Christian McBride and Angelique Kidjo - Conversation video

Amazon amzn.to | iTunes bit.ly Here is the full conversation with Angelique Kidjo, and the performance of Afirika, one of the duets featured on Conversations With Christian. On his eight CDs that precede Conversations With Christian, bassist Christian McBride has framed himself in ensemble contexts, most recently on the widely lauded 2009 Mack Avenue release Kind of Brown, which showcases the Inside Straight quintet (his return to the acoustic jazz format as a leader) and The Good Feeling, released in September, comprising a suite of well-wrought charts for an A-list 17-piece big band. On Conversations with Christian, the 39-year-old maestro places himself in the forefront of the flow on a duet apiece with "13 of my closest musical friends and cohorts"—singers Angélique Kidjo, Sting and Dee Dee Bridgewater; pianists George Duke, Eddie Palmieri and Chick Corea, as well as Dr. Billy Taylor and Hank Jones (who both passed away in 2010); violinist Regina Carter; trumpeter Roy Hargrove; guitarist Russell Malone; tenor saxophonist Ron Blake; and actress Gina Gershon. In the process, McBride unleashes the full measure of his already legendary skills, crafting as complete a portrait of his diverse interests—different vibrations of the blues and African-American church experience, bebop, the American Songbook, the Latin Tinge, the Freedom Principle, even comedy—as he has ever presented. "I love and appreciate so many different styles and cultures," he remarks. "Changing hats ...