Self-titled albums sometimes feel like a let down. It’s like really… ya’ll spent all that time working on this beautiful masterpiece then cop out at the last moment and just name it what you’re already named? That may be true for a lot of cases, but there are always exceptions to that previous statement. Sometimes the record is just so singular in its approach that the best way to name it is after the very people who created it. As far as Philly legend Christian McBride is concerned, there’s really no other name to best describe his latest effort other than Christian McBride’s New Jawn.
Jawn, for those uninitiated with the beloved Philly colloquialism, is an all-purpose noun used to describe a person, place, or thing. While almost anything can be a jawn, McBride’s new quartet effort — to borrow from the Philly slang term — is that jawn.
Featuring Marcus Strickland on saxophone, Josh Evans on trumpet, and drummer Nasheet Waits behind the kit, the chordless quartet is a bit of a departure from McBride’s big band and trio recordings of the past. “I was looking for a new challenge,” McBride states in a press release. “I don’t get the chance too often to play in a chordless group. Every major group I’ve been a part of for the last ten years whether it’s been with Pat Metheny or Chick Corea or my own projects, there’s been nothing but chords. So, I wanted to see what happens if I just pull the chords out altogether.”
The result of pulling the chords out altogether can be heard in “Walkin’ Funny,” the opening track of Christian McBride’s New Jawn where the lack of chordal information allows space for McBride, Strickland, Evans, and Waits to say their piece without stepping on each other’s toes. Lack of a chordal instrument doesn’t quite mean that there is a lack of harmony as the interplay between sax, trumpet, and bass create enough of a texture to provide our ears with the pertinent chord changes. But listening to this new quartet interact with each other in “Walkin’ Funny” is almost like listening to a modern-day four-voice fugue, except four-voice fugues a la Bach never sounded this gritty.
The eponymous album dropped last week on October 26 via Brother Mister Productions, the McBride’s own newly launched imprint of Mack Avenue Records and is available for purchase on iTunes. Scroll down below and get into “Walkin’ Funny” from Christian McBride’s New Jawn.
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