PITTSBURGH, PA – February 15, 2024 – Since he came on the scene in the late eighties, the eight-time Grammy winner, Philadelphia-born bassist, bandleader, educator and media host Christian McBride has been the hardest working bass player in modern music. Influenced by the great Pittsburgh bassist Ray Brown, McBride will perform an inspired and expansive evening of jazz with his quintet at the August Wilson African American Cultural Center (AWAACC) 980 Liberty Avenue, on Tuesday, April 9, 7:00 pm.
Joining McBride at the AWAACC will be Nicole Glover, saxophone; Ely Perlman, guitar; Mike King, piano; and Savannah Harris, drums.
McBride’s resume as a sideman is as wide and deep as his rich, bass tones. He’s worked with jazz greats Pat Metheny, Herbie Hancock and Wynton Marsalis and pop, R&B and hip-hop icons Sting, James Brown and The Roots as well as with the avant-rock composer Laurie Anderson. McBride’s nearly 30 recordings as a leader run the jazz gamut, from the straight-ahead Number Two Express and his large ensemble/spoken word LP, The Movement Revisited: A Musical Portrait of Four Icons; from For Jimmy, Wes and Oliver, a big band celebration of organist Jimmy Smith, guitarist Wes Montgomery and bandleader/composer Oliver Nelson, to Prime, featuring a piano-less avant-garde quartet. Keep an eye out for the forthcoming duet album with bassist Edgar Meyer entitled But Who’s Gonna Play the Melody?
Born in 1972, McBride is the son of R&B bassist Lee Smith, and a graduate of the Philadelphia High School for the Performing Arts, which also included McBride’s classmates, drummer Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson of The Roots and organist Joey DeFrancesco. McBride moved to New York in 1989 to study at Juilliard but left about a year later to join saxophonist Bobby Watson’s Horizons. He boosted his jazz career with a group of talented musicians called the Young Lions, performing around the world and at the acclaimed Newport Jazz Festival, where he now serves as Artistic Director.
McBride also contributes to the music as a media host, spokesman, educator, programmer and social influencer. He is the Artistic Advisor for Jazz Programming at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC), TD James Moody Jazz Festival, the Jazz Aspen Snowmass Summer Sessions and Jazz House KiDS, a nationally known community arts organization for young people, founded by his wife, vocalist Melissa Walker. McBride hosts NPR’s Jazz Night in America and The Lowdown: Conversations with Christian, on SiriusXM satellite radio. He also spins records as DJ Brother Mister.
What McBride will bring to Pittsburgh is an exquisite evening of music that is fluent in the many languages of jazz he has not only mastered but loves to play.
Tickets are $60.00 here.
Major support for AWAACC’s operations is provided by Richard King Mellon Foundation, Henry L. Hillman Foundation, Heinz Endowments, and the Allegheny Regional Asset District (RAD). AWAACC’s programming is made possible by generous support from its donors. For a complete list, please visit awaacc.org.
The August Wilson African American Cultural Center is a non-profit cultural organization located in Pittsburgh’s cultural district that generates artistic, educational, and community initiatives that advance the legacy of Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright August Wilson. One of the largest cultural centers in the country focused exclusively on the African American experience and the celebration of Black culture and the African diaspora, the non-profit organization welcomes more than 119,000 visitors locally and nationally. Through year-round programming across multiple genres, such as the annual Pittsburgh International Jazz Festival, Black Bottom Film Festival, AWCommunity Days, TRUTHSayers speaker series, and rotating art exhibits in its galleries, the Center provides a platform for established and emerging artists of color whose work reflects the universal issues of identity that Wilson tackled, and which still resonate today. www.awaacc.org.
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MEDIA CONTACT: Carolyn McClair | (212) 721-3341 | Cmcclair@awaacc.org