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Brian Blade
"I remember when I first read the words hanging in a frame on my grandma Rosa's wall. The serenity prayer was something I couldn't understand until almost thirty years later, but now after experiencing some peaks and valleys of life, those words ring in my ears with clarity." Brian Blade has set those words to music for his first recording as a singer, guitarist and songwriter: Mama Rosa is a revealing journey through thirteen songs about family, loved ones, travels and a sense that these things that shape and inspire us have to be shared with others to complete a circle. He has been writing and recording material with words for as long as he's been making music. In fact, Mama Rosa grew naturally from the four-track home demos that he's recorded over the years and several of the original performances from those tapes can be heard on this album. Initially, Blade felt that these songs would never be heard by anyone else, but after encouragement from longtime friend Daniel Lanois, these home recordings became the cornerstones for the album. There is an initial spark close to the moment of inspiration and that intimate vibe is felt throughout Mama Rosa. "For some time now, these songs have existed in the solitude of my room, and I got a lot of joy and satisfaction from just knowing that they existed," Blade says. "But at a certain point I questioned whether it was fear or selfishness that kept me quiet. Facing the music and the mirror, I began to ask if this was the end of the process? What does God expect of me? Maybe someone else might find some inspiration in the songs." The lyrical themes of home, memories and loved ones, and how they shape who we are, are reflected in Blade naming the album after his grandmother. Rosa is the subject of the album's vivid opening track "After The Revival." Sung from the perspective of his mother Dorothy Blade, expecting the birth of her first son, Brian's older brother, Brady, Jr. "After the Revival" also alludes to Blade's early years at the Zion Baptist Church in Shreveport, Louisiana, where his father is pastor, and where Brian first started singing and playing the drums. The multi-talented young veteran is already widely respected in the jazz world as drummer/composer/leader of Brian Blade and The Fellowship Band, with whom he has released three albums.
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Charles Lloyd: The Sky Will Still Be There Tomorrow
![Read "The Sky Will Still Be There Tomorrow" reviewed by Chris May](https://s3.amazonaws.com/allaboutjazz/coverart/large/7d471221fa2ff2d633a178aa3cd98494.jpg)
by Chris May
Those of us who were going to jazz festivals in summer 1966, and were lucky enough to catch the Charles Lloyd Quartet, will likely have one tune in particular imprinted on our memories. That was because Forest Flower" so precisely reflected the acid-drenched zeitgeist blossoming in Europe and the US. Lloyd, Keith Jarrett, Cecil McBee and Jack DeJohnette recorded the piece at the Monterey festival in September 1966, and when Forest Flower was released in early 1967, it was the ...
read moreCharles Lloyd: The Sky Will Still Be There Tomorrow
![Read "The Sky Will Still Be There Tomorrow" reviewed by Mike Jurkovic](https://s3.amazonaws.com/allaboutjazz/coverart/large/7d471221fa2ff2d633a178aa3cd98494.jpg)
by Mike Jurkovic
For a long, grateful while now the music of Charles Lloyd has rippled out from that rarified space where the ego does not prevail. A pool of depth and wonder which culminates in one masterful artwork after another, for example Wild Man Dance (Blue Note, 2015) and 8: Kindred Spirits Live from the Lobero Theater (Blue Note, 2019). Lloyd's eleventh Blue Note album, the double disc set The Sky Will Still Be There Tomorrow is also his first ...
read moreChris Potter: Eagle's Point
![Read "Eagle's Point" reviewed by Chris May](https://s3.amazonaws.com/allaboutjazz/coverart/large/72e2343f93a38e42e2dc2b90bb58c88e.jpg)
by Chris May
The question that comes to mind after listening to Eagle's Point is this: why have the four musicians, who have known each other since the 1990s, never recorded together before? For the combination of Chris Potter, Brad Mehldau, John Patitucci and Brian Blade is a real meeting of minds; the stars are in perfect alignment. Potter's previous release, Got The Keys To The Kingdom (Edition, 2023), was a live set, recorded at New York's Village Vanguard, and ...
