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John Kelman wrote on May 14, 2009Mike,
Thanks for writing, and for sharing your thoughts. Of course I respect them, but I can't agree with your assessment about Brian, because - at least in Montreal - he did groove, but in a looser fashion than Vinnie.
I corrected the touring part, identifying them as touring since the fall of 2008, and thanks for the catch - the beauty of the web is we can fix mistakes easily!
As for explaining the diff of Brian, well, I felt - since others have been reviewing FPB shows - that talking about the difference changing one member can make was worth exploring.
John and Chick do play around defined rhythms - well, some of the time anyway - but they seemed to work just great with Brian. Perhaps Montreal was a better gelling show than Philly, hard to say. But to me, I felt no lack of groove. And as a fusion head myself, btw (!) I want to be clear that was not a put-down. But folks who seem to favor fusion over other styles do seem, without wanting to generalize (but I suppose I'm doing it anyway) to be more disposed towards firm pulse and strong groove.
Don't know if you've heard any of Brian Blade's Fellowship CDs, but he absolutely can groove, just in a very different from Vinnie.
But I'll say this: while I think Brian fits just fine in FPB, I'd say he'd do less so in Jeff Beck's group, who I'll be seeing in Montreal this summer.
But with FPB he was as much a force of nature as anyone (and everyone) else in the group.
Best!
John
