Brian Blade and The Fellowship Band is: Brian Blade (dr) Jon Cowherd (p,kbd) Chris Thomas (b), Myron Walden (sax), Melvin Butler (sax) and Kurt Rosenwinkel (g)
Influences
The music of John Coltrane, Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, Art Blakely, Thelonious Monk, Elvin Jones, and Joni Mitchell. Chris Thomas, Peter Martin, Nicholas Payton, Antoine Drye, Melvin Butler, Delfeayo Marsalis, Joshua Redman, Harry Connick, Jr., Gray Mayfield, Marcus Roberts, Victor Goines and Daniel Lanois.
Brian has won the 2009 Modern Drummer Readers Poll Award for Best Contemporary Jazz Drummer! This is the second year in a row that he has been given this award. Congrats Brian!
Mama Rosa is Brian Blade's first recording as a singer, guitarist, and songwriter. The album is a revealing journey through a thirteen-song cycle about family, loved ones, travels and a sense that these things have to be shared with others.
Blade is already widely respected in the jazz world as drummer/composer/leader of Brian Blade and The Fellowship Band and is also known as the drummer for many heroes of the music world, including Daniel Lanois, Joni Mitchell, Bob Dylan, Wayne Shorter, Seal, Bill Frisell, and Emmylou Harris.
In addition to his talents as a drummer, Blade has been writing and recording original songs 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. 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 Mama Rosa.
Other songs such as "All That Was Yesterday," "You'll Always Be My Baby," and "Nature's Law" show Blade to be a soulful and expressive vocalist and a songwriter capable of rendering evocative stories that resonate with insight and empathy. The album’s earthy feel and languid pace are complemented by the rich textures of Blade’s singing voice.
In addition to Blade's original compositions, the album features a memorable adaptation of Brazilian music icon Milton Nascimento's "Faithful Brother," as well as a pair of atmospheric instrumentals, "All Gospel Radio" and "Psalm 100," also written by Blade.
Mama Rosa's organic musical palette showcases Blade's diverse talents on acoustic guitar and drums. Daniel Lanois is the featured soloist on Mama Rosa, offering Firebird guitar improvisations on several tracks including “At The Centerline.” Also featured on the album are guitarist Goffrey Moore, steel guitar virtuoso Greg Leisz, bassist Jenny lee Lindberg (Warpaint ), singer/songwriters Aaron Embry (Amnion), John Bigham (The Soul of John Black), Rocco Deluca and Daryl Johnson, vocalist Kelly Jones, and Blade’s Fellowship bandmates Jon Cowherd, Chris Thomas and Kurt Rosenwinkel.
From albums and tours with Joshua Redman, Kenny Garrett, and Wayne Shorter, to recent recordings with Bob Dylan (Time Out Of Mind), Emmylou Harris (Wrecking Ball), Daniel Lanois (Sling Blade) and hero Joni Mitchell, Brian has shown deep musical instincts and a phenomenal gift for playing music texturally -- both thick and thin -- on the drums. In 1998 Brian released his Blue Note recording debut entitled Fellowship. This was followed up with the 2000 release Perceptual.
In May of 2008, Brian Blade released his Verve recording debut entitled Season of Changes. Season of Changes has been hailed by critics and fan's alike as one of the top releases of 2008. The Fellowship Band will tour this summer.
Hey Bro. I love what I have heard from your new record. I am gonna go out and get if for sure. Its great to hear someone as good as you, continue to evolve as a musician and an artist. Keep up the incredible work..
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