Bassist, composer, and nine-time Grammy Award winner Christian McBride will begin an exuberant two-week residency at Gotham’s historical Village Vanguard on Dec. 2-7, with two sets at 8 p.m. and 10 p.m.
McBride opens in straight-ahead jazz mode, leading a trio featuring fellow Philadelphian guitarist and composer Kurt Rosenwinkel, a visionary bandleader in his own right, and the youngest member, drummer and composer Savannah Harris. As a bandleader, Harris led her own trio in 2023, and rounded out the inventive trio of Angelika Niescier and Tomeka Reid. She was awarded the Harlem Stage Emerging Artist Award in 2019.
His musical diversity stems from his ability to play within the core of jazz; he plays inside from the roots, infusing his own creativity as he swings out. His deep-toned bass glows in any genre –– having appeared on more than 400 recordings as an active contributor (sideman). During his journey, he has performed with a cross-section of musicians such as Sting, Queen Latifah, James Brown, Carly Simon, The Roots, Roy Haynes, and Herbie Hancock.
McBride’s hometown of Philadelphia was influential in developing his colorful music collage from the Heath brothers, Billie Holiday, Benny Golson, Johnathan Blake, Sr., the Sound of Philadelphia’s Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff, Billy Paul, and WDAS popular radio DJ Joe “Butterball” Tamburro, who played all the soul, R&B sounds of the day.
On Dec. 9 — 14, the bassist continues his Village Vanguard excursion in another configuration, pushing the music in yet another direction with Christian McBride Inside Straight. Two shows at 8 p.m. and 10 p.m.
McBride explores deeper elements of jazz with his established all-star lineup of alto saxophonist Steve Wilson, vibraphonist Warren Wolf, pianist Peter Martin, and drummer Carl Allen. Inside Straight reflects one of the many colors of McBride’s wide musical lens. For reservations, visit villagevanguard.com.
The viola’s caged existence in European classical music has evolved since the 18th century. During those most cultured bourgeois times, when the influential composer Wolfgang Mozart’s early pieces used the viola in more creative ways when he wrote his six string quintets.
While it is still somewhat unusual to see a viola on the jazz front, the classically-trained violist and composer Melanie Dyer has become that deliberate viola voice. Her artistic freedom is expressed in creative improvisation across multiple art disciplines as a means of exploring her cultural heritage, reflecting and responding to lived experience in the 21st century.
She has recorded critically acclaimed albums with her ensemble WeFreeStrings, an improvising string/rhythm collective. Her vibrant viola has graced stages with such music innovators as Marshall Allen and the Sun Ra Arkestra, Tomeka Reid, William Parker, Matana Roberts, and James Brandon Lewis.
On Dec. 5-6, at Mabou Mines Theater (150 First Avenue) Dyer will present her most emotionally riveting project to date “Incalculable Likelihood,” a creative improvised oratorio inspired by and featuring tape of the composer’s grandmother singing snippets of sacred songs (17 hymns she wrote and sang a cappella) as a member of the Church of God and Saints of Christ community, a now 120-year-old African American settlement in Virginia. “Incalculable Likelihood is a sonic reckoning of existence, what we experience as blacks in the U.S.,” said Dyer. “It reflects Black being, memory, existential resistance, and transcendence.”
Dyer began the challenge of composing “Incalculable Likelihood,” her first oratorio in 2022, with support from various grants that enabled her to premiere the piece at the 2024 Vision Festival. After attending the premiere, director Sandye Wilson came on to further develop the piece’s narrative and expand the libretto and stage direction.
“Writing the libretto was stepping into something new,” said Wilson. “It was out of my comfort zone, but that’s where we are in this world now.” Wilson and Dyer reunited as collaborators for the first time since meeting in the 1980s as members of the poetry performance group Gap-Tooth Girlfriends: The Third Act. For both of them, this piece is a return to lyrical art after decades of other creative pursuits — Dyer as an improvising violist and Wilson as a filmmaker, actor, director, and musician.
“It was an organic process; the music was telling me what it wanted to be. Sandye came in and brought it together –– creating ideas and narratives, researching music and imagery, and adding the libretto,” stated Dyer. “This oratorical form is sacred storytelling, the historical and spiritual aspects of the black existence with some significance.”
“Incalculable Likelihood” is co-created and co-produced by Dyer and Wilson. The production features 13 musicians [some are members of Dyer’s core ensemble] and poets. “I am excited to be at this experimental theater space [Mabua Mines] as they celebrate their 50th anniversary. This is another step in music and theater. The likelihood of us being here at this time at this moment.” For tickets, visit mabuamines.org.