Brian Blade, magic wands

A drummer in a league of his own, a musician with an immeasurable refinement and a virtuosic composer - one day we’ll run out of superlatives to describe Brian Blade. Listening to his music while watching him navigate his drum with nimble fingers is a unique experience. It’s hardly surprising that Joshua Redman, Brad Mehldau, Kenny Garrett, Norah Jones, Daniel Lanois, Joni Mitchell, Wayne Shorter, Bob Dylan, Steve Earle and Emmylou Harris have all come to offer their services over the years…

But since the end of the ‘90s, Blade has often returned to a source that’s fully his own: the Fellowship Band. Alongside Jon Cowherd on piano, Chris Thomas on double bass, and the brass instruments of Myron Walden and Melvin Butler, here we find a jazz completely other. A sound rooted in gospel, blues and folk that devotes itself to telling stories and histories.

Released on 10th November, the fifth album from Brian Blade & The Fellowship Band scrolls through melodies that couldn’t be more evocative. In just over half an hour, Body & Shadow intertwines bodies and shadows to the sound of highly poetic jazz. The guitarist Dave Devine is invited along to colour a few sequences while Blade and his band apply themselves to blurring the boundaries between genres. Real musical enchantment.

On 26th February 2016, Brian Blade & The Fellowship Band went to the studios of the radio station KEXP where they performed Stoner Hill, Landmarks, Shenandoah, Farewell and Bluebird:

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