Bassist, composer and Jazz Night in America host Christian McBride‘s latest album sees the bandleader get his Grammy Award-winning big band back together to breathe new life into some classics.

Without Further Ado, Vol 1 is his fourth album with his big band, with guest appearances from Sting, Samara Joy, Andy Summers and more.

Today, McBride talks about the new album, why he prefers arranging for larger groups over smaller ones, plus we’ll get the scoop on his new project, Ursa Major, featuring rising stars in the world of jazz. Joining McBride is Ursa Major saxophonist Nicole Glover. Together, they treat us to some fantastic live performances, recording in studio.

This episode of World Cafe was produced and edited by Kimberly Junod.  Our digital producer is Miguel Perez. World Cafe’s engineer is Chris Williams. Our programming and booking coordinator is Chelsea Johnson and our line producer is Will Loftus.