George Duke with Christian McBride: It’s On, Live 2010
While Christian McBride is typically known for his stellar straight-ahead work, the man can get down on some funk. Here’s a crazy good clip of him in concert with the late great George Duke and drummer Ronald Bruner, Jr. at the Java Jazz festival in 2010. The trio gets into a collective consciousness to get heavy into the groove.
Check out McBride’s solo at the 4:04 mark for some funky fretless action.
That playing! That tone!!! Amazing!!
Oh my god. They all play so well! McBride makes that 5 string fretless sound so amazing, makes me want one immediately! However it makes me very sad to think about that such a unique and talented man like George Duke passed away so early. This is just pure gold!
The fretless tone the maple fretboard is killer. GREAT playing all around.
That fretless bass must make any serious bass playing so much simpler. In this solo, Christian’s fingers aren’t confined by the frets, and I’d imagine that bending notes would be too. This and other fretless bass solos come out sounding similar to a Spanish Acoustic guitar.