The Good Feeling

Reception

Philip Booth of Jazz Times noted "Christian McBride, one of two high-profile veteran bassists making debuts as big-band leaders this season (along with Ron Carter), offers 11 of his arrangements, a mix of original compositions and standards. McBride’s career orchestrating for large ensembles, as he recounts in the liner notes, began a little more than 15 years ago with a commission from the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra. That piece, “Bluesin’ in Alphabet City,” is here, and it’s a charmer, a bluesy swinger with the trombone section’s melody answered by trumpet and saxophone rejoinders before opening up for solos, including a showcase for the leader’s speedy fingerboard flights and chopping-wood tone. Bluesy swagger also marks “In a Hurry,” originally heard on McBride’s debut album and here building into a ferocious, criss-crossing bone battle between Michael Dease and James Burton. It’s topped off with the leader’s quick-witted bowed solo, a shouted chorus, and an extended, aptly explosive drum solo from Ulysses Owens Jr."

Reviewers of SFJAZZ Center wrote "...until 2011’s The Good Feeling, McBride had never recorded an album with his own big band. As the title implies, it’s a swaggering, hard-swinging session featuring a cast of New York’s best sidemen, winning the GRAMMY Award for Best Large Ensemble Jazz Album in 2012.

Track listing

All tracks written by Christian McBride except where noted.