Brian Blade | |
|---|---|
 Blade at the 2014 Monterey Jazz Festival | |
| Background information | |
| Born | July 25, 1970 Shreveport, Louisiana, U.S. |
| Genres | Jazz |
| Occupation(s) | Musician, composer |
| Instrument(s) | Drums, percussion |
| Labels | Nonesuch, Columbia, Verve, Blue Note, Warner Bros. |
| Website | brianblade |
Brian Blade (born July 25, 1970) is an American jazz drummer, composer, and session musician. [1]
Born and raised in Shreveport, Louisiana, [2] Blade was exposed to gospel and praise music [3] while attending Zion Baptist Church at which his father, Brady L. Blade Sr., was pastor. [4] Blade initially began learning violin and participated in the church choir, [3] an experience which Blade later acknowledged was influential in his musical development. [5] Following in the footsteps of his older brother, Brady Blade Jr., [6] Blade developed skills on the drum kit while 'depping' for his brother in the church band. [5] Soon after Blade shifted his focus to the drums throughout middle and high school. [7]
During high school, while studying with Dorsey Summerfield Jr., [6] Blade began listening to the music of John Coltrane and Thelonious Monk, and became increasingly influenced by the drumming styles of Elvin Jones, Art Blakey, Papa Jo Jones, and Paul Motian. [8] [5] By the age of eighteen, Brian moved to New Orleans to attend Loyola University. [9] From 1988 through 1993, he studied and played with most of the master musicians living in New Orleans, including Johnny Vidacovich, Ellis Marsalis, Steve Masakowski, Bill Huntington, Mike Pellera, John Mahoney, George French, Germaine Bazzle, David Lee Jr., Alvin Red Tyler, Tony Dagradi and Harold Battiste. [7] [5]
In 1992 Blade settled in New York and quickly cultivated a reputation as a 'first-call' drummer, [10] including sideman work for Kenny Garrett, Mark Turner, and Joshua Redman. [11] [12] In 1997, Blade formed The Fellowship Band with pianist Jon Cowherd, bassist Chris Thomas, saxophonists Myron Walden and Melvin Butler, guitarist Jeff Parker, and pedal steel guitarist Dave Easley. [13] The band released its debut album in 1998, Brian Blade Fellowship , and emerged as an innovative proponent of new jazz throughout subsequent decades. [14] [15]
Reviewing the ensemble's 2014 Landmarks album, John Kelman wrote:
As the Fellowship Band has grown, it has moved away from overt traditional references, even though they're an undercurrent throughout. Instead, as it explores milestones both inner and outer, Landmarks further speaks with the singular voice that the Fellowship Band has built upon since inception. Blending folkloric references, hints of church and spiritual concerns, jazz modality and countrified touchstones, Landmarks is the perfect name for Brian Blade & The Fellowship Band's fourth album; beyond its meaning to the group, it truly is yet another landmark recording in the core quintet's evolutionary travels. It may have come after a long gap in time, but that only makes it a wait all the more worthwhile. [16]
While continuing his work with the Fellowship Band, Blade emerged as an ongoing member of Wayne Shorter's quartet, working with Shorter from 2000 until his death. [4] Shorter's quartet, also featuring Danilo Pérez and John Patitucci, [17] became widely revered by jazz critics for their "near-telepathic" musical symbiosis. [4] Blade's creative contribution to Shorter's quartet was frequently considered a key component of the group's creativity. [18] [19] [20] In addition to his collaborations with Wayne Shorter, Blade has remained an in demand drummer for the likes of Joshua Redman, Brad Mehldau, Christian McBride, Chick Corea, Wolfgang Muthspiel, Joni Mitchell, Ellis Marsalis Jr., Billy Childs, Herbie Hancock, Norah Jones, among many others. [21]
During his career Blade has often performed outside his usual musical idiom, recording with the likes of Marianne Faithfull, Emmylou Harris, Bob Dylan, and Daniel Lanois. [20] [6] [22] In 2009, Blade released Mama Rosa, his first album as a singer-songwriter, [23] with songs dedicated to his grandmother and family. [24] The live band includes Steven Nistor on drums. [25]
On April 30, 2016, Blade played at the White House in Washington, D.C., as part of The International Jazz Day Global Concert. [26]
Blade uses vintage Gretsch, Ludwig, Sonor and Slingerland drums. He plays Canopus drums when touring in Japan. He has used a variety of cymbals over the years, including multiple ride cymbals made by Roberto Spizzichino, vintage A Zildjians, and often a 22" Zildjian K Constantinople Light Ride (discontinued model). His acoustic guitar is a mid-1950s Gibson LG-3. [29]
![Blade at INNtone Jazzfestival [de] 2006 Brian Blade.jpg](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0a/Brian_Blade.jpg/240px-Brian_Blade.jpg)
Trio with Wolfgang Muthspiel and Marc Johnson
Duo with Wolfgang Muthspiel
Trio with Chick Corea and Christian McBride
Trio with John Patitucci and André Marques
Trio with John Patitucci and Danilo Pérez
Trio with Benjamin Koppel and Scott Colley
Trio with Edward Simon and Scott Colley
Trio with Jeff Denson and Romain Pilon
Quartet with Joshua Redman, Brad Mehldau and Christian McBride
Trio with Wolfgang Muthspiel and Scott Colley
Yaya3 with Joshua Redman and Sam Yahel
Black Dub with Trixie Whitley, Daniel Lanois and Daryl Johnson
With David Binney
With Billy Childs
With Kenny Garrett
With Darrell Grant
With Norah Jones
With Kiyoshi Kitagawa
With Daniel Lanois
With Ron Miles
With Joni Mitchell
With Wolfgang Muthspiel
With John Patitucci
With Joshua Redman
With Wayne Shorter
With Edward Simon
With Mark Turner
With Kenny Werner
| With others
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Armando Anthony "Chick" Corea was an American jazz pianist, composer, bandleader and occasional percussionist. His compositions "Spain", "500 Miles High", "La Fiesta", "Armando's Rhumba" and "Windows" are widely considered jazz standards. As a member of Miles Davis's band in the late 1960s, he participated in the birth of jazz fusion. In the 1970s he formed Return to Forever. Along with McCoy Tyner, Herbie Hancock and Keith Jarrett, Corea is considered to have been one of the foremost pianists of the post-John Coltrane era.
