WEBVTT - Being in Tune with Yourself featuring Christian McBride 0:00:01.320 --> 0:00:07.680 How many things are different since we met, since before 0:00:07.840 --> 0:00:11.360 the pandemic, how my life has changed, and how a 0:00:11.400 --> 0:00:14.120 lot of people's lives and and how things that you 0:00:14.160 --> 0:00:19.000 didn't realize were so important are really the important things. Right. 0:00:19.200 --> 0:00:21.959 It's not just your career, and it's not just you 0:00:21.960 --> 0:00:25.400 know how you show up at work. It's just it's 0:00:25.400 --> 0:00:27.360 really the words that come out of your mouth and 0:00:27.400 --> 0:00:33.920 how you live your life. Bobby, who are we talking 0:00:33.960 --> 0:00:36.840 to you? For our last guest of the season. I'm 0:00:36.880 --> 0:00:39.800 so excited. Well, I cannot wait for you to meet 0:00:39.840 --> 0:00:44.360 my friend Christian McBride, who is like it's even too 0:00:44.400 --> 0:00:46.879 hard to even talk about his accolades. He is a 0:00:47.000 --> 0:00:51.720 jazz musician, he is a bass player, and mostly he's 0:00:51.760 --> 0:00:54.720 just the coolest, nicest guy. I can't even tell you 0:00:55.080 --> 0:00:58.600 his spirit. So I'm really looking forward for you to 0:00:58.680 --> 0:01:02.040 meet him. I can't wait. So here's our conversation with 0:01:02.120 --> 0:01:09.800 Christian McBride. Hey, friend, Hey, what's going on? What's going on? 0:01:09.840 --> 0:01:13.000 I haven't seen you since your birthday party? No right, 0:01:13.080 --> 0:01:15.280 thank you for being there. It was great to see. 0:01:15.319 --> 0:01:18.160 Oh my god, thank you for inviting me. First of all, 0:01:18.319 --> 0:01:20.280 I don't know if I should we should talk first 0:01:20.280 --> 0:01:24.840 about your mother, your father or Quest Love or any 0:01:24.880 --> 0:01:30.479 of those other people, but we'll save that for offline party. Yeah. 0:01:30.720 --> 0:01:34.240 But but first of all, meet my co host Angelie. Hello, 0:01:35.360 --> 0:01:39.040 so nice to meet you. What a thrill pleasures all mine. 0:01:39.480 --> 0:01:42.520 First of all, he went to high school with Quest Love. 0:01:42.880 --> 0:01:45.759 That's so cool. The two of you guys and boys 0:01:45.800 --> 0:01:50.360 Demand and Joey Di Francesco and Kurt Rosenko amazing. Oh 0:01:50.400 --> 0:01:53.160 my god, but you guys didn't know any of you 0:01:53.240 --> 0:01:56.040 guys were gonna be what you guys, are you right 0:01:56.160 --> 0:01:59.240 or did you know? Well, what's interesting is that if 0:01:59.280 --> 0:02:07.000 you could go back to you know nine, um, uh, 0:02:07.080 --> 0:02:11.600 Joey d Francesco was actually the one who had you know, 0:02:12.120 --> 0:02:14.920 he had he signed with Columbia Records when we were 0:02:15.000 --> 0:02:18.799 juniors in high school, and he joined Miles Davis's band 0:02:19.680 --> 0:02:22.480 uh just after, just right before our senior year of 0:02:22.560 --> 0:02:26.200 high school. So uh, smart money was on Joey at 0:02:26.240 --> 0:02:27.800 that time, so we knew he was going to be 0:02:27.800 --> 0:02:29.399 a big star. I mean, he already was a big 0:02:29.400 --> 0:02:35.440 star by the time we graduated. Um, and Kurt, you know, 0:02:35.520 --> 0:02:38.160 I didn't even really know guitar with his main instrument 0:02:38.280 --> 0:02:41.160 until like much later. Because he always played piano around 0:02:41.240 --> 0:02:45.079 school boys. Two men. We kind of had a feeling 0:02:45.120 --> 0:02:49.399 then we're going to be big um and Uh. I'm 0:02:49.440 --> 0:02:53.079 herror and and Uh and Tyreek also known as black thought. 0:02:53.639 --> 0:02:55.799 I had no idea they were going to become the 0:02:56.520 --> 0:03:00.240 world icons that they became. Yeah, I mean of those 0:03:00.280 --> 0:03:04.520 you guys listening a mirror is Quest Love, who started 0:03:04.560 --> 0:03:07.280 when he was twelve. I heard him saying his wonderful 0:03:07.360 --> 0:03:09.800 speech to you that he started as a kid playing 0:03:09.840 --> 0:03:14.960 with his parents. Well right, well, enough enough about quests. 