The 8-time GRAMMY® Award winner Christian McBride has shared a new track recorded with Norah Jones and Questlove, “Why Am I Treated So Bad.” The song was recorded as part of McBride’s appearance on Jones’ podcast “Norah Jones Is Playing Along.”
McBride writes, “I already knew working with Norah and Ahmir would be amazing, but I didn’t know just how amazing it was going to be! Norah proved herself to be quite a funk/soul queen on ‘Why Am I Treated So Bad.’”
Mcbride was also recently featured on NPR Music’s Tiny Desk Concert series with his New Jawn band, where he performed songs from his recently released album Prime.
Christian McBride is an elder statesman ahead of his time, possessed of the gravitas and renown expected of that title, yet he’s rarely conservative in his work, constantly looking beyond the next creative horizon. Uniquely for someone who has increasingly become the face of the genre, McBride has adamantly resisted the role of gatekeeper, refusing to adhere to strict definitions of what constitutes “jazz.” Instead he has channeled his wealth of influences and experiences into his own music and continues to seek out the next chapter in its ongoing evolution, while serving as a model of ambitious diversity for those seeking to define it.
In addition to receiving his sixteenth GRAMMY nomination for Best Jazz Instrumental Album last year, McBride also swept DownBeat’s 2022 Readers Poll, winning the Artist of the Year, Bassist of the Year, and Producer of the Year categories. He also secured additional accolades at the inaugural Jazz Music Awards, winning in the Best Mainstream Artist and Best Duo, Group, or Band categories (with his group Inside Straight).
McBride’s most recent album Prime exemplifies jazz greats at the zenith of their powers who insist on scaling greater heights, and received praise from The New York Times, NPR’s World Cafe, Forbes, Jazziz, and many more. The New Jawn – McBride, trumpeter Josh Evans, saxophonist and bass clarinetist Marcus Strickland, and drummer Nasheet Waits – has managed to maintain a sense of freshness and daring that evokes the thrills of a group of brash upstarts, while navigating a wide spectrum of improvisational moods and daunting compositional challenges that could only be pulled off by four musicians of this unmatched caliber.
Beyond his universally recognized virtuosity, McBride has won eight Grammy Awards, garnered acclaim for his poignant ode, The Movement, Revisited, and performed multiple times at the White House. Beyond his own work he’s a tireless champion for jazz’s continued relevance through his work as Artistic Director of the Newport Jazz Festival, host of the NPR radio program Jazz Night in America, Artistic Director of the music education organizations Jazz House Kids and Jazz Aspen, Artistic Advisor for the New Jersey Performing Arts Center and its TD James Moody Jazz Festival, and Associate Artistic Director for the National Jazz Museum in Harlem.
He is a living example of the torch-passing tradition of jazz, having worked and apprenticed with genre icons like Sonny Rollins, McCoy Tyner, Milt Jackson, Chick Corea, Freddie Hubbard, and Ray Brown, as well as giants of R&B, rock, hip-hop, and classical music; while sharing that priceless experience with new generations through his work as a bandleader (rising stars who’ve risen through the ranks of his ensembles include vibraphonist Warren Wolf, pianist Christian Sands, and drummer Ulysses Owens, Jr.) and as an educator.
Christian McBride Tour Dates:
09/16/23 – Santa Fe, NM – Lensic Performing Arts Center (Santa Fe Jazz Fest)
09/23/23 – Monterey, CA – Monterey Jazz Fest #
09/24/23 – San Francisco, CA – Miner Auditorium #
09/26/23 – Seattle, WA – Dimitriou’s Jazz Alley #
09/27/23 – Seattle, WA – Dimitriou’s Jazz Alley #
10/06/23 – Brussels, Belgium – BOZAR #
10/07/23 – Creteil, France – Maison des Arts et de la Culture #
10/08/23 – Cagliari, Italy – Teatro Massimo #
10/10/23 – Tourcoing, France – Tourcoing Jazz Festival #
10/12/23 – Seixal, Portugal #
10/13/23 – Mantua, Italy – Mantova Jazz #
10/14/23 – Milan, Italy – Triennale Milano Teatro #
10/16/23 – London, UK – Ronnie Scott’s #
10/17/23 – London, UK – Ronnie Scott’s #
10/19/23 – Paris, France – New Morning #
10/28/23 – Fairfax, VA – George Mason University Center for the Arts !
10/29/23 – Atlanta, GA – City Winery #
11/01/23 – Ridgefield, CT – Ridgefield Playhouse #
11/02/23 – Rockport, MA – Shalin Liu Performance Center #
11/04/23 – Toronto, ON – Koerner Hall #
11/09/23 – Zapopan, MX – Conjunto de Artes Escenicas #
11/11/23 – Mexico City, MX – Centro Cultural Roberto Cantoral #
11/30/23-12/03/23 – Baltimore, MD – Keystone Korner %
12/03/23 – Philadelphia, PA – Zellerbach Theatre #
12/05/23-12/10/23 – New York, NY – Village Vanguard
12/12/23-12/17/23 – New York, NY – Village Vanguard ^
01/18/24-01/25/24 – Fort Lauderdale, FL – The Jazz Cruise ^
02/16/24 – Chapel Hill, NC – Memorial Hall
02/23/24 – Charlotte, NC – Belk Theater ~
03/06/24 – Durango, CO – Community Concert Hall
03/09/24 – Lone Tree, CO – Lone Tree Arts Center
04/13/24 – Germantown, TN – Germantown Performing Arts Center
05/22/24 – Roanoke, CA – Shaftman Performance Hall ^
05/24/24 – St. Louis, MO – The Sheldon Concert Hall ^
# Christian McBride’s New Jawn
! Metropolitan Jazz Orchestra with Christian McBride
% Nate Smith Quartet – Nate Smith, Christian McBride, Geoffrey Keezer, Marquis Hill
~ The Movement Revisited
^ Christian McBride & Inside Straight
By: Bass Magazine