Grammy Award winning bassist Christian McBride has carved out a career best known for his own trio work as well as teaming up with the likes of Pat Metheny, Chick Corea and Sting. For the first time for Los Angeles ears and eyes, he brought out his 15 piece big band, and showed the Soraya audience a new and dynamic dimension to his talents. The two hour concert was akin to a musical heavyweight boxing match, with the musical fists flying and delivering a swinging knockout punch.
His formidable orchestra was loaded with all stars in their own right, including Steve Wilson/as-ss, Ron Blake/ts, Freddie Hendrix/tp and Steve Davis/tb. McBride set the tone of the evening with a Kansas City swinging “Walk On” while the hard bopping “Shake A Bake” had Blake’s beefy tenor filling the auditorium with a sizzling solo. The band turned into the Famous Flames as McBride gave a tribute to James Brown on the hot and nasty “Brother Mister” and later on went into hard bop heaven as Hendrix and Blake seared through Freddie Hubbard’s “Thermo” and the rhythm section of McBride with drummer Quincy Phillips and pianist Alex Brown got tighter than Kim Kardashian’s leggings on the exotic “Shade of the Cedar Tree.”
Some soulful singing by Melissa Walker changed moods with a her rich molasses of a voice flew over the sweet woodwinds on “Upside Down” and skated to the waltzing “A Taste Of Honey.” McBride, for his part, told rich stories about the background of each song as well as displaying jaw dropping chops as he played a gorgeous lead on the hip “I Should Care” and bowed with rich lyricism during “ In The Wee Small Hours Of The Evening.”
But the surprise of all was a tune dedicated to legendary composer Lalo Schifrin, who was in the audience to experience the wide ranging opus “Science Fiction.” The opening of moody long shadows provided by the reeds and McBride’s bow created an ominous atmosphere, boldly going where no man had gone before, until the rhythm section went to Warp 8 speed and took a wild journey to the Klingon Empire with a blistering solo by alto saxist Todd Bashore that seemed powered by Lithium Crystals. The dizzying atmosphere finally had the band transport back to earth, with the crowd heaving a collective sigh of excitement.
The closing “in A Hurry” had McBride show that the hand is indeed quicker than the eye with a lightning quick solo leading into a trifecta of trombone mastery by Davis, James Burton and Michael Dease. The band bent and snapped quicker than Reese Witherspoon in Legally Blonde, and as McBride and company strutted out on “Walk Off,” he gleamed with the satisfaction that he was able to share a different hue of his many musical colors. It was a two hour tour of a new wing of his musical art museum.
Upcoming shows at The Soraya include Vijay Iyer 05/10-11 and Lea Salonga 05.22-23. The 2019-20 season is now on sale, and it includes Chucho Valdes, Luciana Souza, Jason Moran,The Count Basie Orchestra with Lizz Wright and Kurt Elling.