0:03:15.080 --> 0:03:20.880 You know it's okay. I'm my nickname for myself as 0:03:21.080 --> 0:03:26.120 Ed McMahon, which is so not like. First of all, 0:03:26.160 --> 0:03:28.160 if you're of a certain age, you have no idea 0:03:28.240 --> 0:03:35.880 what the hell you're talking about? Ed? Yeah, people might 0:03:35.920 --> 0:03:41.160 not get Yeah, well you know most people know your name. 0:03:41.520 --> 0:03:44.800 You do win Grammys every freaking year. How many Grammys 0:03:44.840 --> 0:03:50.120 do you have? Eight? Eight? Yeah? You hesitated. I did 0:03:50.160 --> 0:03:54.200 the research. You do have eight Grammys, question, Bride, I 0:03:54.240 --> 0:03:58.840 can confirm very Google search eight. And you know this 0:03:58.880 --> 0:04:02.240 podcast is not to talk about all your accolades, but 0:04:02.320 --> 0:04:04.360 you know the good stuff you do and who you 0:04:04.400 --> 0:04:07.840 are and honestly how you do it Because you're on 0:04:07.920 --> 0:04:10.960 the road more than you're off the road, how do 0:04:11.040 --> 0:04:13.200 you do it? Like? What what? What do you pull 0:04:13.240 --> 0:04:17.840 out of your hat to keep you going? Um? Well, 0:04:19.200 --> 0:04:22.719 you know, during the pandemic, I had to be very 0:04:22.760 --> 0:04:27.160 careful with my words because wow, you know, we were 0:04:27.200 --> 0:04:30.440 all being pummeled with this horrible thing that went on 0:04:30.480 --> 0:04:34.760 around the world. It was actually I had mixed feelings 0:04:34.760 --> 0:04:38.600 because to be in lockdown in my in my home 0:04:38.760 --> 0:04:44.280 for two years was actually quite a blessing. I enjoyed 0:04:44.640 --> 0:04:48.920 not being able to travel and actually just kind of 0:04:50.160 --> 0:04:53.120 get in tune with myself and find out who I 0:04:53.160 --> 0:04:56.040 was and and uh not be on the road for 0:04:56.040 --> 0:05:01.479 a little while. But over the last I would say 0:05:01.520 --> 0:05:05.320 seven months, it's been all back to pretty much normal. 0:05:05.400 --> 0:05:07.880 I mean, I've I've been to Europe. I was there 0:05:07.920 --> 0:05:10.839 for most of the month of March, and uh I 0:05:10.880 --> 0:05:15.080 did a two week run at Disease in April, and 0:05:15.279 --> 0:05:18.320 uh I was on the West Coast for most of 0:05:18.480 --> 0:05:21.200 last month, and I'm going back again this month. So 0:05:21.320 --> 0:05:24.440 I you know, I don't know, I think, um, I 0:05:24.480 --> 0:05:28.200 think most working musicians are just groomed to be on 0:05:28.240 --> 0:05:33.680 the road and and do a lot of different projects. Um. 0:05:33.720 --> 0:05:37.520 You know, particularly as a bass player. Um, you know, 0:05:37.880 --> 0:05:40.120 I mean I think most rhythm section players, you know, 0:05:40.160 --> 0:05:43.560 piano players, guitar players, bass players, drummers. We're always going 0:05:43.600 --> 0:05:46.160 to play in more than one band, you know, I mean, 0:05:46.240 --> 0:05:49.440 unless you do get lucky and playing a band that 0:05:49.600 --> 0:05:53.760 becomes sort of like uh, you know, like the Rolling Stones, 0:05:54.000 --> 0:05:56.280 you know, like you know, they don't have to work 0:05:56.320 --> 0:05:58.279 with anyone other than each other for the rest of 0:05:58.279 --> 0:06:01.280 their lives. That's pretty much the you know yea, and 0:06:01.400 --> 0:06:05.680 calling yourself a bass player, you're only the world's greatest. 0:06:05.880 --> 0:06:08.200 You're one of the like it's been said, not not 0:06:08.360 --> 0:06:11.599 by me, but you Google you and it's been said 0:06:11.760 --> 0:06:13.760 you're the number one in the world. And it's like 0:06:14.200 --> 0:06:16.919 for anyone that you know, probably saying like why is 0:06:17.040 --> 0:06:21.320 Bobby have this, like you know, Jazz Superstar on her podcast. 