbecause almost every musician I
(27:17):
knew, a lot of musicians who Iwas I was particularly close
with uh lived in Montclair.
And they say, hey man, we feltthe same way you did, and we
don't regret living inMontclair.
And I have to say, it has beenexactly it's been 20 years and
two months since Melissa and Imoved to Montclair.
(27:38):
And when I come into Manhattannow, my very first thought is my
exit route.
SPEAKER_02 (27:46):
I have the same thing now.
I used to really be sad to, youknow, I was so sad to leave the
city too.
But when I go in, I'm excited tobe there, but I am very excited
thinking at the end of the dayI'm gonna be back here.
SPEAKER_00 (28:00):
That's right.
Yep.
SPEAKER_03 (28:02):
You know, I'm curious about that though.
Do you still feel like when yougo to the city, I'm sure you go
there to the studios and have,you know, a lot of sessions in
the city, right?
Is that where you do most ofyour jazz sessions?
Does it feel like it used to, orhas it changed?
And is that also changed?
SPEAKER_00 (28:17):
Yes, it's that that part has changed also because
when I first started doing a lotof recording sessions in the
early 90s, obviously there wasstill a lot of big record
labels.
You know, you had Burb, you hadBlue Note, you had RCA, you had
Arista, uh, you had uh Electra,Atlantic, uh all and a lot of
(28:40):
independent labels.
Obviously, this was beforestreaming and YouTube and all
that kind of stuff.
I was averaging 15, 20 albums ayear.
So I was in the studio all thetime.
And when you when you have thatsort of studio life, um now what
I'm describing was nothingcompared to what the the
(29:03):
generations before me did.
I mean, they were probablyplaying on 15, 20 albums a week.
SPEAKER_02 (29:09):
Yeah, that's nuts.
SPEAKER_00 (29:11):
I don't spend as much time in the studio as I
used to.
I mean, the way it happens now,a lot of people have home
studios.
There's a lot of small studios.
So like somebody will send me atrack and say, hey, can you put
a bass part on this track?
And you know, I'll go tosomebody's house or record it in
my basement, you know.
(29:31):
So that's that's that's thestudio life now, you know.
SPEAKER_02 (29:35):
Is it I was gonna ask you that when you're talking
about the big band recording, isthat doesn't that was different?
Doesn't it?
I know, but you were saying sometracks were laid down, like the
vocals were laid downseparately.
But like, doesn't that feel sodifferent when you're everyone
is in the studio versus then youadd it later?
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (29:53):
Oh, absolutely.
You you prefer it to be inperson, but yeah, you know
sometimes it works out where.
You just can't be there inperson.
Piece it all together.
Yeah.
You just you you piece it alltogether and the musicianship of
that particular person will makeit feel like that they were
there.
So it it works out.
(30:13):
You know, to but to answer yourquestion about you know it being
different now, if you talk tosome young musician who's 24, 25
years old, I'm sure they willtell you things are great.
I got my own scene that I'mworking with now, you know.
So like um it's all aboutperspective, you know, because I
(30:35):
look at like this youngmusician, like, you know,
somebody like uh JuliusRodriguez, who's uh an
incredible young musician, he'llnever see the kind of scene that
I came up in, you know, playingin studios a couple of times a
week, or uh going to Bradley'sor Sweet Basil or the Village
Gate, you know, but he's got hisown clubs that he's going to
(30:58):
that I probably won't go to, youknow.
SPEAKER_03 (31:01):
That's true.
That's true.
Yeah.
Well, so here in New Jersey, youhave you're part of the uh Jazz
House Kids.
Your your wife Melissa startedthat here.
I think it what year was that,like 2002?
Or it's been a while.
SPEAKER_01 (31:15):
Correct.
SPEAKER_03 (31:15):
And it is bringing up a whole new generation.
And the kids that go there, theyare so talented.
It's amazing what you you bothhave done for the you know up
and coming generation.
Is that you're like the artisticdirector, I believe, correct?
Right?
How do you feel uh about seeingthis next generation and without
them being able to be part ofthat past?
(31:37):
Do you feel like there's a adifferent style they're bringing
forward, or do you do you feellike there's something new
breaking out?
SPEAKER_00 (31:44):
I don't even think I don't know if we think about
what kind of style they bring.
What's most important for us isto see that they have this dream
of playing music and they can doit.
Because the reason why JazzHouse Kids started in the first
place is because of this visionMelissa had when she got called
(32:05):
to do a masterclass for someelementary school kids in
Newark.
And, you know, there's notougher crowd in the world than
elementary school kids.
Oh and uh she fell in love withthem, they fell in love with
her, as has always been the casein America.
(32:25):
A lot of public schools lost allof their arts funding.
And if you wanted to play musicand you were in a community of
lesser means, chances are youwouldn't be able to play it.
Your school either didn't have amusic program, or you know, they
got rid of their music program,or if they had a music program,
(32:46):
the instruments were probably inpoor condition.
Um, you probably didn't have alot of music to choose from.
There might not have been anorchestra, you know, just a
small, you know, a smattering ofother kids who wanted to play
music.
So uh Melissa took it uponherself, like, well, I'm going
to create something that kidscan have so they can learn about
(33:08):
this great American art form anddo something other than just be
out on the street.
And, you know, to see what JazzHouse Kids has accomplished from
that time up until now, Iapplaud Melissa every single day
for creating this.
You know, and to see that someof the young leaders in jazz
(33:30):
right now came out of ourprogram, you know, Zohar and
Adam, Isaiah J.
Thompson, Emmett Cohen, ZoeAbadia, Kaylin Cardello, uh I
mean, it's it's incredible whois out there right now who has
come through our program.
SPEAKER_03 (33:46):
Do the the people that come through your program,
are they usually local people inNew Jersey or do they come from
other places?
SPEAKER_00 (33:54):
Throughout the school year, yes.
But we have a summer program.
Yeah, and the summer program, weget kids from all over the
world.
We've had kids from uh SouthAmerica.
We have a uh an exchange programwith uh organization in London
called Tomorrow's Warriors, uh,which is Jazz House Kids and
(34:14):
Tomorrow's Warriors does asimilar thing.
So we've sent some of our kidsto London, they've sent some of
our kids over to over toMontclair.
SPEAKER_03 (34:21):
So that's cool.
SPEAKER_00 (34:22):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (34:23):
Is it hard to get in?
