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Brian Blade & The Fellowship Band: Landmarks
by John Kelman
Four records in 16 years may not be prolific, but clearly Brian Blade and his longstanding Fellowship Band aren't about quantity. While a seemingly scant two years separated the drummer's leader debut (and inspiration for the group name), Fellowship (Blue Note, 1998) from its even more impressive follow-up, Perceptual (Blue Note, 2002), the group's next record, Season of Changes (Verve) came a full eight years later in 2008, and beyond a label change also reflected the trimming down of the ...
Continue ReadingEdward Simon Trio: Live in New York at Jazz Standard
by John Kelman
Some artists maintain a busy release schedule, putting out an album a year--sometimes, in the case of musicians like guitarist Bill Frisell, even more frequently--while others, for a variety of reasons, are less prolific. Pianist Edward Simon has, in recent years, been issuing albums with broader distribution under his own name--which automatically discounts 2010's independently released but undeniably fine Danny Boy--about once every three years on labels ranging from The Netherlands' Criss Cross to Italy's Cam Jazz. Live in New ...
Continue ReadingJohn Scofield: A Moment's Peace
by John Kelman
In a career just entering its fifth decade, John Scofield may have covered a lot of stylistic territory—from the burning modality of Rough House (Enja, 1978), funkified fusion of Blue Matter (Gramavision, 1987) and N'awlins leanings of Piety Street (EmArcy, 2009), to jamband workouts like A Go Go (Verve, 1998), burning modern mainstream on Time On My Hands (Blue Note, 1990) and the contemporary classicized Scorched (Deutsche Grammophon, 2004)—but if a single word had to be chosen to describe the ...
Continue ReadingJoshua Redman: Compass
by Jeff Stockton
No jazz musician with Joshua Redman's pedigree, chops and talent wants to be tagged as “cautious" or “cerebral," but that was Redman's reputation, perhaps right up until Back East was released in 2007. That CD, a return to straight-ahead acoustic playing after a brief digression, found the saxophonist fronting a few different rhythm sections (and standing next to a couple of guests) and generated natural comparisons to Sonny Rollins' classic Way Out West. Compass simultaneously extends the ...
Continue ReadingBrian Blade & Friends at Highline Ballroom
by David Miller
Brian Blade & FriendsHighline BallroomNew York, New YorkJune 24, 2009Brian Blade took the Highline Ballroom stage on a humid Wednesday night to mark the release of his singer-songwriter album, Mama Rosa (Verve Music Group, 2009). There was relatively little fanfare, appropriate given Blade's humble disposition and the no-frills content of Mama Rosa and the show to come. Blade wasn't even the first musician to speak. When he and guitarist Daniel Lanois ambled up onstage, Lanois ...
Continue ReadingBrian Blade: Mama Rosa
by John Kelman
After a lengthy gap between records with his Fellowship Band, drummer Brian Blade has stepped up the pace, following up the unmistakable sound of Season of Changes (Verve, 2008) with Mama Rosa. Blade temporarily deserts the folkloric jazz context of his longstanding group, instead delivering a singer/songwriter album that's just as compelling. Different in nature it may be, but in its own way it makes perfect sense for the introspective and deeply spiritual Blade. Blade's always had a ...
Continue ReadingBrian Blade: Songs From His Heart
by R.J. DeLuke
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 ...
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