Christian McBride Recruits Samara Joy For New Rendition Of 'Old Folks'
(MPG) Nine-time GRAMMY Award winning bassist / composer Christian McBride released a stunning rendition of the beloved jazz standard "Old Folks" featuring five-time GRAMMY Award winner Samara Joy. It's the second single from McBride's upcoming release Without Further Ado, Vol 1, a new album featuring his acclaimed big band and an all star cast of special guests.
Following up his big band's GRAMMY Award winning 2020 release For Jimmy, Wes & Oliver, the new release employs a jaw-dropping array of talent, featuring Sting, Andy Summers, Samara Joy, Dianne Reeves, Jose James, Cecille McLorin Salvant, Jeffrey Osborne, and Antoinette Henry to bridge eras with elegance and groove, reaffirming McBride's status as a champion of jazz past, present and future. The album will be released on August 29 via Mack Avenue Records.
Listen: Christian McBride Big Band "Old Folks (feat. Samara Joy)
When asked about the performance, McBride reflects, "Often times, jazz can get so deep into its own vacuum, we forget what's the most important thing - emotion. Many jazz critics will tell you it's process or concept, but if nobody can feel it, what good is either? Samara Joy doesn't have that issue. She always emotes. I have a strong feeling that after you hear her interpret 'Old Folks,' you will intimately understand just who 'Old Folks' was, and your eyes dare not be dry. Thank you, Samara."
"'Old Folks' could be multiple people that you think about in your life, whether it's family or not" Samara says. "I heard Carmen McRae's, Ernestine Anderson, and Charlie Parker's versions. It was a song that people don't normally record or hear the lyrics to, so I thought about Roy Haynes, Quincy Jones and all of these different people who have so much wisdom bottled up that they share."
"Old Folks" follows the album's lead track "Murder By Numbers," which reunited Sting with his bandmate Andy Summers for the first time since The Police's 2007-2008 reunion tour. The single was covered by American Songwriter, Consequence, Jambase, Stereogum, SPIN, and many more.
Having played with artists ranging from Chick Corea and Wynton Marsalis to Billie Eilish and Celine Dion, several of McBride's artistic paths converge on Without Further Ado, Vol 1 creating an electrifying collection of reimagined classics and surprises. The inspiration and many of the arrangements for the album grew out of the annual NJPAC Gala, for which the Big Band has served as house band and McBride as musical director since 2012. "We've always invited a bunch of great singers to come and perform at the Gala," McBride says, "and as musical director, I'm responsible for arranging all of the music. After so many years of writing big band charts for these incredible singers, I realized that I had stacks of music that had only been played once. This has been a fantastic opportunity to finally record some of these arrangements and to play them with some of my favorite singers."
If there is any doubt that we are living through a vocal jazz renaissance, the multi-generational line-up of singers McBride has assembled for Without Further Ado, Vol 1 definitively settles that debate. From Samara Joy's breathtaking version of the jazz standard "Old Folks," to three-time GRAMMY winner Cecil Mclorin Salvant's burning, uptempo reinterpretation of Cole Porter's dreamy ballad "All Through The Night", Without Further Ado, Vol 1 is like a vocal all-star game that's heightened by the elegance and fire of the Christian McBride Big Band.
Ahead of the album release, the Christian McBride Big Band will be performing at the Newport Jazz Festival on August 3, where they'll perform some of the new music from the album. In 2026 McBride will launch the first ever McBride's World at Sea cruise, featuring performances with all of his critically acclaimed bands and loads of special guests onboard, including Samara Joy.
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