Is there like a auditionprocess?
You could just if you want to doit, you can just come.
SPEAKER_00 (34:29):
Please, just come.
That's how we created it.
No, no, I mean, doesn't doesn'tmatter what how much money you
have.
We we just need to know that youhave some desire.
We'll get you.
SPEAKER_03 (34:41):
That's amazing.
That's amazing.
And it can be a beginner levelas well.
Like you could Okay, that'sgreat.
That's great.
What is the youngest studentsthat are there?
SPEAKER_00 (34:50):
Right now, I'm not sure, but I'm guessing it's
probably either nine or ten.
We had them as early as four atone point.
We had a program that we weredoing with uh Jazz and Lincoln
Center.
What was it called?
The uh the Bebop babies orsomething like that?
Um that that programs, becausewe like I said, we were doing it
(35:12):
in in a partnership with withJazz and Lincoln Center at the
same time.
SPEAKER_03 (35:14):
Well, the work that you're doing with through the
this program here in Montclairand also the work that you're
doing at NJPAC, and also it'syou know, it's an education
system as well there at NJPAC.
It seems that you're helpingbringing the arts back.
You know, if it's not in theschools, it's good to see that
there's it's become it's stillcoming into the community.
SPEAKER_00 (35:35):
That's right.
That's right.
I mean, that's it's necessary.
That's what I came up in.
When people look at my peers,you know, we were the recipients
of a school system and acommunity that was rich in music
education programs.
So that's our job to to give itback.
SPEAKER_03 (35:55):
Yeah.
And as you know, I think when wewere talking to John at at
NJPEC, he was the thing thatreally stood out is that for me
was, you know, take people talkabout how you're gonna help the
community and how you're gonna rraise a uh a whole city out of,
you know, poverty, basically.
And who would think it would bethe arts that are gonna do it?
SPEAKER_02 (36:16):
Yeah, and this week actually, I have a good friend
up um who grew up in WestVirginia, Kentucky, that area.
She's up for the conference atNJPack right now, um, which is
for community healing throughart.
And it's an amazing conferenceall week.
So she's staying with me to goto that.
SPEAKER_01 (36:34):
Nice.
SPEAKER_03 (36:35):
Yeah.
So it's good to see.
Well, I highly recommendeveryone listen to your latest
album.
And of course, if you aren'talready every day like you are
in jazz all the time, if youhave by chance, like me, put it
on the back burner and have beenlistening on whatever is the
hottest thing on Spotify,there's a reminder that put it
back in your rotation, put itback in your rotation with this
(36:57):
album and and also come gettickets on November 21st so they
could see you.
SPEAKER_00 (37:03):
Please.
SPEAKER_02 (37:04):
Yes.
SPEAKER_00 (37:05):
Oh, oh, and I I also would like to mention uh that I
have my first cruise that setssail in.
SPEAKER_03 (37:14):
I read about that.
Explain that.
Okay, what is this?
I didn't see this.
What is it?
SPEAKER_00 (37:18):
Yes, yes, McBride's World at Sea, which uh is
January 20 through 27th, leavesout of Fort Lauderdale and goes
to uh Falmouth, Jamaica, and theCayman Islands.
Everybody you can imagine isgonna be performing on this
cruise.
Angelique Keijo, Let us see,Cecile McLaurin Savant, Samara
(37:40):
Joy is gonna be on the cruise,Jose James is gonna be there, uh
the legendary comedian GeorgeWallace and uh Alonzo Bowden, my
big band, my quintet InsideStraight, my my young band Ursa
Major, the Remembering Ray Browntrio with uh Benny Green and
Greg Hutchinson, and Melissa isgonna be singing as well.
SPEAKER_02 (38:02):
So you just were like, I want to have a really
good party, go to some islandsand be on a cruise.
Let's let's get this, make thishappen.
SPEAKER_03 (38:10):
It's like a huge yacht you have chartered in some
you know, creative manner thatyou can just exactly right.
SPEAKER_00 (38:17):
So make sure everybody goes to McBride's
world at sea dot com.
SPEAKER_02 (38:22):
Okay.
All right, we're putting a linkin there.
SPEAKER_00 (38:24):
Yeah, McBride's a little bit.
SPEAKER_02 (38:25):
You can get it, you can get a ticket.
SPEAKER_00 (38:26):
And there's a discount that lasts for only two
more weeks.
So you better jump on it now.
SPEAKER_03 (38:31):
All right, all right.
We'll we'll we'll highlightthat.
This is pretty incredible.
I know that everyone that youlisted is pretty much on your
without further ado album.
And if you don't know who theyare, go to Spotify, look up the
without further ado album, andclick through and follow each
one of the people that you havecollaborated with because each
one is fantastic in their ownregard.
(38:53):
I I did that.
That's what I did.
unknown (38:55):
That's what I did.
SPEAKER_03 (38:58):
Well, it's been such a pleasure to talk to you and to
you know know that you know thatsomeone like you is not too far
down the block or musicalgeniuses around.
SPEAKER_00 (39:07):
Hopefully, I'll see you guys at the uh 21st.
SPEAKER_03 (39:12):
We will.
Uh, thank you so much forspending the afternoon with us.
We really enjoyed it.
SPEAKER_00 (39:17):
Pleasure was all mine.
Have a great day.
SPEAKER_03 (39:19):
Thank you so much.
You too.
SPEAKER_02 (39:23):
This podcast was produced by Rachel Martens and
Jeanette Afsharian.
You can find us on Spotify,iTunes, and BuzzSprout.
Thanks for listening.
See you next week.
Hey, what's good?
SPEAKER_02 (00:08):
The man of the hour.
The legend, Mr.
McBride.
SPEAKER_00 (00:12):
I don't know about all that.
SPEAKER_02 (00:14):
Oh, yeah, I mean I'm pretty sure.
SPEAKER_00 (00:16):
It's a pleasure.
SPEAKER_02 (00:17):
You are a nine-time Grammy winner.
It was fun before interviewingyou for both of us to go and
listen to music from all of yourdifferent projects and big band
and small groups.
And it was really fun to hearall the different collaborations
that you've done.
SPEAKER_00 (00:33):
Thank you.
I hope you enjoyed it at leastmost of what you heard.
SPEAKER_03 (00:39):
All of it.
All of it.
