This Should Be Fun

As you've probably heard me say before, in this humble bassist's opinion,Christian McBride is the baddest bass player walking. If he's not the baddest then he's definitely my favorite. I've had the pleasure of hanging with Christian a couple of times and we've stayed in touch a bit ever since we met.

Christian has recently been appointed Musical Director for the Hollywood Bowl's Jazz Series. I know the first concert was last month, his band played but I missed it because I was on the road. Well next week he is giving a big band concert with none other than James Brown at the Bowl. James Brown recorded a fantastic big band record in the 70s called Soul on Top, they will be doing music from the record at the concert. I've been meaning to get tickets to the show for a while now but have been lazy and hadn't got around to it.

Well I got an email from Christian today saying he needed a big favor from me and could I call him on his cel. Needless to say I was intrigued, guys like that don't give their cel numbers out. So I called him and left him a message. He soon called back and asked me if I would be his assistant for a couple of days helping him set up for the rehearsals and helping him turn pages (for his sheet music) onstage at the Bowl since he will be playing and conducting.

I said yes, of course.

This should be a blast, I'm really looking forward to it ... Being able to see Christian play up close, watching the band rehearse, meeting James Brown ... I'm pretty excited. Part of me thinks that being a little errand boy for a couple of days might be a little bit lame, but C'mon, I'm going to be onstage with James Brown. I don't care if I'm laying rose petals at his feet while he walks across the stage, that's pretty damn cool.