At the tail-end of last month, 8-time Grammy Award winner Christian McBride and 7-time Grammy-winning bassist and composer Edgar Meyer unveiled their joint record: "But Who's Gonna Play The Melody?"
In line with the duo's career tune of success, the new album debuted roaringly at the top spot on Billboard's Classical Crossover Chart. It also bagged No. 1 on Luminate's Traditional Jazz Albums and current Classical Charts.
Additionally, the duo's one-time-only performance at the Big Ears Festival last March 22 was a sold-out show that generated serpentine lines even outside the concert's area proper.
In terms of how this triumphant record came to be, McBride told NPR's Scott Simon for Weekend Edition that after "building repertoire" and going on tour with Meyer in 2007, the two thought the next logical step would be to make a record.
Behind McBride and Meyer's 'But Who's Gonna Play The Melody'
McBride and Meyer's new record is a wide-berth exploration of musical possibilities, especially in the presence of two bass masters. It encompasses diverse original compositions, American Songbook standards, and mainstay classics by jazz and bluegrass legends alike.
"Edgar and I come from two different places," McBride explains. "I come from the jazz and R&B worlds with a little bit of classical, and he comes from the bluegrass and classical worlds with a little bit of jazz. With this album, we're meeting each other in uncharted territory."
The two were introduced to each other by their mutual mentor, the legendary jazz bassist Ray Brown, and it took over a decade since their first meeting before they finally shared a stage in 2007, as part of an event put on by the Colorado-based non-profit jazz performance and education organization: Jazz Aspen Snowmass.
From that moment on, the duo recognized the unignorable spark that the melding of their music possesses and found common ground through blues in their otherwise different musical backgrounds.
"The center of our connection is in things that are earthy and funky and rooted in a blues dimension," Meyer says. "Then it ranges out from there."
Meyer may be the first to say that "the bass is a pretty limited instrument," but in his hand and McBride's, the thick-stringed instrument opens a pathway to a soundscape with limitless potential.
Visit that "dimension" yourself by listening to "But Who's Gonna Play The Melody?" through this link. You can also sample the tracks right below.
