Wednesday, March 4, 2009

The McBride Band rides into the sunset...


After nine good years of bouncing around the globe, the Christian McBride Band ("The CMB") played our farewell gig last night to a small, but appreciative, audience in Gainesville, Florida. I have a lump in my throat when I say "farewell gig", because for me, playing in Christian's band has been consistently one of the best musical experiences of my life. We've become like family - a good, functional, loving family - and making music with these guys feels as easy as breathing and eating, just a great flow of creative music and positive life energy. Christian has decided to move forward with other projects for now, including his new acoustic band Inside Straight, as well as his duets project and other sideman comittments. So for now, keep an eye out for individual appearances and recordings of CMB members: sax/flute master Ron Blake, extraordinary drummer/percussionsist Terreon Gully, and of course yours truly :)

Thank you to all of our loyal CMB fans!!!! We'll be back!!!
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3 comments:

  1. AnonymousMarch 4, 2009 at 4:27 PM

    Hey GK, I always loved you with this band. Great musicians and great people - nice when that intersects. I had the honor of briefly subbing for you at some point, lot's of fun. All the best, Peace, PM

    ReplyDelete
  2. David ConnMarch 10, 2009 at 5:29 PM

    Hi Geoff,

    I've been preparing for this day for a long time, but still sad. I've been a jazz nut since I was fifteen but drifted away in the late 1990s. The late, lamented XM 72 "Beyond Jazz" channel and CMB brought me back to jazz in a big way, and I will be forever grateful. It was like being at the center of a colorful fireworks explosion and following all the pyrotechnic trails wherever they led. We have one less jazz band to relish but four individual careers and your respective directions to follow and to appreciate. Sorry to lose the CMB, but the world is a better place for your time with us and we will follow your careers closely and looking for your rare gigs in our area (living in jazz-starved rural Western PA!).

    Keep on swingin'!

    All the best,

    David (et famille)

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  3. UnknownMarch 18, 2009 at 6:33 PM

    G,
    You all achieved something a lot of bands never come in contact with : LONGEVITY....
    You guys swung a helluva lot of bandstands around the world.....

    I know the next plateau will be just as exciting for you and the cats......

    Blessings,

    Skip Norris
    Jazz Artistic Director
    The Music Hall for the Performing Arts Center
    Detroit, Michigan

    ReplyDelete

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