For Jimmy, Wes and Oliver

by Christian McBride, Christian McBride Big Band

Overview

Following his ambitious homage to leaders of the 1960s Civil Rights Movement, The Movement Revisited: A Musical Portrait of Four, Christian McBride returns to his hard-swinging big band with 2020's For Jimmy, Wes, and Oliver. Where The Movement found him drawing inspiration from icons like Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Rosa Parks, For Jimmy, Wes, and Oliver finds the bassist drawing equal motivation from the work of jazz icons like organist Jimmy Smith, guitarist Wes Montgomery, and saxophonist/arranger Oliver Nelson. As with his past big-band albums, he is joined by a cadre of top New York jazz luminaries, including saxophonists Steve Wilson and Ron Blake, trumpeters Freddie Hendrix and Brandon Lee, trombonist Steve Davis, pianist Xavier Davis, drummer Quincy Phillips, and others. Also on board are longtime McBride associates guitarist Mark Whitfield and organist Joey DeFrancesco, who help summon the urbane soulfulness of their forebears Smith and Montgomery. At the core of the album are a handful of songs culled from the classic 1966 albums Jimmy & Wes: The Dynamic Duo and The Further Adventures of Jimmy and Wes, both of which featured Smith and Montgomery with big-band arrangements by Nelson. Here, McBride kicks things off with a brassy arrangement of "Night Train" inspired by the 1966 version but anchored by his own wickedly bluesy take on the song's classic bass groove. Equally engaging are the band's renditions of Montgomery's moody, minor-key "Road Song" and their buoyant version of Miles Davis' "Milestones," the latter of which features Nelson's original arrangement. As on the 1966 albums, here McBride pares down to a quartet with Whitfield, DeFrancesco, and drummer Phillips for a handful of equally engaging standards, including an urbane reading of Freddie Hubbard's "Up Jumped Spring," and a dusky take on the Billy Eckstein ballad "I Want to Talk to You." There are also two originals in McBride and Whitfield's "Medgar Evers' Blues" and McBride and DeFrancesco's "Pie Blues." For Jimmy, Wes, and Oliver is an ebullient album that evokes the earthy, artful spirit of the trio who inspired it. ~ Matt Collar

Product Details

Release Date:	09/25/2020
Label:	Mack Avenue
UPC:	0673203115217
Rank:	94702

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Christian McBride   Primary Artist,Bass,Featured Artist
Christian McBride Big Band   Primary Artist
Steve Davis   Trombone
Steve Wilson   Woodwind,Sax (Alto)
Nabate Isles   Trumpet
Douglas Purviance   Trombone,Trombone (Bass)
Joey DeFrancesco   Organ,Featured Artist
Freddie Hendrix   Trumpet
Will Wakefield   Director
Todd Bashore   Woodwind,Sax (Alto)
Frank Greene   Trumpet
Michael Dease   Trombone
Ron Blake   Woodwind,Sax (Tenor)
Mark Whitfield   Guitar,Featured Artist
Brandon Lee   Trumpet
Carl Maraghi   Woodwind,Sax (Baritone)
Quincy Phillips   Drums
Dan Pratt   Woodwind,Sax (Tenor)
James Burton   Trombone
Anthony Hervey   Trumpet

Technical Credits

Traditional   Composer
Ray Noble   Composer
Billy Eckstine   Composer
Christian McBride   Arranger,Composer,Producer
Joey DeFrancesco   Composer
Wes Montgomery   Composer
Mark Wilder   Mastering Engineer
Jimmy Forrest   Composer
Will Wakefield   A&R
Oliver Nelson   Arranger
Miles Davis   Composer
Al Pryor   Associate Producer
Todd Whitelock   Engineer,Mixing Engineer
Ed Palermo   Arranger,Transcription
Freddie Hubbard   Composer
Lewis Simpkins   Composer
Mark Whitfield   Composer
Raj Naik   Design,Art Direction
Chris Gold   Assistant Engineer
Keith H. Brown   Cover Illustration
Oscar Washington   Composer
Maria Ehrenreich   Producer,Creative Services Coordinator
Sharon Green   Product Manager
Gloria Kaba   Pro-Tools
Gretchen Valade   Executive Producer
Darrell Garrett   Photography
Cheryl Guess   Management
Andre Guess   Management