Ray Brown & Friends: Now’s The Time

Any Ray Brown video is good to me, but this is one of my favorites. This clip of the late jazz master performing the Charlie Parker blues “Now’s The Time” starts as a duet with a young Christian McBride.

After trading hard-driving walking lines and burning solos on their own, drummer Kenny Washington adds some high-hat to join in on the fun. The focus then turns to a who’s who of jazzers trading fours: Herbie Hancock, Hank Jones, Roy Hargrove, Joe Henderson, Jackie McLean, JJ Johnson, Kenny Burrell, and even Betty Carter.

No matter what’s going on, Brown and McBride keep the groove with impeccable time and note choice.