This past year or so, he’s put out discs that have him leading a small band, a big band and a collection of duets ranging from Dee Dee Bridgewater to Sting. So, what’s left for Philly’s Phinest bass player, Christian McBride to bless his fans with? Hey, how about a hot little trio playing jazz standard?!? Let’s step right up and enjoy and evening with McBride and his working team of Ulysses Owens/dr and Christian Sands/p, as they deliver a 1 ½ hr set of jazz standards that were anything but standard.
The band bopped through a quicksilver “I Mean You” before giving a gospel inflected testimony during the head bobbin’ “Killer Joe.” Riding shotgun throughout the evening, Owens set the pace early with drumming that was crispy, tasty yet thoroughly and joyfully unpredictable. During a spacious take of “Footprints,” McBride and Sands created a mood that started off moody and mysterious, slowly building up to tsunami intensity and ultimately stretching out the theme and textures wider than Rosie O’Donnell’s spandex. McBride was even able to deliver a hot little dedication to Phyllis Diller during a take of the show tune “The Most Beautiful Girl in The World” that demonstrated his ability to not only play a tune straight, but then to also PLAY it. His deft solo intro and later bowed closing of “Sophisticated Lady” was a workshop of its own, while Sands closed down the set, and almost the club, with a white hot intro and rendition of “Giant Steps.” If you don’t think mainstream jazz is alive and well, then get a shot of McBride’s medicine, as it was in ample supply this Hot August Night.