Local jazz musician saves the show for fans of Grammy winning bassist

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This article was published 20/06/2017 (2493 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Winnipeg’s small but vibrant jazz community bailed out one of the greats of modern jazz Tuesday night.

Bassist Christian McBride, a five-time Grammy Award winner who has collaborated with so many jazz, soul and pop greats and up-and-comers, “was stuck,” without a drummer for his Winnipeg International Jazz Festival concert at the West End Cultural Centre.

“If you’re going to be stuck without a drummer,” the affable New Jerseyite said, “this is the place to get stuck.”

That’s because with one phone call Tuesday morning, he got in touch with an old friend, Quincy Davis, the University of Manitoba jazz professor and percussionist. Both are veterans of the New York jazz scene, and as quick as a rap on the snare drum, McBride’s problem was solved.

Which is a good thing, as without Davis behind the drum kit, the sold-out audience would have gone home without hearing and seeing McBride’s soulful and dextrous ability on the double bass as well as his sizzling sidemen, trumpeter Josh Evans and saxophonist Marcus Strickland.

The ironic note is that McBride, who has performed with so many greats, from Herbie Hancock to Diana Krall to Paul McCartney to James Brown on hundreds of recordings and thousands of concerts, had never shared the stage with his friend “Q” until Tuesday.

The New Jawn began with the accelerator pressed firmly to the floor, with solo-filled versions of Thelonious Monk’s Played Twice and Larry Young’s Obsequious that were jazz’s equivalent of flying in a fighter jet. While McBride and Davis set the pace, the other two musicians played a jazzy point-counterpoint, with Evans, who hails from Hartford, Conn., rifling out a frenetic solo on trumpet while his body twisted and wrenched with every note and Miami-native Strickland performing in a smoother style on sax, and later, the bass clarinet. The effect was a satisfying contrast and a whiz-bang way of spending 30 minutes.

The quartet shifted out of overdrive with one of Evans’s compositions, Ballad for Ernie Washington, which showed the group has an emotional side to go with their fast fingers and hands. Davis got in on the solo action on this one, showing a light touch on the tom-toms that built up to a crescendo, with McBride urging him on.

It’s a testament to Davis’s ability that he blended in with the group’s arrangements so well.

The intermission split up two Wayne Shorter tunes that showed off McBride’s formidable fretwork, and a bluesy version of Monk’s classic Mysterioso. The New Jawn’s improvisational skills were on full display on this standard, which is like a Christmas tree; everyone decorates it their own way.

For those who want to see more of Davis’s drumming, he accompanies another bass great, Buster Williams, for two sets on Thursday night at the Rachel Browne Theatre (7:30 and 10 p.m.) and heads his own band on Friday at 7:30 p.m. at the same venue.

alan.small@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @AlanDSmall