SFJAZZ presents the West Coast Debut of Christian McBride’s New Jawn featuring Josh Evans, Christian McBride, Marcus Strickland and Nasheet Waits
2016-09-23
Robert M. Miner Auditorium
SFJAZZ Center, 205 Franklin St, San Francisco, CA 94102 USA
7:30 PM, Friday, September 23, 2016

Back to the previous event! ☸ Up to the 2016 yearbox! ☸ Up to the 2016 event list! ☸ On to the next event!

[7:33 PM lights down, announcements, band out]

1. [7:34 PM] Played Twice
2. [7:43 PM] Obsequious
   [7:58 Christian introduces the band and talks a bit]
3. [8:04 PM] Ernie Washington
4. [8:14 PM] Arboretum
   [8:27 banter from Christian]
5. [8:31 PM] Via Mwandishi
6. [8:45 PM] Kush
7. [8:55 PM] the Good Life
   [set ends 9:07 PM; bows, then all off for a minute or two]
    
   Encore
8. [9:09 PM] Raise Four
   [show ends 9:19 PM; bows, then all off for good]

• Josh Evans: trumpet;
• Christian McBride: bass, contrabass;
• Marcus Strickland: alto saxophone, soprano saxophone, tenor saxophone;
• Nasheet Waits: drums.

Enjoyed a savory crepe and a bowl of French onion soup for dinner at Chez Maman, which was totally hopping on Friday night… I ended up waiting for my seat at the bar longer than I actually occupied it! Good thing we had some time padding in our schedule tonight! Skipped the tempting desserts, and instead strolled slowly over to SFJAZZ to take our seats up near the soundboard. Seems like tonight isn't totally sold out, given the abundance of empty seats at the current moment, 3 minutes 'ere the announced show time. More's the pity that the general public can't recognize quality art unless they're whacked over the head with pronouncements of quality from the general media. I'm happy to be here… Excited to listen to the debut of Christian's New Jawn project!

At the first break in the action, Christian made a point of introducing the members of the band, and then explained that “Jawn” is a bit of Philadelphia slang. An all-purpose noun. And therefore, the SFJAZZ advertisement that tacked “Quartet” onto the name was a little off… 'taint necessary!

Follow up comments afterwards: a great debut! Strong soloing and sensitive comping from all four guys in the band. Seems like the house ended up about 90% full, so maybe I was being a little sour looking at all the empty seats at 7:27 PM.

Best part of the show for me was the happy, bouncy, set-ending rendition of the Good Life, an Ornette Coleman tune from his fabulous 1985 Song X collaboration with Pat Metheny (and looking up info on that album, I see that they released a 20th Anniversary version featuring an additional six tunes. Holy Smokes batman! Better get that on the playlist quick!).

Back to the previous event! ☸ Up to the 2016 yearbox! ☸ Up to the 2016 event list! ☸ On to the next event!