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Double Bass Christian McBride

#81
DownLow said:
I agree. Technique is something you and I study to learn how to produce great sound. CMB is gifted. He produces incredible sound using some unconventional methods.
Why does anybody care what his left hand looks like? Close your eyes and listen.
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- That is not how I see/hear it. I think he has extremely good technique that he lets slide - and when you close your eyes and listen it sounds like it looks.
That is why I brought it up, it is entirely within his control. I think we have all been there, however, he just ends up "there" with a much higher profile.

Bassist4Life said:
Hmm. I don't remember that. I could be mistaken. It sounds more like something Chuck Israels would do given his background. Or, maybe even Eddie Gomez. Can you double check on that for us? I'm not trying to prove you wrong. I'm just interested in this detail.

Thanks,
Joe
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Well, La Faro's arco was very good, I doubt that appeared out of thin air. It could just mean Simandl, which even Haden worked out of.
In general the two genres are very intertwined, jazz is generally made on European instruments, and doing a thorough study of the instrument will involve some classical study. I never took a lesson from any bassist - jazz, classical, free, that did not involve some classical technique.

Anyway, now that the thread is more balanced (and not JUST a praisefest) , I think we can all agree Christian is a great player with a lot to offer, and obviously worth talking about.
 
#89
dkziemann said:
Theres a specific tune on Superbass that I can't think of that I will get back to you, and same on Some Of My Friends are the guitar players.

Now don't get me wrong anybody, I by no means think his intonation is absolutely disgusting at all. It's a bass, no one plays the damn thing in tune no matter who you are. But everyone has his flaws, and I think this is one of his.
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I had the opportunity to hear Christian play live. I really admire his playing. I honestly have not listened to a lot of his recordings, but had a comment.

Re: Superbass. I recently listened to this CD and it was painful to listen to it because there was a lot of bad intonation going on, especially in the thumb position. Could have been the second one. Not sure who of the three was the major offender of poor intonation, but this CD just sounded like an exercise in playing too many notes with really bad results.
 
#90
jgbass said:
I had the opportunity to hear Christian play live. I really admire his playing. I honestly have not listened to a lot of his recordings, but had a comment.

Re: Superbass. I recently listened to this CD and it was painful to listen to it because there was a lot of bad intonation going on, especially in the thumb position. Could have been the second one. Not sure who of the three was the major offender of poor intonation, but this CD just sounded like an exercise in playing too many notes with really bad results.
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Atleast in the version I have, (if you're facing your speakers), Christian is on the right, Ray is in the middle and John Clayton is on the left.
 
#91
dkziemann said:
Atleast in the version I have, (if you're facing your speakers), Christian is on the right, Ray is in the middle and John Clayton is on the left.
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I think a key issue underlying this thread can be well illustrated here:
The skill set it take to be a top call bass player getting calls to play bass on mainstream jazz projects are different than the skill set it takes to pull off a project like this.

Renaud Garcia-Fons, Mark Dresser and Barre Phillips might make a better bass trio, but would not be the first guys you call to play rock solid, supportive, basslines, although I am sure they can mange, it will be better with a guy like Christian who lives there.
On the other hand, there are those who can mange both like Dave Holland, Clayton, Drew Gress and even Dresser.

The gift that Christian has, as did Ray Brown is the ability to fulfill the working jazz bassist role while still retaining his personality and Character.

Another thing to add to the thread is the phenomenon of getting mis-cast often once you make a name for yourself.
I happens to me, and it happens to guys like this on a larger scale.
You don't want to turn down gigs, because it is a personal challenge but deep down you know some one else who specializes in a certain thing would have done it better.
 
#92
I think a key issue underlying this thread can be well illustrated here:
The bass is hard.

Name a bass player that can really do it all and I'll shut up.

IMHO in order to be really good at something you have to specialize. It doesn't mean you can't strive to get better at certain things but all my favorite players I like for different reasons. I think that is where the singular personality of their style starts to come out.

