Christian McBride: Getting the Inside Straight

Esther Berlanga-Ryan

Interviewer since 2009

Music Journalist, Radio Host & Producer and Voice Over Talent

Recent articles (20 total)

Published: November 24, 2009

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AAJ: Well, probably somebody that says that Duke Ellington is not a big deal has never heard Money Jungle, (Blue Note, 1962) for example.

Christian McBride CMB: Well, you know it's interesting what you told me some time ago about your dad, because that's the exact same thing that happened to me with my great uncle. He would always play Louis Armstrong, and then he would play Pharoah Sanders right after that; then he would play some Sun Ra and then The Platters after that! Or some Weather Report and then play Charlie Parker...and I would go "man, this is wild! All this variety!" And then I realized that this was all part of the same tree. I took my time to try to figure out exactly what was what, and how did this come from that, and how did this go from that to that. And I figured it out. But, you know, it was great that your dad too played so many different styles for you.

When I was in high school, there was a great record store, where all of the guys used to go, and the guy who was the jazz buyer for that store was also a DJ. He knew so much about all of the records. I would go in there once a week, and I would go "Okay, Craig, what do I need to buy this week?" "Okay, buy 'Moanin (Blue Note, 1958), Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers." So I would call my great uncle, and say "How's this 'Moanin' record?" "You'll love it!" "Oh, okay."

So I always had good people around that kinda turned me to a whole lot of different things. Now, that's one thing about my great uncle that I also appreciate now more than ever. There were certainly certain things that he didn't like. I think he was much more a McCoy Tyner man than he was a Herbie Hancock man, but he never said to me "don't listen to Herbie Hancock." I found that that would happen a lot, particularly with older musicians. "Oh man, Herbie don't play jazz, he's a funk pianist, you don't need to listen to him!" How can they say that? How can they listen to something like "The Sorcerer" [from Speak like a Child (Blue Note, 1968)], or the soundtrack to 'Round Midnight (Columbia, 1987) and say something like that? Elvin Jones can't play, listen to Tony Williams! I think, man, it's amazing the opinions that people have, they don't say "someone is different," they would say "don't listen to that cat, he can't play, he is weird," and things like that.

So I was always very lucky that my uncle never did that to me. So he always taught me to have an open mind about all these different players. I can tell when someone has done their homework, and who hasn't—I am talking about musicians. But for the most part, I try to keep an open mind for certain musicians. And I am very glad that you had that as well, we need more people like you!

AAJ: (laughs) Do you ever think of yesterday?

CMB: Well, depending on who you ask, 20 years ago was yesterday [laughs]. It's amazing how people say...Speaking of DJs again, there is a DJ here at home, WBGO, her name is Sheila Anderson, that she said to me not too long ago, "It's really hard to me to realize that you've been in New York for 20 years," because I was 17 years old when I moved here and started working around town. So she said "So many still think of you as a teenager." So "No, I'm not a teenager anymore, thank you," and she is like "Yeah, I know, but everybody in the jazz world is old, so...we have a hard time grasping the fact that you are a grown man." And I'm like, oh man, I don't know if I like that or not [laughs].

But to answer your question, do I look back? [Silence] I guess; I mean, I certainly like to look back about my early days in New York. I don't necessarily look back to kind of get sad about it, like "oh man, the old days are over, I wish those days could be back." I think I am realistic. Things must go on, you must live life, you must live in the moment. That's the only thing you have, really: the moment. It's nice to laugh and think about the old stories, but I'd rather live for the moment and try to prepare for what's coming later, and that's about it.

AAJ: Any gig or recording or something you said no to, and with time you went like "Oh, I wish I would have said yes"?

CMB: Ah...I will tell you...I don't think I've ever said this on print. I don't have many professional regrets at all, but I do have one regret.

I was caught between a rock and a hard place, I didn't know what to do, and I made a decision, and sometimes I'm not quite sure if I made the right decision. In 1996, Impulse! Records signed Horace Silver. They were going to do a major campaign to bring Horace back to the world with a new band; he was going to write new music, he was going to go on tour again. And Horace called me to play on this record.

Christian McBride And I mean, I cannot tell you how flattered, excited, honored I was that I was going to get to play and record with the great Horace Silver. Oh, man, it can't get any better than that! The only thing I found interesting, or unusual, was that he wanted to rehearse for four days, and then he wanted to record for four days. And that is very unusual because most jazz budgets don't allow you to have that much rehearsal; you usually have maybe one rehearsal, maybe two if you're lucky. If you are lucky, you get two rehearsals, and you get three days in the studio. But Impulse! really gave him a nice budget, which he deserved; he should have been able to rehearse for as long as he wanted.

Now, two days later, after I got that call from Horace Silver, Dave Brubeck called. "Christian, I am getting a Lifetime Achievement Award on the Grammys, and they want me to play live, and I want you to play with me." I thought, "Oh, man, this is my lucky week. I get Horace Silver and Dave Brubeck like two days apart. This is incredible!" As it turned out, had I played in the Grammys with Dave Brubeck, I would've had missed the first day of rehearsal with Horace Silver.

Now on my brain, I'm thinking, well, he's rehearsing for four days, and recording for four days, and I already have the music, that I practiced and rehearsed, so I don't think Horace will have a big problem with me missing one rehearsal. I called Horace, and I said, "Mr. Silver, I just wanted to tell you I got this call from Dave Brubeck, he wants me to play with him on the Grammy telecast, but in order for me to do it, I'll have to miss the first day of rehearsal." And Horace said, "Well, I'm sorry, but if you miss one day of rehearsal you can't be on the record."

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