0:06:21.400 --> 0:06:24.120 We've been friends for like, I don't know, a decade. 0:06:24.160 --> 0:06:26.040 Maybe I don't even remember the first time of night 0:06:26.640 --> 0:06:30.599 because yeah, uh, you know, Melissa and I have lived 0:06:30.640 --> 0:06:35.800 in Montclair for almost seventeen years now, so I feel like, 0:06:36.080 --> 0:06:37.880 you know, we met you not too long. You have 0:06:38.000 --> 0:06:41.880 to be moved to Mont Claire, so probably close to that. Yeah, 0:06:41.880 --> 0:06:44.560 and our friend Rose Calli's house, who now moved from 0:06:44.560 --> 0:06:49.520 my house to your, which is kind of funny. But 0:06:49.600 --> 0:06:52.120 we met at dinner and you had a very charming 0:06:52.200 --> 0:06:57.320 nickname for me, which you still call me sometimes because 0:06:57.360 --> 0:06:59.919 I told you, I guess seventeen years ago. I was 0:07:00.040 --> 0:07:04.919 so into flow right on exact and yeah, so you 0:07:04.960 --> 0:07:08.039 know I got a little with a new name for you. Yeah, 0:07:08.400 --> 0:07:13.040 probably b B Queen. We also my dad was with us, 0:07:13.200 --> 0:07:17.000 whose name happens to be James Brown, so leads me 0:07:17.080 --> 0:07:20.440 into like, go go talk to me about James Brown 0:07:20.520 --> 0:07:22.360 and working with him and meeting him and what he 0:07:22.360 --> 0:07:26.720 means to you. Oh man, Uh, definitely he's been my 0:07:26.720 --> 0:07:31.920 my mused. I first saw him when I was about 0:07:32.280 --> 0:07:34.280 six years old, six or seven years old, and I 0:07:34.320 --> 0:07:37.240 saw him on the h on the Midnight Special. That's 0:07:37.280 --> 0:07:42.040 that's another restaurance stepped out. Most people under thirty five 0:07:42.120 --> 0:07:46.240 probably won't get um. But when I saw him on 0:07:46.280 --> 0:07:49.040 the Midnight specially blew my mind. I've never seen anybody 0:07:49.080 --> 0:07:53.120 performed like that, you know, just screaming and falling on 0:07:53.160 --> 0:07:56.240 his knees and doing splits and you know, with with 0:07:56.280 --> 0:07:59.680 the hair flinging all over the place. And the band 0:07:59.800 --> 0:08:02.520 was perfectly choreographed, and he had two drummers, and I 0:08:02.560 --> 0:08:05.040 mean it was just like watching it was like watching 0:08:05.040 --> 0:08:09.360 a Martian, you know, the hair was like one member 0:08:09.360 --> 0:08:17.200 of the band. I feel like it was like and 0:08:17.200 --> 0:08:22.400 and from that point on, um, I just fell deep, deep, 0:08:22.480 --> 0:08:26.200 deep into a James Brown hole. My uncle, uh my 0:08:26.240 --> 0:08:31.120 mother's brother, was a promotions and advertising manager for w 0:08:31.320 --> 0:08:35.480 h A T radio in Philly, and uh so, I said, uncle, 0:08:35.480 --> 0:08:38.400 but you have any James Brown records? And he just 0:08:38.520 --> 0:08:41.400 like laughed, He's like, do I have any James Brown records? 0:08:41.400 --> 0:08:44.839 He's like, now, I've been collecting James Brown records since 0:08:44.880 --> 0:08:47.800 I was a boy. You know. So you know how 0:08:47.840 --> 0:08:51.640 the grateful dead have dead heads, Well, we became James 0:08:51.720 --> 0:08:55.559 Brown heads. And we were inseparable James Brown cronies throughout 0:08:56.760 --> 0:08:59.800 basically throughout the eighties. And then James Brown started having 0:08:59.840 --> 0:09:02.839 a out of a lot of issues, you know, going 0:09:02.880 --> 0:09:05.000 to jail, a lot showing up in the news. And 0:09:05.880 --> 0:09:07.679 uh so, by the time I moved to New York 0:09:07.760 --> 0:09:11.560 to start college, he was in jail. But I knew 0:09:11.600 --> 0:09:13.760 that at some point he would get out and he 0:09:13.800 --> 0:09:16.400 would reclaim his throne, which he which he did, and 0:09:17.080 --> 0:09:18.640 I met him for the well, I met him when 0:09:18.679 --> 0:09:20.600 I was a kid, but I don't really count that one. 0:09:20.640 --> 