Drums / Guitar / Vocals

Brian Blade

(1970–)

United States

Brian Blade (b. 1970) — Drums, Guitar. Led Brian Blade Fellowship, Perceptual. Worked with Joshua Redman, Christopher Thomas, John Patitucci.

Blade is delicate and poetic — you are startled to hear drums sound this beautiful. In the Wayne Shorter Quartet he seemed less to be playing than breathing. He can explode when the music demands it, but fundamentally he is a drummer who listens first.

Brian Blade's albums

MoodSwing

Joshua Redman · 1994

MoodSwing (1994) captured these four in the middle of their separate ascents. MehldauBrad Mehldauブラッド・メルドー, McBrideChristian McBrideクリスチャン・マクブライド, and BladeBrian Bladeブライアン・ブレイド each went on to build defining careers of their own. In 2020 the same band reunited as RoundAgain.

Brian Blade Fellowship album co-led by Brian Blade

Brian Blade Fellowship

Brian Blade Fellowship · 1998

Brian BladeBrian Bladeブライアン・ブレイド Fellowship (1998) arrived just as Blade had established himself as one of the most sought-after sidemen in jazz. The band blended New Orleans gospel, folk, and free improvisation — redefining what a drummer's own group could be.

Brian Blade's albums

Brian Blade's videos

The Fellowship Band's full KEXP studio session — 'Stoner Hill,' 'Landmarks,' 'Shenandoah,' 'Farewell Bluebird.'

— Brian Blade & The Fellowship Band - Live on KEXP, KEXP, 2016

Videos featuring Brian Blade

Brian BladeBrian Bladeブライアン・ブレイド formed the Fellowship Band in 1998 with Jon Cowherd, Myron Walden, and Chris Thomas — the core of his leader work, bringing gospel and Americana into a jazz context.

— Brian Blade and the Fellowship Band: Body and Shadow, JazzTimes, 2017

Brian BladeBrian Bladeブライアン・ブレイド served as Joni Mitchell's regular drummer through the 2000s — a modern model for how a jazz drummer can sit deeply inside a singer-songwriter's world.

— Brian Blade and the Fellowship Band: Body and Shadow, JazzTimes, 2017