[Cover photo credit to Anna Webber]
Recently, 8-time Grammy Award-winner Christian McBride released But Who’s Gonna Play The Melody?, his new album recorded with bassist, composer, and 7-time Grammt Award-winner Edgar Meyer. The album is currently available for digital and CD purchase via Mack Avenue Records, and will be available as an exclusive 2-LP vinyl Record Store Day Release on April 20th, 2024.
But Who’s Gonna Play The Melody? explores the possibilities of pairing of two bassists, encompassing diverse original compositions, American Songbook standards, and familiar classics by Jazz and Bluegrass masters.
McBride comments:
Edgar and I come from two different places. I come from the jazz and R&B worlds with a little bit of classical, and he comes from the bluegrass and classical worlds with a little bit of jazz. With this album we’re meeting each other in uncharted territory.
McBride and Meyer were initially introduced by their mutual mentor, the Jazz bassist Ray Brown. It took nearly a decade before they shared a stage together in 2007 under the auspices of Jazz Aspen Snowmass, the Colorado-based non-profit jazz performance and education organization. The pair quickly discovered that the common ground between their disparate backgrounds was a firm foundation in the Blues.
While Meyer’s hometown is Oak Ridge, Tennessee, and McBride’s is Philadelphia, they have plenty in common.
Meyer says:
The center of our connection is in things that are earthy and funky and rooted in a blues dimension. Then it ranges out from there.
Christian McBride Tour Dates:
April 9 – Pittsburgh, PA – August Wilson African American Cultural Center
April 10-11 – Baltimore, MD – Keystone Korner
April 13 – Germantown, TN – Germantown Performing Arts Center
April 16 – Berlin, Germany – Pierre Boulez Saal @
April 19 – Warsaw, Poland – Jassmine
April 21 – Vienna, Austria – Club Porgy & Bess
April 22 – Bologna, Italy – Sala Paradiso
April 23 – Torino, IT – Torino Jazz Festival
April 24 – Basel, Switzerland – Jazz Festival Basel
April 26 – Stockholm, Sweden – Stockholm Konserthuset
April 27 – Espoo, Finland – April Jazz
April 28 – Tallinn, Estonia – JazzKaar
May 3 – Durham, NH – Paul Creative Arts Center ^
May 7-9 – New York, NY – Blue Note
May 11-12 – New York, NY – Blue Note
May 22 – Roanoke, VA – Shaftman Performance Hall ^
May 24 – St. Louis, MO – The Sheldon Concert Hall ^
May 25-26 – Cincinnati, OH – Caffe Vivace ^
June 15 – Los Angeles, CA – Hollywood Bowl Jazz Fest
June 20 – Aspen, CO – Rio Grande Park (McBride conducting the JAS Academy Big Band with Lisa Fischer)
June 22 – Aspen, CO – Limelight Hotel (Christian McBride’s Tribute to Ray Brown)
July 5-7 – East Sussex, UK – Love Supreme Festival
July 13 – Unterföhring, Germany – Bürgerhaus Unterföhring
July 15 – Molde, Norway – Molde Jazz Festival
July 17 – London, UK – Wigmore Hall
Aug. 2-4 – Newport, RI – Newport Jazz Festival
Aug. 10 – Telluride, CO – Telluride Jazz Festival
@ with Jason Moran
^ Christian McBride & Inside Straight