0:09:24.320 The first time I met him as a professional musician 0:09:24.360 --> 0:09:30.360 was backstage at the Apollo in and Uh. About four 0:09:30.400 --> 0:09:33.000 months later, my first album came out, and the title 0:09:33.080 --> 0:09:36.080 track of that album, which is called Getting to It, 0:09:36.120 --> 0:09:39.080 was based off of the James Brown tune called get 0:09:39.080 --> 0:09:41.760 It Together. So I sent that CD to Mr Brown 0:09:42.520 --> 0:09:45.680 and Uh. About six months later, I saw him in 0:09:45.720 --> 0:09:50.000 Europe at the Vienna Jazz Festival and we had a 0:09:50.040 --> 0:09:53.600 conversation and he actually listened to my CD, and and 0:09:54.200 --> 0:10:00.480 I really came this close to passing out. And U story, 0:10:00.760 --> 0:10:03.640 but didn't you play with him? I played with him 0:10:03.679 --> 0:10:07.880 at his UM sixty four birthday bash in Augusta, Georgia, 0:10:08.400 --> 0:10:11.600 and I produced what was one of his last shows 0:10:11.720 --> 0:10:15.800 in l a A at the Hollywood Bowl. Being friends 0:10:15.880 --> 0:10:19.920 with James Brown. Uh, definitely had Uh it's obligatory drama. 0:10:20.040 --> 0:10:22.240 But that's much too long in the story to tell now. 0:10:22.360 --> 0:10:26.319 But that's another show. Oh yeah, no, I am sure. 0:10:26.400 --> 0:10:28.720 So there's a couple of women I want to talk about. First. 0:10:28.760 --> 0:10:30.640 I want to talk about your mom because I never 0:10:30.679 --> 0:10:33.560 met her before. I couldn't believe number one, how young 0:10:33.640 --> 0:10:37.720 she was and how like spirited. And you know, I 0:10:37.760 --> 0:10:39.880 went to talk to her. Of course is from one 0:10:39.920 --> 0:10:42.160 mom to another, because she was talking about you know, 0:10:42.600 --> 0:10:46.520 how raising you. There was nothing she wouldn't do, like 0:10:46.840 --> 0:10:49.599 it was just the power of being your mom's and 0:10:50.040 --> 0:10:51.719 I and I asked her and I just said, how 0:10:51.720 --> 0:10:53.920 old are you? And she told me that she was 0:10:53.960 --> 0:10:57.640 like sixteen when she had you. She was a kid. Yeah, 0:10:57.720 --> 0:11:01.600 And so you guys grew up together. We did exactly right. 0:11:01.760 --> 0:11:04.800 You know. I always say that, you know, my my 0:11:04.840 --> 0:11:08.400 mother was the she was the navigator of the ship. 0:11:08.840 --> 0:11:11.920 You know, she she's not a musician, but she has 0:11:11.960 --> 0:11:17.600 got musician ears. Um. And I just remember, like anything 0:11:17.640 --> 0:11:23.079 I wanted to do, she always went uh to great 0:11:23.160 --> 0:11:26.080 lengths to make sure that I had a chance to 0:11:26.120 --> 0:11:28.520 really check it out. Like for example, you know, as 0:11:28.640 --> 0:11:33.480 as a kid, you you change occupations like weekly, Like 0:11:33.760 --> 0:11:36.200 one week, I wanted to be a fireman. Okay, so 0:11:36.520 --> 0:11:38.439 you know she would take me to the local firehouse 0:11:38.480 --> 0:11:43.240 to meet the fireman. You know, um, I said, in 0:11:43.280 --> 0:11:45.080 one week, I wanted to be a cop. You know, 0:11:45.160 --> 0:11:48.120 She's like, oh boy, but she was like, Okay, if 0:11:48.160 --> 0:11:50.199 you if you really want to, let's let's figure out 0:11:50.200 --> 0:11:52.719 how that could happen. And then that changed, and then 0:11:52.720 --> 0:11:56.160 I wanted to be a base a pro baseball player, 0:11:56.760 --> 0:12:00.280 and uh. She actually gathered some of the other moms 0:12:00.280 --> 0:12:02.640 in the neighborhood to see if we can start a 0:12:02.800 --> 0:12:07.760 little league team, but we couldn't sustain the momentum. And 0:12:07.760 --> 0:12:10.120 and then when I finally decided that, you know, I 0:12:10.160 --> 0:12:13.959 wanted to be a bass player, um, without flinching, my 0:12:13.960 --> 0:12:16.360 mother said, let's figure out a way to get you 0:12:16.400 --> 0:12:21.040 a base and uh and that