Stream Christian McBride & Ursa Major's Debut Album 'Points of Light'
(MPG) GRAMMY Award-winning bassist, composer, and bandleader Christian McBride released Points of Light, the debut album from his newest ensemble Ursa Major, via Mack Avenue Records.
Produced by Terrace Martin (Kendrick Lamar, Snoop Dogg, Stevie Wonder, Herbie Hancock), the album finds the legendary bassist weaving all of the strands of his artistry into a sonic whole. From acoustic (but never quite straight-ahead), to experimental, to fusion, the album is a showcase for McBride's relentless pursuit of new musical landscapes - in the company of four thrilling new compositional voices.
Christian McBride's newest ensemble features an extraordinary lineup of next-generation jazz musicians, including saxophonist Nicole Glover, drummer Savannah Harris, and pianist Mike King. The release comes on the heels of "Cows," a tune written by the ensemble's guitarist Ely Perlman, and George Duke's "No Rhyme, No Reason," featuring incredible soundscapes and vocoder from Terrace Martin. McBride was also recently interviewed by PBS NewsHour, which called him "the hardest-working man in jazz."
Over the years, Christian McBride has led a number of vibrant bands, each with its own singular identity - from the vintage acoustic jazz of Inside Straight and the boisterous swing of the Christian McBride Big Band to the classic rhythm section sound of the Christian McBride Trio, the experimental audacity of New Jawn, and his sweeping Civil Rights opus The Movement Revisited. But McBride found himself missing the anything-and-everything-goes freedom of a band that could weave together those multifarious strands. So in 2022, he began assembling the quintet that came to be known as Ursa Major, with that expansive vision in mind. "I had been itching to put together a new band, what I like to call a 'hybrid band,' for some time," McBride explains. "I didn't know at first what form that band would take, but I knew that it had to be a young band."
The resulting quintet brings together drummer Savannah Harris, saxophonist Nicole Glover, guitarist Ely Perlman, and pianist Mike King - four young musicians McBride selected for their flexibility, fearlessness and individuality. Harris was recommended by a number of colleagues as someone who could bring the swing, funk and freedom McBride was looking for, while Glover came to his attention through the musicians' grapevine as "one of the most heralded voices in jazz." Perlman caught McBride's ear at the Jazz Aspen Snowmass summer program, where McBride serves as Artistic Director, and King emerged as the unanimous recommendation of Harris and Glover when McBride asked them to suggest potential pianists.
Ursa Major's debut album, Points of Light, captures the boundless spirit that has defined the band from the beginning. The title reflects the luminous individuality McBride sees in his bandmates. "I have four young stars here," he recalls thinking. For the album's sonic direction, McBride called in multi-instrumentalist, singer, rapper, and producer Terrace Martin, whose boundary-stretching approach bridges the band's jazz foundation with McBride's deep history across funk, soul, hip-hop, and pop. Martin captured the band's live feel in the studio before adding a layer of studio wizardry alongside GRAMMY-winning producer and multi-instrumentalist Quintin Gulledge, incorporating synths, keyboards, and vocoder without interfering with the sound, vibe, and camaraderie the group had forged onstage. The album consists of original contributions from every member of the band, with the sole cover - George Duke's 1992 single "No Rhyme, No Reason" - arising spontaneously from conversations in the control room.
"This album is basically an extension of what we've been doing live for the last four years," McBride concludes. "It's been fun to watch a band develop and grow and progress when everything is so wide open. They don't say no to anything, which is a wonderful thing."
Stream or purchase the album here
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