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Christian McBride finds the groove again in his latest album, ‘Prime’

When you hear a great jazz band perform, what you’re hearing is a connection between musicians. Players who are on the same wavelength — and even when one plays a solo or goes off in their own improvised direction — it’s all held together by the groove.

Christian McBride finds the groove again in his latest album, ‘Prime’
Christian McBride finds the groove again in his latest album, ‘Prime’
Christain McBride on World Cafe

Christian McBride

Studio Session / August 1, 2023
  1. "Head Bedlam"
  2. "Moonchild"
  3. "The Good Life"

Christian McBride has spent his career laying down that groove as a jazz double bassist, appearing on innumerable recordings in a wide variety of genres, backing everyone from The Roots to Chaka Khan to Paul McCartney to James Brown. He’s also put out his own Grammy-winning albums.

His latest album, with his band Christian McBride’s New Jawn, is called Prime. It’s his second album with that group and his 18th as a band leader.

Christian joins us to talk about falling in love with jazz and how he thinks about leading a jazz band from the bass player’s position. You’ll also hear the band perform live — beginning with the mind-boggling opening track from Prime, “Head Bedlam.”

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