The Hardest Working Man in Show Business

So Tuesday was rehearsal day for the Christian McBride Big Band/James Brown concert. I arrived at Christian's hotel and quickly figured out that my gig was to carry around Christian's axes while he and his wife tooled around in a Mercedes coup. Hey man, you're playing with James Brown you gotta walk the walk, know what I mean. So we go to the rehearsal studio and I set up Christian's basses, a little later on in the day he actually let me play a tune with the big band. This was great for me since the band was made up of all heavy L.A. players.

No one knew what to expect when Mr. Brown showed up. We've all heard the stories about what a taskmaster JB can be and how hard he can be on his band. Well when he finally showed up he was really cool towards everyone. He sounded fantastic, I got goosebumps seeing the Godfather singing less than ten feet away from me. He talked a little bit too, here are some gems of his:

"It's great to be playing this music again. This is where I started before I got sidetracked with the funk."

"It's good to see so many people playing this music today. Don't get me wrong, I love rap music ... I invented it."

The next day was the dress rehearsal and concert. Once again I set up Christian's axes and made sure everything was going to be cool for the concert. As it turned out I didn't have to turn his music for him onstage which was cool. I watched the show from some really good box seats and it was killin'. The band sounded great and Mr. Brown is still a fantastic performer. While most of the concert was him with the big band he closed the show with his own group performing "This is a Man's World", "Sex Machine", and "I Feel Good." It was really great. I schmoozed a little at the afterparty and headed home.

So right now Christian is in Canada visiting his in-laws and I am keeping his basses for him. Can you dig that? He asked me to keep them for him until Monday when he comes back to L.A. before heading to Japan. He told me "if you have a gig this weekend, you can play my bass." I did have a gig last night but there was no way I was going to use his instrument. I would've been too nervous.

Instead I've been practicing with it all day. Steve Cotter came over and we jammed a bit. It's so much fun. You gotta understand he played this bass on some of my favorite recordings, it's a phenomenal bass with a really rich and big sound. Not many people get to play on the instruments of their hero's, how lucky am I.

So here are some pictures from the week. I have one of myself, Mr. Brown, and the rest of the band but I'm going to have to scan it.

Dig: