Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Christian McBride Big Band @ Dizzy's 2/25/10

Note: I wrote this that night in the cab on the way home. I'm just getting around to posting it.

This was that stormy night where travelling was pretty treacherous. It didn't stop everyone from coming out to Dizzy's and filling the place for the 2nd set. It was so worth it!

This wasn't a typical big band, but they never really are any more. They started off with a Blues piece that made me want to get down. That was a quite funky Blues piece! I knew I was in the right place after that!

There was quite a range of genres, and all of it was spectacular. One piece was composed with a movie theme. It turns out Christian is a big movie buff. It was a great piece, full of suspense and great music. Most of the reeds picked up flutes for this. Ron Blake played his soprano sax for this one.

The other well-known band member was Nicholas Payton. He sat with the other trumpets and had a few more solos than the other 3. I liked that. I had envisioned he would come out and join in for a few, not play the whole set. I recognized a couple of the other trumpet players, I've probably seen them in other ensembles. They had some solo time on the last piece.

The trombones were great. There was one piece where 2 of them were featured and it was amazing.

A singer came out for a few. She's a great jazz singer. I didn't need her, but that's me. Most people love some vocals. It was nice when she did a duo piece with Christian. It was great how much he played in general. We even got some movie trivia from him.

This was a stellar set and well worth the trek, the cost, and the time. All of the musicians are phenomenal. I loved the drummer and piano.


I was trying to find the band members names, now, 3/17, but it's a hassle. I found this on facebook:
McBride, Nicholas Payton, Freddie Hendrix, Ron Blake, Todd Williams,
Melissa Walker and friends view the photos

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