Good Feeling, The

Bassist Christian McBride shows off his composition and orchestration skills with this old-school, big-band jazz. Some tracks are reminiscent of ‘40s swing-era dance bands, some of Ellington, some of ‘60s soul jazz. McBride wrote six of the tunes, arranged and conducted all of them. May be too traditional for some tastes, but everything is played well, and some tracks are excellent. Melissa Walker sings with a powerful alto on numbers 4, 7, and 9. McBride’s liner notes are a kick.
No FCC issues.

1 * Energetic dance tune. Blaring brass between trumpet, sax, trombone & bass solos.(7:22)
2 * Mid-tempo. Very Ellington-esque. McBride’s long bass solo is featured. (4:05)
3 ** Upbeat, joyous, soulful. Sounds like ‘60s Hancock-Hubbard. (4:54)
4. Slow deep vox, elegant accompaniment. ‘50s hit for Doris Day, Nat Cole, others. (5:18)
5 * Long & varied: fast/slow, loud/quiet. Parts are like a movie soundtrack. Adventurous instrumentation: flute, bass clarinet, etc. Piano/bass/drum section near end is best. (11:46)
6 *** Up-tempo, rhythmic, and very hip (again in a 60s way). Fine trumpet solos. (8:18)
7 ** Mid-tempo, Sinatra style love song. Walker kills it. Best of the 3 vocal tracks. (3:49)
8 * Easy tempo but swingin’. Good trumpet & tenor solos. McBride’s solo is terrific. (5:45)
9 Up-tempo take on Herb’s Alpert 60’s hit. Vocal portamento (gliding) is annoying. (3:29)
10 *** Mid-tempo and bluesy. Tenor, trombone, trumpet & bass all take nice solos. (8:45)
11 ** Fast, big-band swing. Good solos on trombone, bowed bass, and drums. (7:01)