CHRISTIAN McBRIDE BIG BAND

摘要

If big bands really are back, no-one could be more delighted than Mack Avenue's admirable chairwoman, Cretchen Valade, who fondly remembers them from first time round. No-one, that is, except McBride. The incomparably swinging bassist explains that he began a journey into big-band writing in 1995, when he was coerced into making some arrangements for the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra. He had to learn fast, but he did it. By 2010 he had enough charts for this album. He's created an unusually happy blend of old and new, with joyful and sparkling ensemble playing plus fine solos from the likes of Ron Blake, Nicholas Payton and Michael Dease.