I was like trying to get to thebottom of how I think you have
done 16 albums and you've haddone about 300 plus.
Uh, you were a side man on it.
How we can't get through it all,but everything that we've heard
is incredible.
So I can't believe how much youhave done.
One thing I want to point outthough is I'm a rookie.
(00:59):
I've paid the bass clarinet likefor two years in junior high
school.
So when I was watching the tinydust concert online, your bass
clarinet or clo clarinet playerstood out to me.
I was like, oh, he's so good.
Yes, I agree.
But Rachel is a classicalviolinist.
SPEAKER_02 (01:18):
Played Suzuki method since I was three and a half.
Well, that's how I was trained.
SPEAKER_00 (01:22):
Amazing have a great ear.
SPEAKER_02 (01:24):
I would say though, the bummer about that was, you
know, once I got to college andplayed, I played in the symphony
there for a year.
And then I said, I I reallydon't want to do this anymore.
Classical.
So I had friends who were doinguh bands.
So I joined bands.
They would have to play it forme what they wanted me to play,
play it on the keyboard, andthen I'd play it fine for them.
(01:47):
But I was not great at likeplaying the key of C.
Or I was like, no, that my braincan't do that on the fly.
SPEAKER_00 (01:54):
It's totally fine because the real truth is you
can't get better at anythingunless you practice, no matter
what endeavor it is.
You know?
SPEAKER_03 (02:05):
That's so true.
On every little thing, I was ata wedding this weekend and I saw
this woman across the way thatwasn't talking to anyone.
And I went over there and Italked to her and I told her
that I I used to be like thelike her.
And I said, But ever since westarted doing this podcast over
we're over like almost 150episodes, you have worked the
muscle of talking to people.
(02:25):
The conversation might stall,but you know how to go to the
next level.
And I'm imagining that that'skind of the art form in some way
with everything, such as withmusic, I would assume.
SPEAKER_00 (02:36):
Absolutely.
That's correct.
SPEAKER_03 (02:38):
It's like a little bit of a jazz event, you know,
it's like uh improv improvising.
SPEAKER_00 (02:42):
Well, I mean, all of life is improvisation.
I mean, you don't really knowwhat you're gonna do.
I mean, you can plan, butsomething will happen where
you'll have to react a certainway.
And how you react is based uponwhat you've studied, what you've
learned, what you've practiced,you know.
Therefore, your reaction will bemore informed, more educated.
(03:06):
So I like to say life in generalis jazz.
SPEAKER_03 (03:10):
Yeah, I like it.
It is that makes sense to me.
Well, that's a ca kind of acurious thing.
I mean, we want to get into yourbackground, but uh since you
said that, I mean, I know thatyou do improv improvise, but do
you think ahead?
Do you plan ahead when you'replaying?
SPEAKER_00 (03:24):
Well, you have to, because when you are playing a
song and you're improvising,you're improvising within a
structure that involves certainchords, a certain number of
bars, you know.
So it's not just free form, playwhatever you want.
You're playing something basedon the form, the structure, and
(03:45):
the chords.
You know, in that sense, yes,you most certainly have to think
ahead.
SPEAKER_03 (03:50):
Right.
It's like a conversation, justlike, for example, this podcast.
We kind of have a structure.
We know we're gonna talk about afew things.
We know the overarching conceptis that we're gonna talk about
some New Jersey, we're gonnatalk about your your background,
we're gonna talk about yourjourney and you know, what
you're doing next.
It because it's kind of all itis a conversation jazz, right?
SPEAKER_00 (04:12):
That's correct.
SPEAKER_02 (04:13):
Yeah, yeah.
Yeah.
You also do arranging andcomposing, and we've been
listening to the big band albumthat's out now.
That's without further ado, partone.
It's so good.
When you're arranging certainthings that have a vocalist, do
you feel you're looking at thatand arranging differently than
when you don't have a vocalist,or are you treating horns like a
(04:35):
vocalist because they have amelody?
SPEAKER_00 (04:37):
Well, uh, with vocalists, it's very important
for that vocalist to feelcomfortable.
I know a lot of arrangers whofeel that their arrangement is
the most important thing.
Like it is important for thevocalist to learn the
arrangement of that person.
I'm the other way around.
(04:58):
I want my arrangement to fit thevocalist.
So I usually talk to anyone I'mwriting for.
It's like, hey, what kind ofvibe are you looking for?
You know, how can my arrangementserve you?
Because for me, it's sort of ispractical.
If the vocalist knows that thearranger wants to serve them,
(05:18):
they'll trust me and they'llthey'll want to work with me
again and again and again.
Absolutely.
Because they know that I'lllisten.
You know?
SPEAKER_02 (05:27):
You'll listen, they'll feel comfortable with
you.
SPEAKER_00 (05:30):
That's right.
Now, I I think with uh with hornplayers, all of this varies.
You know, you you have umcertain horn players who do like
a particular thing played behindthem, uh, some are more
freewheeling.
Same thing with vocalists.
Uh I do find that most of thetime vocalists like to have a
(05:50):
very specific thing behind themso they can feel comfortable so
they can interpret the song theway they want to interpret it.
But then you have somebody likeDiane Reeves, who is such a
master of what she does.
She won't say this, but hertalent says, You can do whatever
you want behind me.
SPEAKER_02 (06:09):
I got this.
SPEAKER_00 (06:10):
I can hear it.
I got this.
You can't stump me.
And like she's one of the onlyvocalists I know who's who's
that fearless and who's thatwho's that capable.
SPEAKER_02 (06:20):
I listened to that song multiple times.
I was like, oof, she takes youplaces.
SPEAKER_03 (06:25):
Yes, she's like, she does.
Well, that whole album is it, Iwas telling Rachel, it's like it
it's a throwback, so much likeas a lot of jazz is, but you
really it transports you back intime, but in a fresh way.
And I was saying that for some alot of people, you know, there's
jazz periods of their life thatthey really got immersed in jazz
(06:46):
and they were like listening to,you know, all the greats,
mingas, you know, uh Coltrane,everything, you know, Dexter
Gordon, whatever it may be, theywere just immersed in it.
And then it kind of a seasonpasses, right?
That you're not maybe listeningto it as much as you used to.
And then when I listened to thisalbum, all of a sudden I was
like, you know, I forgot, youknow, I forgot, and bring it
(07:09):
back, bring it back.
And it really had that in afresh way.
