Recording information: Avatar Studios, New York, NY. Illustrator: Keith H. Brown. Photographer: Chi Modu. Christian McBride's 2013 studio album, People Music, is the bassist's fourth release on Mack Avenue Records and second with his quintet Inside Straight. Although the lineup has changed slightly, this is the same group of musicians that delivered the equally as stellar 2009 album Kind of Brown. Featured here are vibraphonist Warren Wolf, pianist Peter Martin, alto saxophonist Steve Wilson, and drummer Carl Allen, with drummer Ulysses Owens Jr. jumping on board for a few cuts as well. As with Kind of Brown, People Music features McBride in straight-ahead, acoustic jazz mode with a bent toward the expansive and soulful '60s and '70s recordings of the Bobby Hutcherson-Harold Land quintet. These are no-nonsense songs that showcase McBride's band's swinging, harmonically adroit style of post-bop improvisation and sympathetic group interplay. Easily one of the most gifted and mature bassists of his generation, McBride continues to make music that challenges himself while also aiming to please his audience. In the best sense, People Music is music for everyone to enjoy. ~ Matt Collar