Mack Avenue Records Signs Bassist Christian McBride

Christian McBride, the Grammy-winning bassist, has signed with Mack Avenue Records. The composer and bandleader has assembled a new quintet for his next studio recording and is also teaming with like-minded artists for a progressive series of 20 duets titled “Conversations With Christian,” as part of a year-long project that celebrates his first 20 years as a professional musician, 1989-2009.

“I very much look forward to being a part of the Mack Avenue family,” stated McBride in a press release. “I predict that this will be a very fruitful and exciting association.”

Added Mack Avenue president Denny Stilwell, “We will be breaking new ground in our arrangement with Christian, creatively and technologically. He is not only a dynamic performer, writer and educator, he is a terrific human being. We are exceptionally pleased to be working with him.”

Within the past month, McBride completed back-to-back artistic directorships for the Detroit and Monterey Jazz festivals, took a travel day and then went directly into Fantasy studios to document his new quintet, Christian McBride and Inside Straight, featuring Steve Wilson, Warren Wolf, Eric Reed and Carl Allen.

In between these projects, McBride will join Chick Corea’s Five Peace band featuring John McLaughlin and Kenny Garrett for a late fall European tour, followed by a Spring U.S. tour. The Philadelphia native will also begin touring Inside Straight in May and a residency in New York City in the late summer for an evolving big band project. McBride’s civil rights-inspired large ensemble piece titled “The Movement Revisited” had its premiere in May 2008 at Disney Hall in Los Angeles.

Originally Published October 17, 2008