''For Jimmy, Wes and Oliver'' is a studio album by American jazz bassist

Christian McBride Christian McBride (born May 31, 1972) is an American jazz bassist, composer and arranger. He has appeared on more than 300 recordings as a sideman, and is an eight-time Grammy Award winner. McBride has performed and recorded with a number of j ...

together with his big band.

Mack Avenue Records Mack Avenue Records is an independent record label in Grosse Pointe Farms, Michigan. Background Mack Avenue was founded in 1999 by Gretchen Carhartt Valade, a jazz fan and Chairperson, chair of the American apparel company Carhartt. The company ...

released the album on . This is the third release for McBride's big band; the band received Grammy Awards for its first two albums: ''

The Good Feeling ''The Good Feeling'' is a studio album by the Christian McBride Big Band. It won the Grammy Award for Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album at the 54th Annual Grammy Awards in 2012. The record was released on via the Mack Avenue label. Background Th ...

'' (2011) and '' Bringin' It'' (2017). The album also produced two singles: "Don Is" and "Medgar Evers Blues".

Background

The album is dedicated to jazz musicians Jimmy Smith,

Wes Montgomery John Leslie "Wes" Montgomery (March 6, 1923 – June 15, 1968) was an American jazz guitarist. Montgomery was known for an unusual technique of plucking the strings with the side of his thumb and his extensive use of octaves, which gave him a dist ...

, and

Oliver Nelson Oliver Edward Nelson (June 4, 1932 – October 28, 1975) was an American jazz saxophonist, clarinetist, arranger, composer, and bandleader. His 1961 Impulse! album '' The Blues and the Abstract Truth'' (1961) is regarded as one of the most signifi ...

. The release is a mix of big band and quartet titles. McBride interprets 1966 recordings by Wes Montgomery and Jimmy Smith that produced the albums '' The Dynamic Duo'' and ''

Further Adventures of Jimmy and Wes ''Further Adventures of Jimmy and Wes'' is an album by American jazz guitarist Wes Montgomery and organist Jimmy Smith. It was recorded in 1966 with '' Jimmy & Wes: The Dynamic Duo'' but was not released until 1968. Reception Richard S. Ginell ...

''. For the 2019 recordings in his hometown of

Montclair, New Jersey Montclair () is a township in Essex County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Situated on the cliffs of the Watchung Mountains, Montclair is a wealthy and diverse commuter town and suburb of New York City within the New York metropolitan area. As ...

, McBride invited guitarist Mark Whitfield and organist Joey DeFrancesco, who takes on the role of Smith. Ten tracks were recorded: cover versions of the 1966 sessions, the original compositions ("Medgar Evers Blues" by Whitfield and "Pie Blues" by McBride and DeFrancesco), jazz compositions by Freddie Hubbard and Miles Davis ("Miles" from the 1958 album ''

Milestones A milestone is a marker of distance along roads. Milestone may also refer to: Measurements *Milestone (project management), metaphorically, markers of reaching an identifiable stage in any task or the project *Software release life cycle state, s ...

''), and standards (such as "The Very Thought of You", "Down by the Riverside" and "I Want to Talk About You"). Four tracks were recorded by a quartet consisting of McBride, Mark Whitfield, Joey DeFrancesco, and Quincy Philips; the other six tracks are big-band recordings that mostly interpret the originals by Oliver Nelson. McBride explained, "Joey eFrancescois, without question, my oldest friend in music... We met in middle school playing in the Settlement Music School Jazz Ensemble in Philadelphia. We've recorded a few things here and there over the years, but we've never recorded an entire album together until now. It seemed logical to salute the two albums that we listened to quite a bit as kids."

Reception

JazzTimes ''JazzTimes'' is an American magazine devoted to jazz. Published 10 times a year, it was founded in Washington, D.C. in 1970 by Ira Sabin as the newsletter ''Radio Free Jazz'' to complement his record store. Coverage After a decade of growth ...

'' review by Thomas Conrad stated, "This is not an album for adventurous listeners who require risk in their jazz. But this conservative, impeccably executed music is full of joie de vivre. In times like these, who can’t use more of that?" Matt Collar of

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

observed, "For Jimmy, Wes, and Oliver is an ebullient album that evokes the earthy, artful spirit of the trio who inspired it." John White of ''

Jazz Journal ''Jazz Journal'' is a British jazz magazine established in 1946 by Sinclair Traill (1904–1981). It was first published in London under the title ''Pick Up'', which Traill founded as a locus for serious jazz criticism in Britain.Roberta Freund Sc ...

'' mentioned, "This third release, if not quite up to the standards of the first two, and with a slightly misleading title, has much to recommend it." Matt Silver of

WRTI WRTI (90.1 FM) is a non-commercial, public radio station licensed to serve Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is a service of Temple University. The Temple University Board of Trustees holds the station's license. The broadcast tower used by the s ...

wrote, "the fellas are so in their element here suggests that the boys will, indeed, always be boys." Gary Fukushima of ''

DownBeat ' (styled in all caps) is an American music magazine devoted to "jazz, blues and beyond", the last word indicating its expansion beyond the jazz realm which it covered exclusively in previous years. The publication was established in 1934 in Chi ...

'' added, "More than 50 years ago, two musicians at the height of their careers met to make essential recordings. It's nice to know that sort of thing can still happen in 2020." The album won

Grammy Award for Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album The Grammy Award for Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album has been presented since 1961. From 1962 to 1971 and 1979 to 1991 the award title specified instrumental performances. Years reflect the year in which the Grammy Awards were presented, for works ...

at the

64th Annual Grammy Awards The 64th Annual Grammy Awards ceremony was held at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on April 3, 2022. It recognized the best recordings, compositions, and artists of the eligibility year, running from September 1, 2020, to September 30, ...

in 2022.

Track listing

Personnel

Main band *

– producer, bass *

Joey DeFrancesco Joey DeFrancesco (April 10, 1971August 25, 2022) was an American jazz organist, trumpeter, saxophonist, and occasional singer. He released more than 30 albums under his own name, and recorded extensively as a sideman with such leading jazz perfo ...

– organ *

Mark Whitfield Mark Whitfield (born October 6, 1966) is an American jazz guitarist. Life and career Whitfield was born in Lindenhurst, New York. He has worked with Jack McDuff, Jimmy Smith, Courtney Pine, Nicholas Payton, and Chris Botti. In 2000, Whitfiel ...

– guitar *Quincy Phillips – drums Trumpets *Frank Greene, Freddie Hendrix, Brandon Lee, Nabate Isles, Anthony Hervey Trombones *Michael Dease, Steve Davis, James Burton, Douglas Purviance Woodwinds *Steve Wilson (alto & soprano), Todd Bashore (alto), Ron Blake (tenor), Dan Pratt (tenor), Carl Maraghi (baritone)

References

External links

Christian McBride Discography
{{Authority control 2020 albums Christian McBride albums Mack Avenue Records albums