SPEAKER_00 (07:12):
Well, thank you.
Well, it's it it took over twoyears in total to make the
album.
As you may have noticed, thealbum is called Um, Without
Further Ado, Volume One.
SPEAKER_02 (07:23):
Yes, yes.
SPEAKER_00 (07:24):
Which would imply that there's a volume two.
So we actually wound uprecording both volumes over that
two plus year span.
When you start trying to get abunch of vocalists who live in
various different places, uhscheduling can be an absolute
nightmare.
So uh some of the vocalists werelive with us in the studio in
(07:47):
New York, some overdubbed theirparts in LA and England, and we
had to send the tracks here andsend them there, and you know,
so the origin story of how thisrecord came about was uh
directly related to myinvolvement with NJPack.
SPEAKER_03 (08:02):
We interviewed the president of NJPack recently,
was it he talked about you?
SPEAKER_00 (08:06):
Oh, John is John is my man.
SPEAKER_03 (08:08):
Yeah, he said he just saw you and you're a little
kid in Philly.
SPEAKER_00 (08:12):
That's correct.
SPEAKER_03 (08:13):
He said, Who's that guy up there?
You're a prodigy.
SPEAKER_00 (08:17):
I'm uh I'm grateful for his friendship and and to
have known him for more thanhalf of my life.
When he became the CEO of NJPack, he immediately called me
and said, uh, I would like ajazz advisor here.
Uh-huh.
And uh I think you're the guyfor that role.
So since then, for our annualgala, my big band serves as the
(08:41):
house band.
And we've invited all of theseincredible vocalists to come and
perform either at the gala orone of the TD James Moody Jazz
Festival concerts.
So since 2012, I've had to writenumerous big band arrangements
for all of these singers thatare coming with the big band.
Oh but the flip side of that isthat these arrangements only get
(09:06):
played once.
We play them at the gallery andthat's it, you know.
And so I just noticed that Ijust kept this growing stack of
music that I had written throughthe years for these NJ Pack
gallons, and I thought, it'sreally a shame that these are
going to waste, you know.
SPEAKER_02 (09:24):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (09:24):
Uh I should record these.
And so that that's what you hearmostly.
SPEAKER_03 (09:29):
Oh, that's so great.
SPEAKER_00 (09:31):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (09:31):
What a good origin story.
At the festival that's comingup, the the Moody Festival, that
you're going to be having your17 piece band there.
Is that correct?
With special guests singing, areyou going to be singing off of
this album or are you going tobe doing more new arrangements?
SPEAKER_00 (09:48):
Well, uh uh a little bit of both.
So the the special guest thatwill be with my band this year,
forgive me for not knowing thedate, I think it's November
21st.
SPEAKER_02 (09:58):
It's November 21st.
SPEAKER_00 (09:59):
Thank you.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_02 (10:00):
You're welcome.
SPEAKER_00 (10:02):
Uh the special guest will be Andrew Day, Jose James,
and Leticy.
Jose James, of course, is on thenew album.
He sings.
So I'm sure we're going to bedoing that.
Umrea, we we've worked togetherin the past, but I haven't
written any big bandarrangements for her.
(10:22):
So this is going to be uh areally fun maiden voyage for the
both of us.
SPEAKER_03 (10:27):
No, she's powerhouse.
SPEAKER_00 (10:29):
She's got a lot of fun.
Yeah.
Now, Let us see, even thoughshe's not on my new album, I'm
on her new album, which is a bigband record.
It's a tribute to DinahWashington.
And uh her album was releasedtwo weeks after mine.
And so uh I produced it, Iarranged it, I did all of the
orchestrations.
(10:50):
So we're going to be playingsome music from her new album,
which I arranged.
So uh and I I can't wait forthat also.
SPEAKER_03 (10:58):
That'll be a blast.
I mean, 17 people, 17, you know,I'm sure, and more are involved
in this.
That's a big uh group to try tocoordinate.
SPEAKER_00 (11:07):
It must be my my band members live in New York.
And and and you know, we've beenplaying together now for a good
15 years almost.
Uh the the core of the band hasbeen together for 15 years.
So we know each other extremelywell.
SPEAKER_02 (11:23):
So you probably have a shorthand.
I I know that just playing withmy band over the years, uh, my
friend Deb is the one who sortof runs it.
She plays piano, she sings, andshe plays guitar.
She'll just look at me and I'llbe like, oh, I know what I mean.
SPEAKER_00 (11:36):
You know what that means.
SPEAKER_02 (11:37):
I know, I know.
I get to sweat.
I start sweating.
I'm like, oh, okay, okay, giveme another shot.
Well, you know, that'sinteresting.
Is Deb considered the lead ofthe band?
Is she like the kind of the thedirector?
Oh, yeah, because she's amusical genius.
Like she can hear, we'll beplaying a rock song, and and she
always adds violin in and shetotally arranges everything.
The bassist or guitarist willplay one note that is just not
(12:00):
right, and she'll say, Stop, youplay that line again.
And it she's right every time.
She she hears it.
SPEAKER_03 (12:06):
Well, that's the thing though, is it's usually
the sing the lead singer orsomebody that's the head of the
band, and you're the bassist,and you're you're the head that
you're usually kind of in not.
How did that come about?
How did you rise to the placewhere you are now the you are
the heartbeat, you are theconductor of the bands?
SPEAKER_00 (12:26):
Well, I gotta tell you, the bass player and the
drummer have always been therulers of the band.
Don't let anyone ever tell youany different.
SPEAKER_02 (12:35):
It's very true.
Because if we're not followingthe bass line or the drums,
we're off and it's over.
SPEAKER_03 (12:40):
So did everybody look to you in the in in the
early uh days, look back at you,go, are we doing this right?
SPEAKER_00 (12:52):
They're the heartbeat.
They're they're the they're theengine, you know.
Yeah.
And so for any music to besuccessful, you need the bass
and the drums to be oneinstrument.
Um so there's a lot of pressureon the bass and the drums, but
at the same token, I think thatmost band leaders should be they
it would be smart for them to bekind to the bass player and the
(13:15):
drummer.
Because we can we could easilysabotage it if we want to.
SPEAKER_02 (13:19):
Oh, we've had the sabotage for fun when the um
drummer decides that he's in anexcellent mood and just super
happy and all of a sudden playsa little bit too fast and we're
all just trying to keep up.
