Christian McBride, the recently named Artistic Director of the Newport Jazz Festival, is a five-time Grammy Award-winning bassist-composer who, since the early ‘90s, has recorded over 300 dates as a sideman and released albums as a leader since ’95. The Philadelphia native has become one of the most requested, most recorded, and most respected figures in the music world today. Aside from various stints with Sting, Chick Corea, Pat Metheny, Roy Haynes, John McLaughlin and George Duke, among others, McBride tours consistently with his trio and his quintet, Inside Straight. He also fronts the Christian McBride Big Band, whose album The Good Feeling won a 2012 Grammy for Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album.