For his Mack Avenue recording debut, the 36-year-old bassist / bandleader / educator / artistic director / Grammy Award winner CHRISTIAN McBRIDE delivered the remarkable Kind Of Brown, a 10-track album featuring his new acoustic jazz quintet Inside Straight, comprised of old friends, pianist Eric Reed, alto saxophonist Steve Wilson and drummer Carl Allen, as well as newcomer vibraphonist Warren Wolf, one of McBride's former students.

Produced by McBride, Kind Of Brown is a collection of hard swing-to-bluesy groove tunes that the leader says he put together to give the members of his new ensemble "something to sink their teeth into." He adds, "I wanted to present solid melodies with some decent chord changes that could be good vehicles for the guys to blow on."

Kind Of Brown is one of many projects that McBride has set into motion for 2009, which marks his 20-year anniversary since his arrival on the international jazz scene. Other endeavors include the innovative Conversations With Christian, an interview-duet performance series available as digital downloads culminating into a full 20 song album, plus a summer big band residency in New York. While the quintet's performances had been limited to the weeklong Vanguard stint and one-off shows at the Monterey Jazz Festival and in Brazil, McBride and his new ensemble Inside Straight will be on the road throughout the year performing songs from Kind Of Brown.

This concert is sponsored by EMC Insurance Companies