Where does Christian McBride find the time?

He wears many hats, but you certainly know of his prowess on the bass. At 51, McBride has been playing bass since he was 17.  During those 34 years, he has won 8 Grammys while playing alongside an impressive lists of jazz (and pop) greats including Herbie Hancock, McCoy Tyner, Chick Corea, and Roy Haynes – just to name a few.

But he has also spent many years heading up his own groups, including Christian McBride’s New Jawn.

McBride is in Seattle for two nights at Jazz Alley, kicking off this Tuesday.  But before he takes the stand tomorrow, McBride is finding time in his busy schedule to make a couple of other appearances.

McBride paid a visit to the studio at KEXP this afternoon where he and his group laid down an impressive 30-minute set.  I happened to be in studio at the time and judging from the four songs he played, the two-night stand at Jazz Alley will be memorable.

With his band (Josh Evans on trumpet, Marcus Strickland on sax and bass clarinet and Nasheet Waits on drums), McBride swung from some tight bebop to intricate harmonic pairings with the reedy bass clarinet.

Young Lions

After he wrapped at KEXP, McBride touched on a few topics including what it was like to play at the legendary Bradley’s in NYC, where he said he got his ‘second degree’ learning a lot on – and off – the stage. He brought up the late Roy Hargrove who was also on the scene at the same time. And like Hargrove before his untimely passing, McBride mentioned that he was most interested in providing the opportunity for young musicians to have the chance he had growing up and breaking into the jazz scene.

Although McBride’s set at Jazz Alley officially kicks off tomorrow, he will swing by the club this evening to emcee a benefit being held for another jazz great, Julian Priester, who suffered a heart attack earlier this summer.

You can check out Christian McBride’s New Jawn at Jazz Alley this Tuesday and Wednesday. But be quick about it – he’ll be off to his next project before you know it.