For the record I think those big name bassist duels (at least in jazz) are record company or promoter creations. They usually end badly. I can hardly listen to that Christian McBride/NHOP duet. Both of them are great bass players but are also both equally guilty of pretty wack intonation.
 
#93
fingers said:
I think a key issue underlying this thread can be well illustrated here:
The bass is hard.
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Amen. To that I would only add that if you want to get better at it, you have to work hard and continue to work hard. IMO, it doesn't really matter how you do that as long as you're staying healthy and getting results. Marc, you said in another thread that you practice 80-90% arco, and I totally respect that. Whatever you're doing it's working. Ed tells me he rarely picks up the stick these days, and his thing is working, too. Brian Bromberg mentions that he used to practice with the stick but doesn't any more. His thing is definitely working.

What cracks me up is that this would come up in a thread about Christian McBride, since he plays killer arco solos. In any case, whatever he's doing, I wouldn't dream of having him change it...but that's just me. :)
 
#94
jgbass said:
Re: Superbass. I recently listened to this CD and it was painful to listen to it because there was a lot of bad intonation going on, especially in the thumb position. Could have been the second one. Not sure who of the three was the major offender of poor intonation, but this CD just sounded like an exercise in playing too many notes with really bad results.
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I hope that's an exaggeration. Painful? Ya the intonation isn't perfect but the intonation on both those CD's never even reaches close to painful to me. If you can't get past 20 cents here or there when the music is good and everything else is so good then that's a burden I would not want to live with.

I don't have a lot of bass only material but I can say that superbass has some great playing on it and they all play their asses off.

Damon on a side note. Barre Philips. Recommendations? A friend of mine just spent some time with him at his castle in France and stayed with him (after his gig with Lee Konitz the lucky man) and was showing me some pics of his incredible basses, and I was thinking I need to get some of his music.
 
#95
Zachmozach said:
Damon on a side note. Barre Philips. Recommendations? A friend of mine just spent some time with him at his castle in France and stayed with him (after his gig with Lee Konitz the lucky man) and was showing me some pics of his incredible basses, and I was thinking I need to get some of his music.
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You are pretty safe with Barre, he always plays well.
I would start with a solo like "Camoflauge" or "Journal Violone 9", the trios on ECM "Time will Tell" and "Sankt Gerold" are great as is "Other Songs" on Nuscope. Really though, he always plays great.
 
#97
I'm from the BG side, so I'm not going to pretend to know all the ins and outs of DB. All I know is that when I listen to most of CMB's stuff, I really dig it. I dig a lot of DB stuff, and have a pretty large collection for a BG guy.

I'm going to see CMB tomorrow night here in Cincinnati, and I am looking forward to it. I know Michael Moore lives here, wouldn't that be cool if he stopped by?!?!?!?!

One of my favorite discs with CMB on it that may have slipped by you guys here on the DB side is George Duke's "Face the Music". It is an undoubtedly different kind of George Duke disc. CMB doubles on it, and it is one of my deserted island discs. CMB kills all the way through it.
 
#99
msw said:
Did Michael Moore move back to Cincinnati? I thought he lived in NYC.
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A couple of years ago, Dave Brubeck was here at Miami for a concert, and the dean of the college of arts was a friend of mine. He made the comment that at least Michael Moore didn't have to come far to play the show. By the way, MM was unreal. When you look at the guy, you don't expect that kind of playing.
 
#100
dkziemann said:
Since Ray Brown passed, I think Christian is the most hard swinging bass player out there. His time is impeccable, his pocket is so freakin' deep, and I think you could put him up against any soloist (on any instrument) and he could hold his own. He's got it down, and you don't see that much anywhere. I saw him live in Buffalo with Pat Metheny a couple weeks ago, and he sounds the same as he does on his records. His sound is so authentic (and his articulation is incredible too).
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I think you said it all
Ray Brown is the father,Christian Mcbride is the son and John Clayton is the Holy Ghost
 

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