Shade of the Cedar Tree

Gettin' To It, by bassist Christian McBride, is one of the first discs I discovered when I began to explore jazz music. If you're on a similar journey of discovery, this disc comes highly recommended.

Here's McBride performing in 1994 (a year before Gettin' To It was recorded) with Joshua Redmond, Brad Mehldau, and Brian Blade:



McBride's jazz music is eminently accessible — but not to be dismissed on that account. Most of the songs on the disc are uptempo and they swing in the best tradition of jazz. There is plenty of fine musicianship here:  not only from McBride himself, but also from the lineup of all-stars who support McBride in his first outing as a leader in the studio. Namely:  Roy Hargrove (trumpet, flugelhorn), Joshua Redman (tenor sax), Steve Turre (trombone) Cyrus Chestnut (piano), and Lewis Nash (drums).

Each of the musicians is given several opportunities to shine, and they come through magnificently. I particularly love Hargrove's sparkling chorus on the opening track, "In A Hurry"; Cyrus Chestnut's imaginative solo on "The Shade of the Cedar Tree"; Steve Turre's nimble turn on "Gettin' To It"; and Joshua Redman's soulful solo on "Black Moon".

McBride is in fine form throughout the disc, but particularly so on "Too Close For Comfort" and the ballad "Stars Fell On Alabama". I'm not crazy about either "Splanky" or "Night Train" — the latter consisting of unaccompanied bass and the former of a bass trio (with Ray Brown and Milt Hinton joining McBride) — just because I prefer music with a broader palate of sounds. But AllMusic.com selects "Splanky" as one of its recommended tracks, so maybe it's just me.

This is straight ahead, unpretentious jazz music. The musicians are having fun; no one is trying to make an artistic statement for the ages. Rather, the emphasis is on producing entertaining tunes for the enjoyment of listeners like you.

The senior musicians must have been fond of McBride (who had already paid his dues performing as a sideman with artists including Wallace Roney, Betty Carter, Freddie Hubbard, Joe Henderson, Joe Lovano, and McCoy Tyner) to support his journeyman effort as band leader. The resulting disc is musical throughout — which isn't true of every jazz album — and features plenty of high points.

Songwriting:  ★★★☆☆
Performance:  ★★★☆☆
Sound quality:  ★★★★☆
In a word:  Good.