read moreJoshua Redman: Where Are We
![Read "Where Are We" reviewed by Dave Linn](https://s3.amazonaws.com/allaboutjazz/coverart/large/bd1d711285b9f47ec2c54209adcdb693.jpg)
by Dave Linn
After graduating from Berkeley High School in 1986, Joshua Redman (son of jazz legend Dewey Redman) won a full scholarship to Harvard, where he graduated summa cum laude in 1991. He was accepted at Yale Law School to become a lawyer. Instead, he embarked on a musical career which quickly turned luminous. He won the Thelonious Monk Institute's prestigious jazz saxophone competition in 1991, before moving to Brooklyn, becoming part of the thriving scene there. His debut album, Joshua Redman ...
read moreBrian Blade & The Fellowship Band: Kings Highway
![Read "Kings Highway" reviewed by Cary Tenenbaum](https://s3.amazonaws.com/allaboutjazz/coverart/large/af3b747e00430bd457b252956d1cfd31.jpg)
by Cary Tenenbaum
The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines fellowship as community of interest, activity, feeling, or experience," which seems to state well what Brian Blade & The Fellowship Band have been doing, cultivating a certain sound for over 25 years. The community is drummer Brian Blade, pianist Jon Cowherd, saxophonist Melvin Butler, saxophonist and clarinetist Myron Walden, bassist and synthesizer player Christopher Thomas and guitarist Kurt Rosenwinkel. The interest and activity these folks share is playing music, specifically jazz music. Finally, the feeling or ...
read moreBilly Childs: The Winds of Change
![Read "The Winds of Change" reviewed by Neil Duggan](https://s3.amazonaws.com/allaboutjazz/coverart/large/975b3da0fafe4718d828f3b2e8fd540d.jpg)
by Neil Duggan
Billy Childs, one of the most critically acclaimed pianists in modern jazz, is in high demand as a modern classical composer. He has played and composed music ranging from orchestral to chamber works to contemporary small ensemble jazz. This has brought him five Grammy awards to date. Starting as a pianist in his native Los Angeles, he then spent six years with Freddie Hubbard's band before becoming a leader in his own right. He has performed with a ...
read moreRedman / Mehldau / McBride / Blade: Long Gone
![Read "Long Gone" reviewed by Scott Gudell](https://s3.amazonaws.com/allaboutjazz/coverart/large/8572c71acdeb4cf996a65d84421826ae.jpg)
by Scott Gudell
The mid-1990s saw the first recorded and officially preserved union of four up-and-coming jazz newcomers--Joshua Redman (saxophone,) Christian McBride (bass,) Brad Mehldau (piano) and Brian Blade (drums.) All four were dedicated followers of classic jazz and came together, but soon scattered and began charting their own individual courses. There was a long delay before they reunited for a second quartet recording in 2020. By then, each and every one of them had earned the respect of their peers and risen ...
read moreJazz Musician of the Day: Brian Blade
![Jazz Musician of the Day: Brian Blade](https://s3.amazonaws.com/allaboutjazz/photos/profile/musician/ad58dbe49562f64c0a32aba83e5f91f3.jpg)
Source:
Michael Ricci
All About Jazz is celebrating Brian Blade's birthday today!
I remember when I first read the words hanging in a frame on my grandma Rosa's wall. The serenity prayer was something I couldn't understand until almost thirty years later, but now after experiencing some peaks and valleys of life, those words ring in my ears with clarity." Brian Blade has set those words to music for his first recording as a singer, guitarist and songwriter: Mama Rosa is a revealing ...
read more
Jazz Musician of the Day: Brian Blade
![Jazz Musician of the Day: Brian Blade](https://s3.amazonaws.com/allaboutjazz/photos/profile/musician/ad58dbe49562f64c0a32aba83e5f91f3.jpg)
Source:
Michael Ricci
All About Jazz is celebrating Brian Blade's birthday today!
I remember when I first read the words hanging in a frame on my grandma Rosa's wall. The serenity prayer was something I couldn't understand until almost thirty years later, but now after experiencing some peaks and valleys of life, those words ring in my ears with clarity." Brian Blade has set those words to music for his first recording as a singer, guitarist and songwriter: Mama Rosa is a revealing ...
read more
Jazz Musician of the Day: Brian Blade
![Jazz Musician of the Day: Brian Blade](https://s3.amazonaws.com/allaboutjazz/photos/profile/musician/ad58dbe49562f64c0a32aba83e5f91f3.jpg)
Source:
Michael Ricci
All About Jazz is celebrating Brian Blade's birthday today!