SPEAKER_00 (13:30):
That can happen, you know.
And then you get those bandleaders, somebody like uh Betty
Carter, rest her soul, you know,she was she was relentless.
She was always all over therhythm section.
Yeah.
Come on, fellas.
You know, you have to follow herheel.
That's where she wanted thetime, you know.
I I think just for me, there's anotion that it's rare that the
(13:54):
bass player is the band leader,but uh there's always been a lot
of great bass playing bandleaders.
You know, you mentioned CharlesMingus earlier, probably the
most popular one.
But you've had Ray Brown, you'vehad Jaco Pastores, you've had
Marcus Miller, Stanley Clark,who's coming to T.
D.
James Moody Festival this year.
All kinds of great bass playingband leaders.
(14:16):
So uh I'm just one of many, youknow.
SPEAKER_02 (14:20):
You grew up in a musical family, right?
I mean, you're you're tell usabout that.
You have bass players in yourfamily.
SPEAKER_00 (14:27):
Yep, my dad and my great uncle.
So uh I'm in the familybusiness.
SPEAKER_02 (14:31):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (14:32):
I started playing the electric bass when I was
nine and started playing theupright bass when I was eleven.
SPEAKER_02 (14:38):
Did you ever like rebel and want to say, No, I
don't want the bass, I wantsomething else, or you know, you
just loved it.
SPEAKER_00 (14:45):
I mean, what when I got to middle school and had to
play in the school orchestra, Iironically did not pick the
double bass.
I wanted to try the trombonebecause my musical hero already
was James Brown, and some of myfavorite moments on James
Brown's records were thetrombone solos of Fred Wesley.
(15:06):
Well, I wanted to try to playtrombone like Fred Wesley.
Uh, but when it became painfullyobvious rather quickly that I
had no talent for the trombone,uh, the brass instructor said,
Well, you play the electricbass, right?
I said, Yes.
He said, Well, why don't whydon't you play the upright bass?
I went, uh, I don't know, Idon't want to play the upright
(15:27):
bass.
He says, Well, you know, g giveme the trombone.
You should try the you shouldtry the bass.
You know.
So uh he nicely coaxed thetrombone out of my hand, and I
kind of, you know, sulking, wentinto the bass room, and then it
it took a it took a while, butit grew on me and I I came to
(15:47):
love it.
SPEAKER_02 (15:48):
Oh, that's it's so great to hear that because it's
always so interesting when youmeet someone so talented at an
instrument and you wonder, youknow, were they always just
attached to that instrument?
Did they try anything else?
Like how did this happen whereit's like you meet your soulmate
of an instrument and and why whythat one?
Right.
You know?
It wasn't love at first sight.
SPEAKER_00 (16:10):
Not really.
Yeah, you know, but you know,because I thought the electric
bass was the coolest instrumentin the world, you know, just
playing the bass guitar, youknow.
SPEAKER_01 (16:20):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (16:20):
I thought one day I would get a gig with James Brown
or Michael Jackson or somebodylike that.
You know.
Um and you can't do that with anupright bass, you know.
So uh when I started playing theupright bass, you know, the like
I said, it it it took a minute,but then my great uncle said,
uh, well, now that you'replaying the upright bass, I got
(16:41):
something for you.
So I went over to his his houseand uh he had a big, huge stack
of jazz albums waiting for me.
Oh and uh, you know, I was 11years old, so my initial
reaction was kind of like, ohno.
SPEAKER_03 (16:56):
Well, that's true.
You're like, why do I have this?
This is gonna be intense.
It's like homework here.
SPEAKER_00 (17:01):
I gotta look at the jazz albums.
Oh, man.
You know, but the way hepresented it to me, uh, I was
deeply in love with jazz by theend of that visit.
And I had always associated,probably because of him, I had
always associated the uprightbass with jazz.
And then I realized after thatvisit that not only was jazz
(17:25):
really good music, but it wasreally cool.
You know, like because my greatuncle is cool, you know, like
everything about him, the way hewalks, the way he talks, his his
mannerisms, and I just thought,well, if jazz makes him that
cool, then I want to be cooltoo.
SPEAKER_02 (17:42):
Yeah.
It is cool.
It's like a random questionabout the the instrument because
I I obviously I played inorchestras growing up for so
long.
And it's such a massive, likephysically big instrument.
And you travel so much and youplay everywhere.
Do you bring your bass with youeverywhere?
Or do you have like a favoritebow that you bring instead that
you'll borrow other people'sbases?
SPEAKER_00 (18:04):
What I use now is it's called a uh flyaway bass.
Because of the way traveling hasbeen over the last uh, I would
say, particularly in the last 15years, the restrictions that
keep coming up on like what youcan bring and what you can't,
they just made it virtuallyimpossible for musicians to
(18:26):
travel with their owninstruments anymore.
Uh I can remember my very firsttour in 1990.
I mean, you know, our drummerbrought his entire six-piece
drum kit, two cases.
I had my bass in one of the big,you know, fiberglass coffins
that we used to pull.
And uh our saxophone player hadhis alto saxophone, a soprano
(18:49):
saxophone.
Like we probably had 20 piecesof luggage between the two of
us.
Right.
SPEAKER_02 (18:56):
Right, right.
SPEAKER_00 (18:56):
And uh you can't do that now, obviously.
You know, so there was a companyin California uh called Lemur,
like like the animal Lemur, andthey started making bases that
come apart.
SPEAKER_02 (19:09):
I can't even imagine this.
SPEAKER_00 (19:12):
It's an engineering miracle.
It is an engineering miraclebecause it isn't the whole point
is like the body and the woodtype and the and the sealant and
like So Yeah, and and so uhthere were a couple of people in
around 2007, 2008 that startedexperimenting with these ways
that you could travel with aninstrument that comes apart.
(19:34):
There was a guy named CharlieChadwick in Nashville of the
Lemer Company in California, andthey just had these various
prototypes where you could takethe you could take the neck off.
The as as you well know, being aviolinist, the the body of the
instrument that that's all wood.
That's all pressure on wood.
So with the bass, you know howthe sound gets from the front to
(19:58):
the back is the sound post.
SPEAKER_02 (19:59):
Soundposts, yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (20:00):
And if there's no pressure on the front of the
instrument, that sound post isgonna fall.
SPEAKER_02 (20:05):
Yep.
