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| Christian McBride New Jawn Quartet |
There aren't enough fingers and toes on the human
body to count the number of bands, and special projects the jazz bassist Christian
McBride has formed and been intimately involved with throughout his
hall-of-fame-bound career. There's his trio, big band, Philadelphia Experience,
New Jawn, and Inside Straight groups, most of whose magnificence has been
documented for posterity on Grammy-winning recordings "That Good Feeling"
and "Bring It." On Friday night at Detroit's Orchestra Hall,
McBride's New Jawn quartet trumpeter Josh Evans, saxophonist Marcus Strickland,
and drummer Nasheet Waits performed an hour-plus set heavy on compositions from
New Jawn's new recording "Prime." Inarguably the most cherished jazz
bassist of his generation, McBride has a distinct propensity for designing
bands primarily as a showcase for his bandmates. So although McBride is the
marquee commodity, he affords his bandmates red-carpet treatment. The audience
witnessed that last night. The band opened with "Pier 1 Import" and
then moved into a free-spirited number that mixed pieces of a composition by
organist Larry Young and one by the R&B group Kool & the Gang. There
was an array of soul-numbing solos, starting with Strickland's Eric
Dolphy-eques blowing on "Moonchild" and "Dolphy Dust." It
seemed as if Strickland could tap into Dolphy's spirit at will. Evans's
trumpeting the entire night was state of the art, and when McBride soloed, he
proved yet again he walks the upright bass better than any current jazz bass
player breathing. New Jawn's centerpiece, however, was Waits. When McBride
introduced him, McBride asserted that the fire Emoji should be replaced with
Waits's likeness because he's such a fiery drummer. Waits had the congregation
roaring by the time he'd reached the zenith of his solos. New Jawn is as tight
and sharp as barbwire, but the musician's virtuosity is what the audience probably relished most.
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