I remember when I first read the words hanging in a frame on my grandma Rosa's wall. The serenity prayer was something I couldn't understand until almost thirty years later, but now after experiencing some peaks and valleys of life, those words ring in my ears with clarity." Brian Blade has set those words to music for his first recording as a singer, guitarist and songwriter: Mama Rosa is a revealing ...
read more
Jazz Musician of the Day: Brian Blade
![Jazz Musician of the Day: Brian Blade](https://s3.amazonaws.com/allaboutjazz/photos/profile/musician/ad58dbe49562f64c0a32aba83e5f91f3.jpg)
Source:
Michael Ricci
All About Jazz is celebrating Brian Blade's birthday today!
I remember when I first read the words hanging in a frame on my grandma Rosa's wall. The serenity prayer was something I couldn't understand until almost thirty years later, but now after experiencing some peaks and valleys of life, those words ring in my ears with clarity." Brian Blade has set those words to music for his first recording as a singer, guitarist and songwriter: Mama Rosa is a revealing ...
read more
Joshua Redman, Brad Mehldau, Christian McBride & Brian Blade Reunite After 26 Years with RoundAgain, out now on Nonesuch
![Joshua Redman, Brad Mehldau, Christian McBride & Brian Blade Reunite After 26 Years with RoundAgain, out now on Nonesuch](https://s3.amazonaws.com/allaboutjazz/coverart/large/9862dffffa8eae01b9c2a9ad3617c7d6.jpg)
Source:
Nonesuch Publicity
The members of the original Joshua Redman Quartet—Redman (saxophone), Brad Mehldau (piano), Christian McBride (bass), and Brian Blade (drums)—reunite with the July 10, 2020 release of RoundAgain, the group’s first recording since 1994’s MoodSwing. The album features seven newly composed songs: three from Redman, two from Mehldau, and one each from McBride and Blade. On Wednesday, July 22 at 4pm ET on the NPR Music YouTube channel, NPR Music and Jazz Night In America will host a live chat and ...
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Jazz Musician of the Day: Brian Blade
![Jazz Musician of the Day: Brian Blade](https://s3.amazonaws.com/allaboutjazz/photos/profile/musician/ad58dbe49562f64c0a32aba83e5f91f3.jpg)
Source:
Michael Ricci
All About Jazz is celebrating Brian Blade's birthday today!
I remember when I first read the words hanging in a frame on my grandma Rosa\'s wall. The serenity prayer was something I couldn\'t understand until almost thirty years later, but now after experiencing some peaks and valleys of life, those words ring in my ears with clarity." Brian Blade has set those words to music for his first recording as a singer... Read more.
Place our Musician of the Day ...
read more
Jazz Musician of the Day: Brian Blade
![Jazz Musician of the Day: Brian Blade](https://s3.amazonaws.com/allaboutjazz/photos/profile/musician/ad58dbe49562f64c0a32aba83e5f91f3.jpg)
Source:
Michael Ricci
All About Jazz is celebrating Brian Blade's birthday today!
I remember when I first read the words hanging in a frame on my grandma Rosa\'s wall. The serenity prayer was something I couldn\'t understand until almost thirty years later, but now after experiencing some peaks and valleys of life, those words ring in my ears with clarity." Brian Blade has set those words to music for his first recording as a singer... Read more.
Place our Musician of the Day ...
read more
Joshua Redman's New Album, "Still Dreaming"—Featuring Ron Miles, Scott Colley & Brian Blade—Out Now
![Joshua Redman's New Album, "Still Dreaming"—Featuring Ron Miles, Scott Colley & Brian Blade—Out Now](https://s3.amazonaws.com/allaboutjazz/coverart/large/9dae96cd67fdc51e39f9dad653a71bd7.jpg)
Source:
Nonesuch Publicity
Saxophonist and composer Joshua Redman is joined by drummer Brian Blade, bassist Scott Colley, and cornetist Ron Miles for Still Dreaming—an album inspired by his father Dewey Redman's 1976–1987 band, Old and New Dreams—released on Nonesuch Records on May 25, 2018. Along with the senior Redman, Old and New Dreams featured an all-star lineup of Ornette Coleman collaborators—cornetist Don Cherry, bassist Charlie Haden, and drummer Ed Blackwell—who continued pushing musical boundaries as they had with Coleman even after their former ...