SPEAKER_00 (20:06):
And so I thought, well, how can you make a bass
that comes apart where you takethe bridge off, you take the
neck off?
There's no pressure on thefront, so the soundpiece is
gonna fall.
So the Lemur Company puts thislittle tiny thumb tack in the
front of the instrument that alittle adhesive on the bottom of
the soundpost that keeps it fromfalling when you take the bridge
(20:27):
off, you know.
SPEAKER_03 (20:28):
Oh that's just such a simple solution that seems
credible that it would be thatsimple.
SPEAKER_00 (20:36):
So you could sort of take off the the neck and then
you can now the only drawback isthat you have to detune the
instrument every single time.
Oh, of course.
SPEAKER_02 (20:44):
Oh, of course.
And then so your strings aren'tgonna be you have to use oh then
retuning and then it is such apain.
SPEAKER_00 (20:53):
It's the worst.
Can I say the A word?
Yeah, you can.
It is such a pain in the ass,you know.
But but on the flip side is thatI can travel with it.
At least I know what I have.
You know, it's a full-sizeupright base, but you just have
to take it apart every gig, youknow.
Uh it has like a little chartinside of the case, you know, so
(21:16):
we like IKEA, like how to put ittogether?
We we we start calling it theIKEA base.
SPEAKER_03 (21:22):
Oh my god.
Oh my gosh.
I'm gonna need to go online andsee how you have to check that
out, Rachel.
I well, you what I want to dofor the listeners so that they
know your journey to New Jersey.
I know that you came fromPhiladelphia originally, then
you went to Juilliard for ayear.
Yes.
And you started getting a lot ofphone calls to come play gigs
and then left Juilliard.
(21:43):
Can you tell us about that, youknow, and transition that you
made there?
SPEAKER_00 (21:47):
Sure.
Um once I fell in love withjazz, it became obvious that if
I wanted to be in that circlewith all of these great
musicians who I admired onrecordings, I had to move to New
York because they all lived inNew York.
Even though Philly is not thatfar from New York, I just felt
that in terms of opportunity ofwhere I wanted to go, it was a
(22:11):
completely different universe,you know.
SPEAKER_01 (22:13):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (22:14):
And uh so I could not wait to move to New York
City.
So I I I went to Juilliard.
You know, within that firstyear, I started playing gigs
with the great alto saxophonistBobby Watson, and I also met my
my dear friend Roy Hargrove, andhis career started to blossom
around the same time.
(22:34):
So I finished my my freshmanyear.
I went on the road with RoyHargrove, and uh, while I was
out on the road with Roy, I alsogot an opportunity to start
playing with the legendaryFreddie Hubbard.
And so it was obvious to me thatI was like, well, I'm not gonna
be able to do this and school.
SPEAKER_02 (22:54):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (22:54):
So I have to make a decision here.
So uh, you know, I I had a verydifficult conversation with my
well, it wasn't a difficultconversation.
It was just difficult gettingthe nerve to tell her that I
didn't want to go back toschool.
Uh but after we had a talk, shewas she was very, very, very
cool.
And um, yeah, I I then juststarted my career going on the
(23:18):
road and playing with all ofthese musicians who I greatly
admired.
But specifically moving to NewJersey, you know, I I'd only
lived in two places my wholelife, Philly and New York City,
you know, and I lived innumerous neighborhoods when I
lived in New York.
Uh I lived in Harlem, I lived inBrooklyn, uh, I lived in on in
(23:39):
Murray Hill, I lived on theUpper East Side for uh almost 10
years.
And so uh the last place in theworld I ever thought I would
move to was New Jersey.
SPEAKER_02 (23:52):
That's usually what most people say, including what
we said before we moved here.
SPEAKER_00 (23:57):
Man, I ain't moving to New Jersey, man.
Like people who moved to NewJersey, I thought I was like,
you know, it's like, you know,they can't handle the city, you
know.
Uh they're soft, you know, youknow, they want to start their
old corny family life with thehouse and the, you know, the car
and the kids.
SPEAKER_03 (24:14):
They need trees and why.
You know, I tell a funny storyabout that because I thought the
exact same thing.
Yeah.
But when I when I moved out hereand I was still, you know, like,
I don't know if I'm gonna beable to hack it.
I was had my kids in a preschooland I was waiting in line to
pick up my kid, and there was awoman that was checking her,
like de-enrolling her child.
(24:36):
She said, she's like, we'removing back to the city, we just
can't do it.
And all of a sudden I was like,this is a challenge.
SPEAKER_01 (24:42):
Yeah.
Okay.
SPEAKER_03 (24:46):
That was a throwdown for you.
We you're weak, weak woman goingback to the city.
I am gonna dig it out.
It was like I flipped it, youknow?
SPEAKER_00 (24:56):
Yeah, yeah.
And and and so uh, yeah, I I hadno plans ever to, you know, I I
thought of New Jersey as onelong bridge between New York and
Philly.
SPEAKER_02 (25:07):
I'm sure.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (25:09):
And um I I had deep respect for Newark.
I knew a lot of I knew a lot ofpeople in in Montclair, I knew a
lot of people in Teaneck andInglewood, West New York, but
you know, we hawking, but I'mnot, I'm not moving there, you
know.
And and then I met Melissa, mywife Melissa.
SPEAKER_01 (25:26):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (25:27):
And uh when we started dating, she lived in
West Orange.
And I remember going to visither a couple of times, and you
know, I'd go to Port Authority,somewhere I'd never really had
any real reason to go to.
SPEAKER_02 (25:41):
It's not the nicest place in the world.
SPEAKER_00 (25:43):
Not the nicest place.
No.
And so I would go to visit her.
I'll take the bus from PortAuthority, and I would think,
well, I now I know I'm notmoving to New Jersey.
This this bus situation.
SPEAKER_02 (25:55):
Just sealed the deal.
I am not coming.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (25:58):
This is crazy.
SPEAKER_00 (25:59):
But then, you know, Melissa and I, I fell in love,
and you know, we decided to getengaged, and we thought, uh,
okay, well, how are we gonnahandle this uh this living
thing?
Like it it really it reallybecame an issue, you know.
She said, Well, she said, I Ihate New York.
I said, Well, I hate New Jersey,you know.
(26:20):
And uh she said, Well, we gottafigure this out, you know.
