By Melina Paris, Music Columnist
Keyboardist and vocalist Joe McBride performs a tribute to Ray Charles at the Torrance Cultural Arts Foundation, April 13. With nine albums released since 1992, his latest one, titled Lookin’ For A Change, perhaps best describes McBride’s approach to creating music, unexpected.
During a phone interview with Random Lengths News, McBride stated plainly, “If you’re going to do a cover, it’s got to be at least as good as the original or better. Another thing I like to do (is) completely change the music but keep the same ideas. It’s all about interpretation.”
The idea of a jazz artist doing a cover of Gnarls Barkley’s Crazy, is a little unexpected, but McBride did cover it, purely for the creative aspect. It’s a pop tune, albeit one that goes a bit deeper and a hook that resonates with many. McBride elaborated a bit on his method for choosing songs to cover but the conversation turned more toward what really drives him—love.
McBride noted sometimes musicians get lost in the industry and concerned about how many records are going to sell and what sort of audience to target. But making music comes down to being a labor of love.
“We’re out there having the time of our lives,” he said. “We want to make sure the audience is too. It’s our legacy. It’s a tradeoff because the music that makes the most money seems to be generated for profit or as a commodity. As far as jazz is concerned, a lot of us don’t make nearly that kind of money or have nearly that kid of stature.”
McBride returned to the fact that as a musician, “You have to love what you do, to make it through the hard times and to come back and have something to say about it. That makes it more real for us and that comes through in the music.”
As a popular contemporary jazz musician, McBride’s status is rooted in a solid foundation of talent. He began playing piano at four and started singing as a teenager. Around that time, he contracted a degenerative eye disease and eventually lost his eyesight. His passion for music, however, was never compromised.
“I have learned from others and experienced myself, if you’re performing as an artist for a lifetime, you have to reinvent yourself,” McBride said.
Taking heed of this knowledge, some of his recent material leans more to the acoustic side. He noted that it feels more organic and refreshing.
As artists, musicians always look for inspiration. McBride’s criteria are, he has to like the song, it has to be well written and have audience appeal. There must be something he enjoyed in the original that inspires him, then he thinks, “This might be cool in another way.” But that’s only part of the puzzle.
“It’s just as important to do originals and to have your own voice, he added. “To be able to speak to people and to share your spirit with others. I like both.”
This will be his first time performing at Torrance Cultural Arts Center. McBride will also perform some of his own songs including, It’s Over Now, and An Evening In Dallas from his 1993 album, A Gift For Tomorrow. And he may include his rendition of Crazy.
“Sometimes you just don’t think so much about why you do it but how you do it,” McBride said. “For Crazy, the song I was actually thinking about was a song by Paul Simon called Mother and Child Reunion. So I did apply that energy to (it) kind of a ska, reggae vibe.”
He wanted to shock people a little bit too, he said, and show them you could take an original song and completely turn it upside down in a totally unrelated style. McBride looks for tunes with crossover value as well as a great hook or a great idea or melody.
McBride and his band have been performing their Ray Charles tribute around the world. They featured it at the jazz festival in Cape Town South Africa in 2017 and again recently in Dallas. But to mix things up for this show they decided to also include McBride’s material.
“I have a great deal of respect for Ray Charles,” McBride said. “He’s inspired my music for many years. He was one of the first crossover artists from country to jazz to pop back in the 50s. But I also love to share my gifts and where I’m coming from.”
One of McBride’s favorite artists of all time is Prince. The artist said something that McBride adopted as his motto, “Any song can be an inspirational one.”
“And you can touch others hearts if you play from your own,” McBride added. “ They will feel it.”
You can find his music on several platforms including, Pandora, YouTube and Spotify.
“We’re looking forward to coming out to Torrance and meeting everyone and playing great music.” McBride said.
Time: 8 to 9:30 p.m. April 13
Cost: $25
Details: eventbrite.com/e/joe-mcbride-tribute-to-ray-charles-torrance-ca-tickets-37570504390
Venue: James R. Armstrong Theatre, 3330 Civic Center Dr., Torrance.