one stuck, obviously. And 0:12:21.080 --> 0:12:24.640 then your dad too, was you know, a musician, right, 0:12:25.000 --> 0:12:29.120 he still is, he's uh, he's he's still uh plays, 0:12:29.160 --> 0:12:32.200 he's based in Philly still, but you know he's on 0:12:32.240 --> 0:12:35.000 the road now as much as he was back in 0:12:35.040 --> 0:12:38.560 the seventies and eighties. And uh, you know, he tells 0:12:38.559 --> 0:12:40.880 the story about when I saw him play with Michoel 0:12:40.960 --> 0:12:43.560 Santa Maria, and I decided that I wanted to try 0:12:43.600 --> 0:12:47.000 to give the base a shot too, and uh, and 0:12:47.120 --> 0:12:49.640 that's true. So I came home and told my mom 0:12:49.760 --> 0:12:54.280 and she said, let's make it happen. M It's amazing 0:12:54.320 --> 0:12:58.000 that your mom would be so supportive. She never said 0:12:58.040 --> 0:13:00.719 no to me. I'll never forget that. Yeah, it's kind 0:13:00.720 --> 0:13:03.520 of incredible. But I feel like my daughter. My daughter 0:13:03.800 --> 0:13:07.320 has a new idea every week and I indulge in like, yeah, sure, 0:13:07.400 --> 0:13:09.240 but I don't know that I would take her and 0:13:09.320 --> 0:13:11.880 buy the equipment and do all the things. And um, 0:13:11.920 --> 0:13:14.520 it's pretty awesome. And let's talk about the other woman 0:13:14.559 --> 0:13:17.480 in your life, the woman who is your wife named 0:13:17.520 --> 0:13:23.600 Melissa Walker, incredible singer, amazing, amazing. I mean a couple 0:13:23.600 --> 0:13:26.600 of things. How many years you married again? Coming up 0:13:26.640 --> 0:13:31.120 with seventeen? Wow? And and how do you how do 0:13:31.240 --> 0:13:34.280 you guys do it being apart from each other? Like 0:13:34.360 --> 0:13:38.800 how do you keep it together? Ah? Well, I've always 0:13:38.840 --> 0:13:42.400 heard like, like the couples that that we know have 0:13:42.600 --> 0:13:46.600 been together for a very very long time, spending a 0:13:46.720 --> 0:13:50.360 significant time apart seems to help them stay together a 0:13:50.400 --> 0:13:57.640 long time. But um, marre all little advice you won't 0:13:57.679 --> 0:14:00.520 hear everywhere, but it's true. I think it might be true. Yeah, 0:14:00.559 --> 0:14:02.920 you know what it makes you makes you miss the 0:14:02.960 --> 0:14:06.199 person you know? Um, and plus you know Melissa and 0:14:06.240 --> 0:14:09.600 I have both working musicians, you know, so we knew 0:14:10.520 --> 0:14:14.920 you know, our lives were similar, you know. Um. Obviously, 0:14:14.960 --> 0:14:19.640 since Jazz House Kids started to become bigger and bigger 0:14:20.000 --> 0:14:23.480 and game mormentum, she's game more momentum, she spent less 0:14:23.480 --> 0:14:26.640 and less time on the road. But when we first, 0:14:27.600 --> 0:14:33.280 uh started dating, almost twenty years ago, UM, I was 0:14:33.800 --> 0:14:36.800 in the middle of touring my latest album at that time, 0:14:37.360 --> 0:14:44.080 and so, I mean we we both realized that we 0:14:44.120 --> 0:14:46.720 had to figure out how to do something together because 0:14:46.760 --> 0:14:48.800 I had my own band, she had her own band 0:14:48.800 --> 0:14:52.280 at that time. Um. And then she had started this 0:14:52.400 --> 0:14:56.680 nonprofit organization called Jazz House Kids. And at that time, 0:14:57.320 --> 0:14:59.240 you know, that was just something that she was doing 0:14:59.280 --> 0:15:02.000 on the side, you know, like every now and then 0:15:02.000 --> 0:15:05.560 when she wasn't working as a singer, you know. Um. 0:15:05.640 --> 0:15:08.840 And then as time progressed, she started spending more and 0:15:08.880 --> 0:15:14.040 more time developing Jazz House Kids. And I decided that, uh, 0:15:14.160 --> 0:15:18.560 well let's do that one together, you know. And I'm 0:15:18.680 --> 0:15:20.960 very proud of what Jazz House Kids been able to 0:15:20.960 --> 0:15:24.000 do over the last uh. I mean, she