Christian Sands: The Natural

“The thing with Christian is that he’s not always trying to be hip: He already is hip,” says bassist Christian McBride of his young former pianist and namesake, Christian Sands. “There’s a tendency with young musicians—I know I had this—a need to be accepted, so you’re overeager. Whereas some young musicians are a little too comfortable with themselves. That comes off as being a little cocky.

“Christian is different. He’s very comfortable with himself in a really non-invasive way.”