Christian McBride’s gig at The Tin Pan is the most surprising gig of the season. The smallish Near-West-End listening room hosts a variety of local and niche national acts- NRBQ, David Bromberg, the Yellowjackets, Najee. But McBride is one of the biggest names in jazz, a five-time Grammy winner, the voice of jazz on Public Broadcasting, and leader and sideman on over 300 recordings.

A frequent visitor to Richmond, he ran the summer jazz series at UR for five years around 2000, and has been back multiple times since with his own groups and the Pat Metheny Trio. But those have been at the Modlin Center and the Jazz Festival, and even in those larger venues he fills the room with charismatic personality and a huge, incredibly virtuosic sound. To see him in an intimate venue like the Tin Pan is a rare opportunity.

The program is billed as “Remembering Ray Brown,” a tribute to the late bassist who recorded with Ella Fitzgerald, Oscar Peterson and, in the 90s and early 2000s, with the Super Bass, a trio with McBride and John Clayton.
Tickets are $55 in advance. $60 at the door. Show is at 8 PM