SPEAKER_02 (26:24):
That'd be a good jazz song.
I hate New York and I hate NewJersey.
Okay, yeah, let's do that.
Let's fight.
SPEAKER_00 (26:33):
And, you know, some some pragmatism came into play.
I thought, well, you know,seriously, like she had a really
nice house in West Orange.
And even though I had a verynice, I had a two-bedroom,
two-bathroom in Manhattan.
Wow.
And uh, but still, like, Idon't, I don't want to get
married and live there.
(26:54):
Okay, let me be real.
You know, for the kind of spacethat we would want, it's not
gonna happen in New York.
So I thought, well, okay, Ican't believe I'm saying this.
Can't believe it.
Okay, I'll come to New Jersey,but we gotta find somewhere
really cool, you know.
And uh we settled on Montclairbecause almost every musician I
(27:17):
knew, a lot of musicians who Iwas I was particularly close
with uh lived in Montclair.
And they say, hey man, we feltthe same way you did, and we
don't regret living inMontclair.
And I have to say, it has beenexactly it's been 20 years and
two months since Melissa and Imoved to Montclair.
(27:38):
And when I come into Manhattannow, my very first thought is my
exit route.
SPEAKER_02 (27:46):
I have the same thing now.
I used to really be sad to, youknow, I was so sad to leave the
city too.
But when I go in, I'm excited tobe there, but I am very excited
thinking at the end of the dayI'm gonna be back here.
SPEAKER_00 (28:00):
That's right.
Yep.
SPEAKER_03 (28:02):
You know, I'm curious about that though.
Do you still feel like when yougo to the city, I'm sure you go
there to the studios and have,you know, a lot of sessions in
the city, right?
Is that where you do most ofyour jazz sessions?
Does it feel like it used to, orhas it changed?
And is that also changed?
SPEAKER_00 (28:17):
Yes, it's that that part has changed also because
when I first started doing a lotof recording sessions in the
early 90s, obviously there wasstill a lot of big record
labels.
You know, you had Burb, you hadBlue Note, you had RCA, you had
Arista, uh, you had uh Electra,Atlantic, uh all and a lot of
(28:40):
independent labels.
Obviously, this was beforestreaming and YouTube and all
that kind of stuff.
I was averaging 15, 20 albums ayear.
So I was in the studio all thetime.
And when you when you have thatsort of studio life, um now what
I'm describing was nothingcompared to what the the
(29:03):
generations before me did.
I mean, they were probablyplaying on 15, 20 albums a week.
SPEAKER_02 (29:09):
Yeah, that's nuts.
SPEAKER_00 (29:11):
I don't spend as much time in the studio as I
used to.
I mean, the way it happens now,a lot of people have home
studios.
There's a lot of small studios.
So like somebody will send me atrack and say, hey, can you put
a bass part on this track?
And you know, I'll go tosomebody's house or record it in
my basement, you know.
(29:31):
So that's that's that's thestudio life now, you know.
SPEAKER_02 (29:35):
Is it I was gonna ask you that when you're talking
about the big band recording, isthat doesn't that was different?
Doesn't it?
I know, but you were saying sometracks were laid down, like the
vocals were laid downseparately.
But like, doesn't that feel sodifferent when you're everyone
is in the studio versus then youadd it later?
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (29:53):
Oh, absolutely.
You you prefer it to be inperson, but yeah, you know
sometimes it works out where.
You just can't be there inperson.
Piece it all together.
Yeah.
You just you you piece it alltogether and the musicianship of
that particular person will makeit feel like that they were
there.
So it it works out.
(30:13):
You know, to but to answer yourquestion about you know it being
different now, if you talk tosome young musician who's 24, 25
years old, I'm sure they willtell you things are great.
I got my own scene that I'mworking with now, you know.
So like um it's all aboutperspective, you know, because I
(30:35):
look at like this youngmusician, like, you know,
somebody like uh JuliusRodriguez, who's uh an
incredible young musician, he'llnever see the kind of scene that
I came up in, you know, playingin studios a couple of times a
week, or uh going to Bradley'sor Sweet Basil or the Village
Gate, you know, but he's got hisown clubs that he's going to
(30:58):
that I probably won't go to, youknow.
SPEAKER_03 (31:01):
That's true.
That's true.
Yeah.
Well, so here in New Jersey, youhave you're part of the uh Jazz
House Kids.
Your your wife Melissa startedthat here.
I think it what year was that,like 2002?
Or it's been a while.
SPEAKER_01 (31:15):
Correct.
SPEAKER_03 (31:15):
And it is bringing up a whole new generation.
And the kids that go there, theyare so talented.
It's amazing what you you bothhave done for the you know up
and coming generation.
Is that you're like the artisticdirector, I believe, correct?
Right?
How do you feel uh about seeingthis next generation and without
them being able to be part ofthat past?
(31:37):
Do you feel like there's a adifferent style they're bringing
forward, or do you do you feellike there's something new
breaking out?
SPEAKER_00 (31:44):
I don't even think I don't know if we think about
what kind of style they bring.
What's most important for us isto see that they have this dream
of playing music and they can doit.
Because the reason why JazzHouse Kids started in the first
place is because of this visionMelissa had when she got called
(32:05):
to do a masterclass for someelementary school kids in
Newark.
And, you know, there's notougher crowd in the world than
elementary school kids.
Oh and uh she fell in love withthem, they fell in love with
her, as has always been the casein America.
(32:25):
A lot of public schools lost allof their arts funding.
And if you wanted to play musicand you were in a community of
lesser means, chances are youwouldn't be able to play it.
Your school either didn't have amusic program, or you know, they
got rid of their music program,or if they had a music program,
(32:46):
the instruments were probably inpoor condition.
Um, you probably didn't have alot of music to choose from.
There might not have been anorchestra, you know, just a
small, you know, a smattering ofother kids who wanted to play
music.
So uh Melissa took it uponherself, like, well, I'm going
to create something that kidscan have so they can learn about
(33:08):
this great American art form anddo something other than just be
out on the street.
And, you know, to see what JazzHouse Kids has accomplished from
that time up until now, Iapplaud Melissa every single day
for creating this.
You know, and to see that someof the young leaders in jazz
(33:30):
right now came out of ourprogram, you know, Zohar and
Adam, Isaiah J.
