The sensational nine-time GRAMMY Award-winning bassist and composer Christian McBride has released a dynamic live performance video of “Op. 49 – Cold Chicken Suite, 3rd Movement,” featuring his big band from their exhilarating Newport Jazz Festival set. This fiery, yet eloquent piece allows the big band to truly shine, setting the stage for his magnificent new album, Without Further Ado, Vol. 1, available now via Mack Avenue Records. The album features a spectacular roster of vocalists, including Sting, Andy Summers, Samara Joy, Dianne Reeves, Jose James, Cecille McLorin Salvant, and more, reaffirming McBride’s status as a champion of jazz past, present, and future. Having played with everyone from Chick Corea to Billie Eilish, McBride brings several artistic paths together in this electrifying collection, which grew out of his work as musical director for the annual NJPAC Gala.
McBride has assembled a multi-generational line-up of singers that definitively settles any debate about a vocal jazz renaissance, featuring Samara Joy’s breathtaking version of the standard “Old Folks” and three-time GRAMMY winner Cecile McLorin Salvant’s burning reinterpretation of Cole Porter’s “All Through The Night.” The album also features the lead track, “Murder By Numbers,” which brilliantly reunited Sting with his former bandmate Andy Summers for the first time since The Police’s 2007-2008 reunion tour. With Without Further Ado, Vol. 1, McBride delivers a vocal all-star game heightened by the elegance and fire of the Christian McBride Big Band, ensuring this collection of reimagined classics and surprises is an absolute triumph.