Long before he led the Newport Jazz Festival, Christian McBride landed his first gig organizing a jazz festival as an artistic director at the University of Richmond.

“Kathy Panoff, who ran the Modlin Center back in 1997, really rolled the dice when she invited me to be artistic director of the summer jazz series,” said McBride, who is on the road touring with his band, Ursa Major. “I had no idea about how to artistically direct anything, but it turned out that UR was exact right community to learn from.”

McBride will return to campus this weekend as guest curator of The Christian McBride Jazz Weekend and perform with his band at the Modlin Center for the Arts.

The homecoming brings back pleasant memories for McBride, whose earlier stint as artistic director at UR began in 1998 and lasted for six years. He remembers his welcome concert at the Modlin Center, where he played with Rene Marie, who was living in Richmond at the time.

“I was also presented with a personalized Richmond Spiders football jersey,” McBride said. “It was so much fun.”

Along with Marie, the acts he brought to the campus included Russell Malone, Regina Carter, Stefon Harris, Dick Hyman, Doug Richards, and Claudia Acuna. He also included and performed with the Shanghai Quartet when they were artists in residence in the Department of Music.

“For six amazing years, I got to head down there every summer and play with some of the musicians I love most,” he said. “That great collaboration has informed every other artistic director opportunity I've had since.”

Paul Brohan, executive director of the Modlin Center for the Arts, recruited McBride to be a part of the 30th anniversary celebration of Modlin Arts Presents.

“He’s one of the most renowned bassists on the planet, and that's one of the reasons he still tours so nonstop internationally,” Brohan said. He noted that McBride has played with many greats of jazz, while also performing with his big band and Ursa Major, a mix of young jazz artists.

“He could work with just about anybody he would like,” Brohan said. “One of the interesting things about Christian is he has a lot of different incarnations of how he realizes his art and what he wants to say.”

After organizing his first festivals at Richmond, McBride went on to serve as the artistic director of several prominent festivals, including the Newport Jazz Festival. When he became its artistic director in 2015, McBride replaced George Wein, who founded the festival in 1954.

“Mr. Wein personally chose Christian to be the artistic director going forward, so it was quite an honor and a recognition of Christian's importance to the world of jazz,” Brohan said.

McBride is excited about the return visit to Richmond this weekend. Along with his band — which drops a new album right around the time they’re in town — the line-up includes Tyreek McDole (“one of the greatest voices I've heard in years”), Lakecia Benjamin (“blows me away every time”), Cory Henry (“a funky savant”), and Chief Adjuah (“creates a music world like no other”).

“This weekend is going right back to the spirit that brought me to UR in the first place: it’s an excuse to invite a lot of tremendous musicians to hang and play for the weekend,” he said. “I can't wait to come back.”