Thompson, Emmett Cohen, ZoeAbadia, Kaylin Cardello, uh I
mean, it's it's incredible whois out there right now who has
come through our program.
SPEAKER_03 (33:46):
Do the the people that come through your program,
are they usually local people inNew Jersey or do they come from
other places?
SPEAKER_00 (33:54):
Throughout the school year, yes.
But we have a summer program.
Yeah, and the summer program, weget kids from all over the
world.
We've had kids from uh SouthAmerica.
We have a uh an exchange programwith uh organization in London
called Tomorrow's Warriors, uh,which is Jazz House Kids and
(34:14):
Tomorrow's Warriors does asimilar thing.
So we've sent some of our kidsto London, they've sent some of
our kids over to over toMontclair.
SPEAKER_03 (34:21):
So that's cool.
SPEAKER_00 (34:22):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (34:23):
Is it hard to get in?
Is there like a auditionprocess?
You could just if you want to doit, you can just come.
SPEAKER_00 (34:29):
Please, just come.
That's how we created it.
No, no, I mean, doesn't doesn'tmatter what how much money you
have.
We we just need to know that youhave some desire.
We'll get you.
SPEAKER_03 (34:41):
That's amazing.
That's amazing.
And it can be a beginner levelas well.
Like you could Okay, that'sgreat.
That's great.
What is the youngest studentsthat are there?
SPEAKER_00 (34:50):
Right now, I'm not sure, but I'm guessing it's
probably either nine or ten.
We had them as early as four atone point.
We had a program that we weredoing with uh Jazz and Lincoln
Center.
What was it called?
The uh the Bebop babies orsomething like that?
Um that that programs, becausewe like I said, we were doing it
(35:12):
in in a partnership with withJazz and Lincoln Center at the
same time.
SPEAKER_03 (35:14):
Well, the work that you're doing with through the
this program here in Montclairand also the work that you're
doing at NJPAC, and also it'syou know, it's an education
system as well there at NJPAC.
It seems that you're helpingbringing the arts back.
You know, if it's not in theschools, it's good to see that
there's it's become it's stillcoming into the community.
SPEAKER_00 (35:35):
That's right.
That's right.
I mean, that's it's necessary.
That's what I came up in.
When people look at my peers,you know, we were the recipients
of a school system and acommunity that was rich in music
education programs.
So that's our job to to give itback.
SPEAKER_03 (35:55):
Yeah.
And as you know, I think when wewere talking to John at at
NJPEC, he was the thing thatreally stood out is that for me
was, you know, take people talkabout how you're gonna help the
community and how you're gonna rraise a uh a whole city out of,
you know, poverty, basically.
And who would think it would bethe arts that are gonna do it?
SPEAKER_02 (36:16):
Yeah, and this week actually, I have a good friend
up um who grew up in WestVirginia, Kentucky, that area.
She's up for the conference atNJPack right now, um, which is
for community healing throughart.
And it's an amazing conferenceall week.
So she's staying with me to goto that.
SPEAKER_01 (36:34):
Nice.
SPEAKER_03 (36:35):
Yeah.
So it's good to see.
Well, I highly recommendeveryone listen to your latest
album.
And of course, if you aren'talready every day like you are
in jazz all the time, if youhave by chance, like me, put it
on the back burner and have beenlistening on whatever is the
hottest thing on Spotify,there's a reminder that put it
back in your rotation, put itback in your rotation with this
(36:57):
album and and also come gettickets on November 21st so they
could see you.
SPEAKER_00 (37:03):
Please.
SPEAKER_02 (37:04):
Yes.
SPEAKER_00 (37:05):
Oh, oh, and I I also would like to mention uh that I
have my first cruise that setssail in.
SPEAKER_03 (37:14):
I read about that.
Explain that.
Okay, what is this?
I didn't see this.
What is it?
SPEAKER_00 (37:18):
Yes, yes, McBride's World at Sea, which uh is
January 20 through 27th, leavesout of Fort Lauderdale and goes
to uh Falmouth, Jamaica, and theCayman Islands.
Everybody you can imagine isgonna be performing on this
cruise.
Angelique Keijo, Let us see,Cecile McLaurin Savant, Samara
(37:40):
Joy is gonna be on the cruise,Jose James is gonna be there, uh
the legendary comedian GeorgeWallace and uh Alonzo Bowden, my
big band, my quintet InsideStraight, my my young band Ursa
Major, the Remembering Ray Browntrio with uh Benny Green and
Greg Hutchinson, and Melissa isgonna be singing as well.
SPEAKER_02 (38:02):
So you just were like, I want to have a really
good party, go to some islandsand be on a cruise.
Let's let's get this, make thishappen.
SPEAKER_03 (38:10):
It's like a huge yacht you have chartered in some
you know, creative manner thatyou can just exactly right.
SPEAKER_00 (38:17):
So make sure everybody goes to McBride's
world at sea dot com.
SPEAKER_02 (38:22):
Okay.
All right, we're putting a linkin there.
SPEAKER_00 (38:24):
Yeah, McBride's a little bit.
SPEAKER_02 (38:25):
You can get it, you can get a ticket.
SPEAKER_00 (38:26):
And there's a discount that lasts for only two
more weeks.
So you better jump on it now.
SPEAKER_03 (38:31):
All right, all right.
We'll we'll we'll highlightthat.
This is pretty incredible.
I know that everyone that youlisted is pretty much on your
without further ado album.
And if you don't know who theyare, go to Spotify, look up the
without further ado album, andclick through and follow each
one of the people that you havecollaborated with because each
one is fantastic in their ownregard.
(38:53):
I I did that.
That's what I did.
unknown (38:55):
That's what I did.
SPEAKER_03 (38:58):
Well, it's been such a pleasure to talk to you and to
you know know that you know thatsomeone like you is not too far
down the block or musicalgeniuses around.
SPEAKER_00 (39:07):
Hopefully, I'll see you guys at the uh 21st.
SPEAKER_03 (39:12):
We will.
Uh, thank you so much forspending the afternoon with us.
We really enjoyed it.
SPEAKER_00 (39:17):
Pleasure was all mine.
Have a great day.
SPEAKER_03 (39:19):
Thank you so much.
You too.
SPEAKER_02 (39:23):
This podcast was produced by Rachel Martens and
Jeanette Afsharian.
You can find us on Spotify,iTunes, and BuzzSprout.
Thanks for listening.
See you next week.
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