she started 0:15:24.080 --> 0:15:28.120 Jazz House Kids before we met, but um, it didn't 0:15:28.160 --> 0:15:31.400 really become her main focus until I would say, like 0:15:31.440 --> 0:15:34.880 our second or third year of marriage. We'll tell everyone 0:15:34.920 --> 0:15:37.800 what Jazz House Kids is because it's pretty cool. Yeah, 0:15:37.880 --> 0:15:42.080 Jazz House Kids is a jazz educational foundation which is 0:15:42.480 --> 0:15:46.120 based in our town, Mount Clear, New Jersey. And it 0:15:46.280 --> 0:15:51.520 started out UM with h going into different schools, which 0:15:51.560 --> 0:15:54.400 we still are. You know, Basically, a lot of public 0:15:54.400 --> 0:15:58.840 schools in Essex County started losing their music programs and 0:15:58.920 --> 0:16:04.440 so Melissa knew a lot of UH principles and teachers 0:16:04.440 --> 0:16:06.520 in the school systems, so they would asked Melissa to 0:16:06.560 --> 0:16:10.760 put a group of instructors and jazz artists to come 0:16:10.760 --> 0:16:14.480 in and basically give different master classes and seminars and 0:16:14.680 --> 0:16:18.920 jazz to their students. And UH, one school led to another, 0:16:19.080 --> 0:16:21.560 one school led to another, and finally we were probably 0:16:21.560 --> 0:16:26.119 in about five and six schools throughout Newark and Irvington 0:16:26.280 --> 0:16:30.880 and the Oranges and UH in two thousand fourteen we 0:16:31.560 --> 0:16:37.400 opened our own building, UH, thank thanks to Mr Rob 0:16:37.520 --> 0:16:42.760 Brown and you know, UH since that time we've been 0:16:42.800 --> 0:16:49.000 able to see UM probably over a hundred thousand kids, 0:16:49.080 --> 0:16:52.960 which first started out only New Jersey, but now we 0:16:53.040 --> 0:16:56.240 have students coming as far as London and South America 0:16:56.760 --> 0:17:00.680 to our summer program. UH. And then after the summer program, 0:17:00.680 --> 0:17:05.080 we started the Moncla Jazz Festival. So Jazz House Kids 0:17:05.080 --> 0:17:08.719 has turned into quite the organization. Very proud of us 0:17:08.960 --> 0:17:12.760 and you guys together or you started the Montclair Jazz Festival. 0:17:13.040 --> 0:17:16.360 Oh no, you know what what happened? What the Monclad 0:17:16.440 --> 0:17:21.240 Jazz Festival. It was completely accidental. Um. We were trying 0:17:21.240 --> 0:17:24.920 to figure out what to do during the summertime because 0:17:24.960 --> 0:17:27.560 you know, we had we had staff. You know, we 0:17:27.600 --> 0:17:32.000 couldn't put staff. You know, hey guys, you know, uh, 0:17:32.240 --> 0:17:35.240 uh have a great summer, will pay you in September, 0:17:35.280 --> 0:17:37.600 you know, So we had to figure out how to 0:17:37.720 --> 0:17:40.680 keep it going. So we started a summer program two 0:17:40.720 --> 0:17:47.680 weeks summer intensive, uh course. Um. And at the end 0:17:47.720 --> 0:17:52.560 of those two weeks, we figured that we would start, um, 0:17:52.640 --> 0:17:54.679 you know, just have like a little end of the 0:17:54.720 --> 0:17:58.080 summer program concert for the kids. And so we had 0:17:58.119 --> 0:18:02.000 this free concert in niche Wane Park and uh, at 0:18:02.040 --> 0:18:06.200 that time, it was only the parents of the kids 0:18:06.200 --> 0:18:08.720 who came to the summer program, which at that time 0:18:08.840 --> 0:18:14.200 probably were I don't know, a hundred kids maybe, And 0:18:14.440 --> 0:18:16.760 the following year we wind up getting like a hundred 0:18:16.760 --> 0:18:20.080 and twenty five kids and more parents showed up in 0:18:20.119 --> 0:18:22.800 a couple more people from the neighborhood showed up. And 0:18:22.840 --> 0:18:26.480 then the third year, which I believe was two thousand 0:18:27.000 --> 0:18:32.880 eleven maybe or two thousand and twelve, I can't remember. Um, 0:18:33.040 --> 0:18:35.760 I can't remember what year was, we invited the great 0:18:35.840 --> 0:18:39.520 Monte Alexander