Christian McBride Band, Live @ Yoshi's

Yoshi's is a west coast institution. I have seen dozens of shows there, including one that was recorded and later released as a live album (I can honestly say on Bill Bruford's last live Eartworks disc that I am one of the clapping sounds between songs). Yay...who cares?

In any event, it is a great venue that attracts great talent. Last night was no exception.

McBride is the new 'something', although I do not know what. He is not solemn enough to be Ron Carter or mercurial enough to be Mingus, but he leads with a see-saw motion between the understated grounding of the former and the conviction and intensity of the latter...and the technique to stand in their company. The dude smokes. His electric playing is solid and soulful, but like Dave Holland suffers from a bit of a nondescript tone, and like Holland has a completely different character on upright; absolutely thundering. Elastic, thick and capable of wrenching notes from the farthest reaches of the fretboard, McBride has the physicality to dominate a generally difficult instrument, and the sensitivity to also cover material needing a delicate touch (the best bow work live since I saw George Mraz play with Herbie Hancock several years ago).

He also gives great repartee, and his good natured announcements and anecdotes seemed natural and unrehearsed, makiing it all the more enjoyable. The guy in sincerely funny and a natural bandleader.

Ron Blake I am still trying to get a handle on. There is some Joe Henderson in there, and some Wayne Shorter, and some other things which sound good, but I do not think he has started to really hit his stride (although his last solo album, Sonic Tonic, the title track to which was played live as the closer, is a damn fine effort that is getting slept on for no good reason at all) and as a result there were a few misfires early in the show until he got all pistons firing.

Now his stickman was in full octopus mode from the start, and not in a busy, overbearing way. Terreon Gully is a name to watch. He can play anything, has staggering amounts of not only technique, but stylistic finesse and stage presence. We are talking equal parts Brian Blade and Lenny White; other drummers should fear where he treads. The same goes for piano/keyboardist Geoff Keezer, who is not getting his due from the jazz buying public. The man is off the charts. When I first heard Keezer was when I found a few of his early solo albums (largely solo piano with the occasional contribution from McBride or Diana Krall) and I thought "Wow, this guy has some chops and compositional skill. He'll never get anywhere...but he should." Then a few years later I notice he is doing fusion madness on McBride's Vertical Vision disc and I see he is not a Jarrett-style purist, but can operate Rhodes and synths with just as much aplomb as he manages the piano. On this show, he went several steps further, and proceeded on several occasions to showcase a soloing technique that was visually arresting and sonically satiating. Ballistic speed runs and tasty phrasing came forth in surplus, and his ability to swap around various keyboards and patches made him a complementary creature to our aforementioned drumming octopus. It was funnier to watch Keezer though, as he looks like your 3rd grade substitute teacher fresh from getting his teaching creds.

Material-wise, they covered ground written by all four members, as well as a cover of Wynton Marsalis's Aural Oasis (from his 1985 Black Codes from the Underground album), which was heavily rearranged for electric bass and keyboards. The fun of course is that Wynton would probably have balked at such a treatment, being the parochial jackass that he is, but it was clear that even McBride understood and maybe even intentionally did it that way to poke a little fun at the neo-traditionalists like Wynton, who he appears to have broken away from, without giving away his own identity. Bravo.

The group is releasing a new multi-disc live album, recorded at an East Coast institution, Tonic, to be released on Ropeadope real soon now.