“Tuesday Happenings”: Hosted by Christopher McBride with Robert Rodriguez, Mike Gurrola & Gengis Don

Christopher McBride (saxophone), Robert Rodriguez (piano), Mike Gurrola (bass), Gengis Don (drums)

"Tuesday Happenings" is a weekly series on Tuesday nights, curated by iconic pianist and friend of Sam First, Gerald Clayton. Gerald is out of town for this performance but has arrtanged for NY-based saxophonist Christopher McBride to perform in his place. The house band performs one set at 7:30pm which is immediately followed by a jam session from 9:00-11:00pm.

Christopher McBride is a saxophonist based in Harlem whose work includes education, arranging and composition in addition to performance. He has been slowly but steadily turning heads with his ubiquitous work as an invaluable sideman since the mid-aughts. Now Christopher is gaining respect amongst fans, critics, and his peers as one of the most versatile saxophonists in the world. His 2012 debut album Quatuor de Force certainly establishes his ability to front a group and write his own soulful, melodically indelible tunes. Applauded for his ability to play in all musical situations, McBride has the ability to unleash a fiery attack and serrated tone, but on his recent album he explores a more measured, mellow sound heavily influenced by contemporary R&B—with a strong shot of Cannonball Adderley’s post-bop sensuality—but his improvising is very rigorous and cogent. As a composer, McBride was recently selected as the 2022 Make Jazz Fellowship artist at The 18th StreetArts Center in Santa Monica.

Born in Chicago, and starting his professional career there in 2007, Christopher made the move to NYC in 2013. His group The Whole Proof has played venues all over New York, and Christopher ran his  ‘Singer Meets Saxophonist’ series at the famed Minton’s Playhouse in Harlem from 2017-2019. The musicians he has performed for spans many genres with artists such as Billy Preston, Jimmy Heath, Bobby Broom, Percy Gray, Roy Hargrove, Pete Rock, Big Daddy Kane, Talib Kweli, Lupe Fiasco, Guy Sebastian, Solange, Ne-Yo, Jennifer Hudson, Alice Smith, Brandon Flowers, Lea DeLaria, 88 Keys, Milton Mustafa, Winard Harper, and the Marquis Hill Blacktet.

Christopher also serves as the Director of Education for the Second Line Arts Collective, a non-for-profit organization based out of New Orleans. His primary duties include writing curriculum for the Little Stompers division and teacher development. He has also worked as a journalist and consultant with Forbes Ignite, the innovation coalition of Forbes.

He was a featured soloist as well as contributor on the GRAMMY winning album by Steven Feifke and Bijon Watson’s “Generation Gap Jazz Orchestra” released in 2022.

Sam First | 6171 W Century Blvd #180, Los Angeles, CA 90045  |  21+

Refunds are only honored up to 24 hours before the scheduled showtime.

Show Times: The house band performs one set at 7:30pm which is immediately followed by a jam session from 9:30-11:00pm. A separate ticket is required for the the first set and the jam session.