to come and uh perform with us. And 0:18:39.760 --> 0:18:41.600 we didn't even have a piano. He played on like 0:18:41.640 --> 0:18:46.840 a little keyboard. And at some point we looked at 0:18:46.880 --> 0:18:50.200 each other with you know, let's invite another musician to 0:18:50.280 --> 0:18:54.040 come and play, get a bigger stage, and let's see 0:18:54.080 --> 0:18:56.120 what happens. And then next thing, you know, the mont 0:18:56.160 --> 0:18:59.880 clar Jazz Festival was born. Now this is an annual 0:18:59.880 --> 0:19:04.080 of in Montclair for yeah, and so when is it 0:19:04.119 --> 0:19:07.200 happening this summer? Well, it's it's going to be happening 0:19:07.240 --> 0:19:10.639 the weekend after Labor Day. Shame on me for not 0:19:10.720 --> 0:19:15.800 knowing the exact dates, but um, the second weekend of September. 0:19:15.840 --> 0:19:20.399 That's good, that's better than the summer. Yes, Well, do 0:19:20.480 --> 0:19:22.959 you do the Newport Jazz every year because you were 0:19:23.040 --> 0:19:26.880 the master of ceremonies or I know it's a bigger name. 0:19:26.920 --> 0:19:31.200 What is what is your you know Newport Jazz? Yes, yes, 0:19:31.240 --> 0:19:35.239 I've been artistic director of the Newport Jazz Yes, uh, 0:19:35.520 --> 0:19:40.760 since and the man who created the Newport Jazz Festival 0:19:40.800 --> 0:19:44.440 of the late George Ween. That man was an icon. 0:19:44.960 --> 0:19:48.040 First of all, he created the template for the music festival. 0:19:48.200 --> 0:19:53.240 So every every festival has ever happened from Monterey, both 0:19:53.280 --> 0:19:58.160 the jazz and the pop festival, Woodstock, the New Orleans 0:19:58.240 --> 0:20:01.840 Jazz and Heritage Festival, which he started, the Hampton Jazz Festival, 0:20:02.359 --> 0:20:06.200 the Old Cool Jazz Festival from the seventies and eighties, um, 0:20:06.240 --> 0:20:09.840 all the way up to festivals now like Coachella and 0:20:10.000 --> 0:20:13.879 Burning Man and Bonarum, all of these big music festivals. 0:20:14.480 --> 0:20:18.560 That template was started by George Ween in nineteen fifty four, 0:20:19.119 --> 0:20:24.040 and you know he became, uh, you know, literally one 0:20:24.080 --> 0:20:27.040 of the most important figures in the history of music. 0:20:27.080 --> 0:20:32.600 So uh, I knew George fairly well, not that well, 0:20:32.640 --> 0:20:38.680 but fairly well. And in he asked me to join 0:20:38.840 --> 0:20:42.400 him in Washington, d C. For a round table discussion 0:20:42.440 --> 0:20:45.359 on the history of the Newport Jazz Festival. And I 0:20:45.480 --> 0:20:49.280 was stumped because I thought, why is he calling me? Sure, 0:20:49.320 --> 0:20:52.040 there's a lot of other musicians who have a much 0:20:52.160 --> 0:20:55.280 longer history with the Newport Jazz festival than I do. 0:20:56.080 --> 0:20:59.000 And uh so I went down there and Dan Morgenstern, 0:20:59.119 --> 0:21:02.640 who used to run the uh um at at at 0:21:02.720 --> 0:21:07.480 Rutgers um he listened to the jazz studies. Uh, it 0:21:07.600 --> 0:21:09.560 was just the three of us on this panel, and 0:21:09.560 --> 0:21:13.439 and so that O'Brien was the moderator. And I'm just 0:21:13.480 --> 0:21:19.000 sitting there like, why am I here? I w I 0:21:19.080 --> 0:21:25.840 had no idea, So yeah, right exactly. So I suppose 0:21:26.040 --> 0:21:29.040 I did a good job on the panel. And uh 0:21:29.160 --> 0:21:32.520 the next year, George says, coming from my house for 0:21:32.520 --> 0:21:36.920 for lunch, and uh, I said okay, And Melissa says, well, 0:21:37.000 --> 0:21:39.320 what do you think he wants? I said, I don't know. 0:21:39.440 --> 0:21:42.359 He might ask me to be uh you know, artists 0:21:42.400 --> 0:21:46.000 and residents or something that at Newport next year. And 0:21:46.080 --> 0:21:48.520 she said, I don't know if he was going to 0:21:48.600 --> 0:21:50.520 ask you that. He could probably ask you that over 0:21:50.560 --> 0:21:53.960 the phone, you know. Uh So I went over to 0:21:54.040 --> 0:21:58.119 his apartment and I got there and he said, Christian, 0:21:58.119 --> 0:22:00.119 I'm glad you're here. Let's go into my office. And 0:22:00.160 --> 0:22:03.040 he told his assistant to shut the door. And I'm 0:22:03.080 --> 0:22:07.200 getting nervous, you know, like what does he want? And uh, 0:22:07.400 --> 0:22:10.160 he says, you know, Christian, I've been. Uh, I've been 0:22:10.160 --> 0:22:12.600 spying on you. You know, I've been. I've been. I've 0:22:12.600 --> 0:22:15.040 been checking you out from Afar for a long time. 0:22:15.119 --> 0:22:17.440 And you know, I've seen what you've been doing. You. 0:22:17.800 --> 0:22:19.640 I already know what you've been doing as a bass player. 0:22:19.640 --> 0:22:21.240 I've I've you know, I've been watching to do that 0:22:21.280 --> 0:22:23.600 since you were a teenager. But like, you know, the 0:22:23.640 --> 0:22:26.200 whole thing you were doing out of the Hollywood Bowl, 0:22:26.560 --> 0:22:28.400 what you've been doing in n j pack, what you've 0:22:28.440 --> 0:22:30.399 been doing with your wife and jazz I was kids, 0:22:31.280 --> 0:22:33.719 what you've been doing on NPR and all this all 0:22:33.840 --> 0:22:38.719 you know, serious sex, m and all this stuff. He said, Uh, 0:22:38.880 --> 0:22:42.400 I'm stepping down from the Newport Jazz Festival. I'm eighty 0:22:42.480 --> 0:22:47.400 nine years old, and it's about time, Um someone else 0:22:47.520 --> 0:22:50.600 runs the ship and me and the board decided that 0:22:50.640 --> 0:22:54.280 you'd be the person to run it. And uh, you 0:22:54.280 --> 0:22:56.440 could have knocked me over with the feathers, like are 0:22:56.560 --> 0:23:01.280 you kidding me? Really? And uh, he said, well, you know, 0:23:01.400 --> 0:23:03.520 I like the fact that you don't seem to have 0:23:03.560 --> 0:23:08.000 any particular musical biases, you know, it's I like the 0:23:08.000 --> 0:23:11.680 fact that you worked with so many different types of artists, 0:23:12.160 --> 0:23:14.640 and you seem at home with all of them. And 0:23:14.920 --> 0:23:18.720 that's the way I want my festival run after. I'm going. 0:23:35.359 --> 0:23:37.520 First of all, you've done so much I can't even 0:23:37.560 --> 0:23:41.000 like begin to list it. You got a couple of podcasts, 0:23:41.000 --> 0:23:45.639 you got radio, you got radio shows. What haven't you done? Like, 0:23:46.040 --> 0:23:48.600 what haven't you done that you think? Wow? Like, do 0:23:48.600 --> 0:23:50.960 you want a line of I don't know? Socks? I 0:23:51.000 --> 0:23:56.080 don't know. Is there any weird things? That's what's missing. 0:23:56.240 --> 0:23:59.400 I can see guys in jazz clubs wearing some really colorful, 0:23:59.440 --> 0:24:02.000 cool socks. Well, I'm going to listen to you guys 0:24:02.000 --> 0:24:04.520 on that one. So maybe, yeah, maybe I'll check out 0:24:04.520 --> 0:24:08.200 the socks. Uh. I don't know what if I always 0:24:08.200 --> 0:24:11.240 wanted to do? Um, Bobby, I'm glad you weren't around 0:24:11.280 --> 0:24:13.000 when this happened. But I'll tell you something that I 0:24:13.040 --> 0:24:16.840 did a little bucket list thing. Um. I went to Trend, 0:24:17.680 --> 0:24:21.520 our local coffee shop in Montclaire on a Monday night 0:24:22.280 --> 0:24:26.880 when they had opened Mica or comedy night. And so 0:24:27.280 --> 0:24:32.200 I did. I did stand up? Oh did phenomenal. I 0:24:32.200 --> 0:24:34.800 don't know if I was phenomenal, but I didn't get booed. 0:24:35.400 --> 0:24:37.360 We thought you did it. That's such a big deal. 0:24:37.440 --> 0:24:39.960 It is hard. I took a stand up class ones 0:24:40.200 --> 0:24:42.720 and I was like, never again. I mean it was 0:24:43.480 --> 0:24:45.560 I took it at the forcing of my manager, my 0:24:45.600 --> 0:24:50.960 old manager, Rich Nichols. You probably know because you know, yeah, 0:24:51.280 --> 0:24:55.320