Album Reviews

The 37 year old bassist Christian McBride apparently assembled the powerhouse quintet "Inside Straight" at the behest of Village Vanguard owner Lorraine Gordon, who told him he was welcome to play the legendary club anytime, but not with the “rock’n’roll” band he was playing with at the time. The group consists of veterans saxophonist Steve Wilson, pianist Eric Scott Reed, drummer Carl Allen and newcomer Warren Wolf, Jr., who, based on this outing has a bright, swinging, musical future. Since being asked to join Freddie Hubbard’s group when he was just 17, McBride has collaborated with everyone from Pat Metheny, to Sting, to James Brown among others, in a wide, eclectic circle of musicians and musical styles. Though this playfully titled, McBride- produced album is dedicated to Freddie Hubbard and the late drummer Tony Reedus who passed away suddenly in the Fall of 2008 at age 49, the “brown” reference probably refers to the late bass great Ray Brown with whom McBride played and recorded two albums. The music is mostly uptempo, spirited and intended to get listeners in a toe tapping, head bobbing good mood groove. While much modern jazz is probably too cerebral for its own good, McBride goes for a straight-forward physicality that swings breezily and dips occasionally into bebop while rarely losing sight of the tune. McBride wrote most of the music, managing to produce catchy, upbeat melodies while avoiding TV theme style corn pone. The chicken ‘n’ waffles waltz “Used ‘Ta Could” is guaranteed to put a smile on your face and get you in the groove, particularly when Warren Wolf, Jr. hits those bell-toned vibes. Both Eric Scott Reed and Steve Wilson put in tuneful, muscular turns that dig deeply into McBride compositions like “Rainbow Wheel” that evokes the drive and mystery of early ‘60s Coltrane ensembles. Naturally McBride takes nimble advantage of the openings he’s engineered into the arrangements but he never makes the tunes all about the bass. McBride oversaw the production for this Mack Avenue release, his first for the Detroit-area based label. McBride chose well, first with the recording’s timing— just off a Monterey Jazz Festival appearance, then with the recording venue: Fantasy Recording Studios with the veteran engineering great Joe Ferla at the board. Ferla also accomplished the mix on a classic Neve console at New York’s Avatar Studio C. Mark Wilder mastered at Sony’s new Battery Studios facility at the original recording’s full 96/24 resolution. Wilder has a long working relationship with Sterling Sound and McBride is an avid record collector who wanted the release to come out on vinyl so the file was sent to Sterling where Ray Janos cut lacquers using Prism D/A converters. You can see the lathe used in the interview I conducted with Sterling’s George Marino on my DVD “21st Century Sound, Michael Fremer’s Practical Guide to Turntable Set-up.” Ferla’s recording is not “audiophile” in the strictest sense of the word in that rather than create the sound of the group playing in a room, he went for more immediate, close-miked aural excitement including spreading Wolf, Jr.’s vibe set across the soundstage, which your eyes are sure to follow like a cat watching a dangling piece of yarn. The drum kit too, is similarly spread and if you don’t like that recording style, all I can say is “get a life.” It works really well with this music particularly since Ferla does such an excellent job capturing instrumental timbres and textures. It’s fun and it sounds good, though there’s an unavoidable hint of Pro Tools softness and gauze, even though I don’t know if Pro Tools was used. If it was analog mixed to digital, I will stand corrected and humiliated, but the lack of sparkle and air around Carl Allen’s cymbals is a dead Pro-Tools giveaway. Still, the recording is good enough to overcome the handicap. The gatefold presentation is inviting and as much as I like to rag on the poor pressing quality at United, Nashville, somehow they managed a reasonably quiet 210 gram job here, though the noise on the cover of "Where Are You" with the tune carried by a wonderful McBride bowed solo is marred through much of it by "shhusssshing." Are there quieter records pressed elsewhere? Yes, but there’s not much to complain about on these flat, well-pressed discs. Perhaps United is making like Rainbo and ramping up the quality. I sure hope so! You also get a coupon for a free MP3 download. The track sequence had to be reworked to make it all fit on two LPs, but someone really chose to go “old school” here! The records have been sequences for an old fashioned changer. Sides 1 and 3 are on one record, 2 and 4 are on the other. Now Christian, don’t tell me you stack and spin your records! A very highly recommended, musically significant, sonically pleasing jazz release on vinyl that for a change isn’t a reissue from across generations. Speaking of generations, liner notes by the legendary producer/annotator Orrin Keepnews completes the package. Please show your support for new jazz productions on vinyl by picking this up. You'll be glad you did!