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Jack DeJohnette is an American jazz drummer, pianist, and composer.
Joshua Redman is an American jazz saxophonist and composer. He is the son of jazz saxophonist Dewey Redman (1931–2006).
Now He Sings, Now He Sobs is the second studio album by Chick Corea, released in December 1968 on Solid State Records. It features Corea in a trio with bassist Miroslav Vitouš and drummer Roy Haynes. In 1988 it was reissued on CD by Blue Note with eight bonus tracks recorded at the same sessions.
John Patitucci is an American jazz bassist and composer.
Nicholas Payton is an American trumpet player and multi-instrumentalist. A Grammy Award winner, he is from New Orleans, Louisiana. He is also a writer who comments on subjects including music, race, politics, and life in America.
The Monterey Jazz Festival is an annual music festival that takes place in Monterey, California, United States. It debuted on October 3, 1958, championed by Dave Brubeck and co-founded by jazz and popular music critic Ralph J. Gleason and jazz disc jockey Jimmy Lyons.
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Stefon DeLeon Harris is an American jazz vibraphonist.
Miguel Zenón is a Puerto Rican alto saxophonist, composer, band leader, music producer, and educator. He is a Grammy Award winner, the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship, a MacArthur Fellowship, and a Doris Duke Artist Award. He also holds an Honorary Doctorate Degree in the Arts from Universidad del Sagrado Corazón. Zenón has released many albums as a band leader and appeared on over 100 recordings as a sideman.
Jeff Ballard is an American jazz drummer. He has played with Ray Charles and Pat Metheny and played periodically with Chick Corea in many groups such as Origin and the Chick Corea New Trio. He also played with many New York–based jazz musicians such as Reid Anderson, Brad Mehldau, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Mark Turner, Miguel Zenon and Eli Degibri. He has also played with the Joshua Redman Elastic Band.
Rendezvous in New York is an album by American pianist Chick Corea that was released on April 22, 2003 by Corea's label, Stretch Records. The recording took place at the Blue Note Jazz Club in New York City over the course of three weeks. Corea reunited with members from nine bands that he played with in the past. Musicians included Terence Blanchard, Gary Burton, Roy Haynes, Bobby McFerrin, Joshua Redman, Gonzalo Rubalcaba, and Miroslav Vitous.
Scott Colley is an American jazz double bassist and composer. As of 2024, he has been nominated for 4 Grammy Awards, including Best Jazz Instrumental Album for Guided Tour in 2014 and Still Dreaming in 2019. Throughout his career, he has toured, recorded, and played with musicians such as Herbie Hancock, Jim Hall, Carmen McRae, Chris Potter, Julian Lage, Brian Blade, and Pat Metheny.
Eric Harland is an American jazz drummer.
Akoustic Band is the first album by the Chick Corea Akoustic Band, featuring Chick Corea with John Patitucci and Dave Weckl. The group was nominated and received the 1990 Grammy Award for Best Jazz Instrumental Performance, Group at the 32nd Annual Grammy Awards.
Summer Night: Live is a live jazz album by the Chick Corea Akoustic Band trio, featuring Chick Corea, John Patitucci and Dave Weckl. Recorded during a concert in Belgrade in 1987, it was released with Jazz Door, the former recorded and live jazz record label.
Trilogy is a 2013 live album by Chick Corea and his trio, featuring Corea on piano with Christian McBride on double bass and Brian Blade on drums. The three-disc album was recorded live in Washington, D.C., and Oakland, California, and in Spain, Switzerland, Austria, Slovenia, Turkey, and Japan. The album peaked at number nine on the Billboard Jazz Albums chart in 2014. It won the 2014 Grammy Award for Best Jazz Instrumental Album.
Still Dreaming is a studio album by American jazz musician Joshua Redman. The album was recorded with Ron Miles on cornet, Scott Colley on bass, and Brian Blade on drums, and released on 25 May 2018 via Nonesuch label. The album is inspired by Joshua Redman's father Dewey Redman's 1976–1987 band, Old and New Dreams. The record consists of eight compositions, six of which are originals written by band members.
Come What May is a studio album by an American jazz quartet led by Joshua Redman. The album was recorded as a quartet and released on March 29, 2019 by Nonesuch Records.
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