Known in the jazz world for his slick and superlative drumming skills, Brian Blade is engaged in making other musical statements these days. Statements that are outside the jazz genre, but are an essential part of this enlightened man and serious musician whose musical tastes run "between Bela Bartok and Wayne Shorter to Al Green," who, he adds, all intermingle for him.

The Shreveport, Louisiana., native has contributed his considerable talents as a drummer for projects with Joshua Redman, Kenny Garrett and Bill Frisell. He can also be heard on recordings of Joni Mitchell, Bob Dylan, Emmy Lou Harris and Seal. And he's a member of the Wayne Shorter Quartet for nine years and running.

On April 21, 2009, he releases a recording that is a departure from those associations. Mama Rosa (Verve) is a collection of personal and reflective songs Blade has written over the years in his solitary time.

The collection finds him largely putting down the drumsticks to sing and strum a guitar. Like a troubadour, of sorts.

It may be folk- and ballad-style music, but the stories are from his inspirations and experiences over the years. And one of those important inspirations was his grandmother, Mama Rosa, for whom the CD is named. It comes on the heels of his 2008 recording with his Fellowship Band, Season of Changes (Verve), a group he has led for about a decade.

The two recordings may seem worlds apart, but the compositions on the jazz album composed by Blade—"Ruby's Lullaby," "Stoner Hill," "Most Precious One," "Alpha and Omega"—are the most melodic and song-like of the entire recording. They are also reflective, uncluttered and not at all frantic—perhaps not as different from compositions on the new recording as one might expect.

"The songs from Season of Changes or the Fellowship Band music, and this Mama Rosa recording, run a parallel life, for me," says Blade. "Even though I'm not seen as a songwriter, composer, a singer of songs, it informs every part of my musical expression. I'm hoping people will find some joy in the songs and be able to relate some of it to their own lives. Or just enjoy it for the sake of music. I do feel the threads are intertwined.

"The difference with these songs from Mama Rosa is they had to stand up with just me and a guitar in my room, putting them down on tape. If I didn't feel like the song had strength—in that only—then there wasn't really a need to go forward. I've been privileged to be around my heroes, songwriters like Joni Mitchell or Emmy Lou Harris or Daniel Lanois, and to see how they go through the process and see how story lines unfold lyrically and musically. I feel like it's filtering through me. I need to get better at doing that, on every level of songwriting. Even if it is instrumental, it has to touch me first. That gives me the confidence to say, 'OK. Maybe let somebody else hear this one.'''

The songs weren't recorded with the intention of making a CD in mind.

"All of the songs I recorded in my room with my four-track recorder and it was a very private process. Satisfying, but solitary. My good friend (guitarist/songwriter/producer) Daniel Lanois, we've been playing for years together. He's been such a great inspiration for me to write, to have begun writing with the guitar. When I played some of these pieces for him, he gave me encouragement and confidence. He said, 'Man, you should try and make a record out of these things.' And that's what I did, with his help and quite a few other friends. All of a sudden it became much more social, which is great. You feel like you're not alone in it."

Blade sings in a soft, yet soulful voice. His straight-to-the story approach is without the maneuverings of jazz singers. His tone is warm and serene and he tells the stories in heartfelt fashion. Blade's vision is one of wide, diverse musical tastes where jazz isn't necessarily at the forefront and influences creep in from various corners of the musical world.

Says Blade, "I don't want people to get the wrong idea. Not that I like to label anything. But it definitely isn't a jazz record. But it is a record of music that people can enjoy."

"After the Revival" speaks of the warmth of family, enveloped in the tale of his mother expecting the birth of her first son, Brady. "Faithful Brother," a tribute to his sibling, recalls the early guidance Blade's brother provided and reflects on facing challenges without it.

"At the Center Line" begins with the famed "Serenity Prayer" ("God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can; and wisdom to know the difference.") which Blade first read in a frame hanging on his Moma Rosa's wall. It develops into a compelling anthem about staying centered and meeting challenges of life, driven by some simple, but searing guitar work from Lanois.