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Jazz Guitarist Tom Guarna Leads a Dream-Team Quartet–Featuring Keyboardist Jon Cowherd, Bassist John Patitucci and Drummer Brian Blade–on "The Wishing Stones"
![Jazz Guitarist Tom Guarna Leads a Dream-Team Quartet–Featuring Keyboardist Jon Cowherd, Bassist John Patitucci and Drummer Brian Blade–on "The Wishing Stones"](https://s3.amazonaws.com/allaboutjazz/coverart/large/2b3dc281bf41000db75ef6dfbcb301ed.jpg)
Source:
Two for the Show Media
Tom Guarna—a guitarist whom DownBeat magazine has praised for the “emotion, tension, surprise and passion” in his music—assembled what he calls “a dream team” for The Wishing Stones, his seventh album as a leader, and his first for Destiny Records. The album, to be released on November 10, 2017, features Guarna leading a quartet with keyboardist Jon Cowherd, bassist John Patitucci and drummer Brian Blade, each player a renowned virtuoso and band leader in his own right. Guarna’s previous album, ...
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Jazz Musician of the Day: Brian Blade
![Jazz Musician of the Day: Brian Blade](https://s3.amazonaws.com/allaboutjazz/photos/profile/musician/ad58dbe49562f64c0a32aba83e5f91f3.jpg)
Source:
Michael Ricci
All About Jazz is celebrating Brian Blade's birthday today!
I remember when I first read the words hanging in a frame on my grandma Rosa\'s wall. The serenity prayer was something I couldn\'t understand until almost thirty years later, but now after experiencing some peaks and valleys of life, those words ring in my ears with clarity." Brian Blade has set those words to music for his first recording as a singer... Read more.
Place our Musician of the Day ...
read more
"This is music that has heart, melody, and sophisticated and well-intentioned lyric poetry, and these songs are concerned with what it means to try and live alone and with others in the light each day..." ALL MUSIC GUIDE
Adrian Peek
drumsTommaso Cappellato
drumsGreg Diamond
guitar, electricRob Garcia
drumsFerenc Nemeth
drumsMartin Fabricius
vibraphonePhilip Hendrickson
drumsMichael Dalgas
drumsKarsten Bagge
drumsPepa Niebla
vocalsNiebla
vocalsArthur Vint
drumsForrest Neil Young
drumsDave Tull
drumsRodrigo Recabarren
drumsJonathan Whitney
drumsJose Martinez
drumsGustavo Cortiñas
drumsDaniel Villa Verde
guitar, acousticVincent Houdijk
vibraphoneMatilda Andersson
vocalsNick Rousseau
guitarKathrine Windfeld
pianoIago Fernández
drumsClemens Kuratle
drumsJorge Fernandez
drumsGeorge Torrella
drumsErkan Sonmez
drumsArnaud Dolmen
drumsMichal Wierzgon
drumsJonas Linnemann
drumsMatt Malanowski
pianoAaron Dolman
drumsIan Michael Brown
pianoKEITO NAKANO
drumsKyle Poehling
drumsSimone Brilli
drumsJonathan Ruiz
bassScott Gordon
drumsMax Plattner
drumsDavid Bode
saxophoneNick Zielinski
drumsJP Godbout
drumsKeisuke Kishi
drumsRintaro Mikami
drumsAsh Luo
drumsMarcello Cardillo
drumsClaudio Gioannini
drumsWill Régnier
drumsAsa Nero
drumsJacques Bailhé
keyboardsAnastasios Gouliaris
drumsHarry Bartlett
guitarDarren Pickering
pianoJicho Jonisson
drumsThe Retrospective Quintet
band / ensemble / orchestraOrian Rose
drumsMats Monstad
drumsCarl Zinsius
drumsEdward VanLandeghem
drumsYogev Shetrit
composer / conductorPhotos
Music
Amelia
From: Dance of the EldersBy Brian Blade
The End of Innocence
From: The Winds of ChangeBy Brian Blade
Little Scorpio
From: Pride and JoyBy Brian Blade
Daily Jubilee of Dancing Herbie D.
From: Finding LightBy Brian Blade
Song of A Solitary Crow
From: Between Two WorldsBy Brian Blade
When There Were Trains
From: Balancing ActBy Brian Blade