Jazz maestro Christian McBride is returning to Detroit with his latest ensemble, Ursa Major, for a Friday, June 5 performance at Orchestra Hall that brings one of jazz’s most accomplished bandleaders together with a rising generation of players.
McBride — bassist, bandleader, jazz statesman and restless architect of sound — has long lived in that rare pocket where virtuosity meets generosity. The 11-time Grammy winner has built a career that swings effortlessly between tradition and invention. McBride doesn’t just play jazz. He curates motion, the push and pull between groove and surprise, the deep-pocket thump and the skyward leap.
A bandleader bridging generations
From his earliest days in New York, where he traded Juilliard plans for the fast-track education of the bandstand, McBride learned that jazz is less about perfection and more about propulsion — about keeping things moving, even when the ground shifts.
That philosophy carries straight through Ursa Major. Formed in 2022, it is McBride’s latest and perhaps most open-ended project, a band capable of moving across styles with ease and intent.
The lineup is filled with names likely to be prominent in jazz’s future. Nicole Glover on tenor saxophone, Ely Perlman on guitar, Mike King on piano and Savannah Harris on drums. These are not sidemen; they’re co-conspirators, a generation of rising players who meet McBride not just in skill, but in curiosity.
“As far back as 2018,” McBride recalled, “I knew that whatever my next band was going to be, it was going to be a group of musicians from a younger generation because it’s time now to do that. All of my peers, all my contemporaries, my friends, either have their careers as bandleaders, they have teaching careers, or they simply don’t want to be in a band that tours all that much. And I get it; we’re no longer young lions of the early ‘90s trying to find our way into the scene. So it’s time now to bring up the younger generation.
“I started putting out feelers (to) some younger musicians I was interested in, and it settled on the four that became Ursa Major. Savannah Harris, our drummer, was the first, and then Nicole Glover – her name has been hot on the scene for quite some time now. Ely Perlman was a student of mine at the Jazz Aspen Snowmass summer camp, which I’ve been artistic director of since 2000, and he knocked me out. I had a bunch of different people on my list for piano and keyboards, but through a recommendation from both Savannah and Nicole, we went with Mike, and that’s how it happened.”
Lifting young voices in jazz’s evolution
McBride, 54, said he’s very proud to support young women rising in the jazz community.
“It’s a beautiful thing to see,” he said. “I think there’s more young women playing this music than certainly I’ve ever seen in my career. I think it’s a wonderfully common thing to see in 2026, so many women playing this music and feeling comfortable on the bandstand, not completely dominated by men anymore. I think that’s part of the natural evolution.”
Friday evening’s performance will feature songs from Ursa Major’s upcoming debut album, “Points of Light,” to be released in August.
McBride said the feel of Detroit reminds him very much of his hometown, Philadelphia, and he always feels at home when he visits here.
“I’m looking forward to coming back to Detroit,” he said. “Looking forward to seeing my Motor City friends and feeling that vibe.”
Christian McBride with Ursa Major
8 p.m. Friday, June 5
Orchestra Hall
3711 Woodward Ave., Detroit
$21 & up
dso.org
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Jazz titan Christian McBride bringing 4 future stars to Orchestra Hall
Reporting by Duante Beddingfield, Detroit Free Press / Detroit Free Press
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Duante Beddingfield, Detroit Free Press | USA TODAY Network
