The Singer/Songwriter Side of Drummer Brian Blade
July 26, 2010 at 5:00 AM ✺Good morning✺
Yesterday (25 July) was Brian Blade's birthday. After I blipped a couple of his videos to my friends on Twitter, I started to think about what I knew of his life and career.
Blade made his first recorded appearances as a sideman with saxophonists Kenny Garrett and Joshua Redman and continues to work as a sideman with other musicians.
As a bandleader (beginning in the late 1990s), he has released three albums under Brian Blade & the Fellowship Band. The band features Jon Cowherd - pianist/composer, Chris Thomas - bassist, Myron Walden - alto saxophone/bass clarinet, Melvin Butler - tenor and soprano saxophone and Kurt Rosenwinkel - guitar.
While continuing to work with the Fellowship Band, he has been a member of Wayne Shorter's most recent quartet and has also recorded with Joni Mitchell, Bill Frisell, Ellis Marsalis, Norah Jones, Emmylou Harris, Daniel Lanois, Bob Dylan, Dorothy Scott, Billy Childs, Chris Potter and David Binney.
During my search for information about his background, I discovered that his roots were in the church. Brian sang on the choir and played drums (he took his older brother's (Brady) place as the church drummer when Brady left to attend college) while growing up in Shreveport, Louisiana.
I listened to most of the five albums that he has recorded as a bandleader, co-bandleader and solo artist last night. The musical mood ran the gamut from reflective and cerebral to uncompromising and complex.
On the 2009 "Mama Rosa" album, he shares with us his song-writing skills. He also shows us his talent as a singer and guitarist.
The inspiration for "Mama Rosa" from BrianBlade.com:
"I remember when I first read the words hanging in a frame on my grandma Rosa's wall. The serenity prayer was something I couldn't understand until almost thirty years later, but now after experiencing some peaks and valleys of life, those words ring in my ears with clarity."
Brian Blade has set those words to music for his first recording as a singer, guitarist and songwriter: Mama Rosa is a revealing journey through thirteen songs about family, loved ones, travels and a sense that these things that shape and inspire us have to be shared with others to complete a circle. He has been writing and recording material with words for as long as he's been making music.
In fact, Mama Rosa grew naturally from the four-track home demos that he's recorded over the years and several of the original performances from those tapes can be heard on this album. Initially, Blade felt that these songs would never be heard by anyone else, but after encouragement from longtime friend Daniel Lanois, these home recordings became the cornerstones for the album. There is an initial spark close to the moment of inspiration and that intimate vibe is felt throughout Mama Rosa.
"For some time now, these songs have existed in the solitude of my room, and I got a lot of joy and satisfaction from just knowing that they existed," Blade says. "But at a certain point I questioned whether it was fear or selfishness that kept me quiet. Facing the music and the mirror, I began to ask if this was the end of the process? What does God expect of me? Maybe someone else might find some inspiration in the songs."
The lyrical themes of home, memories and loved ones, and how they shape who we are, are reflected in Blade naming the album after his grandmother. Rosa is the subject of the album's vivid opening track "After The Revival." Sung from the perspective of his mother Dorothy Blade, expecting the birth of her first son, Brian's older brother, Brady, Jr. "After the Revival" also alludes to Blade's early years at the Zion Baptist Church in Shreveport, Louisiana, where his father is pastor, and where Brian first started singing and playing the drums.
Brian Blade Discography
"Mama Rosa" is not a Jazz album. If I had to categorize it, I would place it in the Folk genre. AllMusic.com made the determination that this album is "what amounts to a "pop" album." Hmmm...
It sounds like a very personal album to me. I know a lot of artists say that their creations are "personal" but, this latest album by Brian Blade is both "heartfelt" and "personal". Why do I say this? It's because of the lyrics and I get the sense that he has "sat" with this music for a long time, that it has become a part of his soul.
It may not be what you've come to expect from Brian Blade, but I don't see anything wrong with that. Do you know what I mean?
Who has listened to "Mama Rosa"? How would you classify it? What did you enjoy about it the most while you listened to it?
I hope that you all have a fabulous week! 
source: wikipedia.org, brianblade.com and youtube.com
Reader Comments (4)
thanks for this wonderful post Donna ! I think we all admire Brian Blade !
I posted a photograph of him recently on my jazzphoto blog and the link is http://juancarloshernandezjazzphotographer.blogspot.com/
Mama rosa is one of my favorite albums, period. If nobody else found inspiration, i know i definitely did!
Hi Juan-Carlos and Dylan:
Thank you for stopping by!
Juan-Carlos: Thanks for sharing a link to the Brian Blade photo that you have on your jazz photoblog.
Dylan: I can see how "Mama Rosa" could be inspirational to many people. How specifically (if you care to share) did you find it inspirational?
If you come back through, I would definitely like to hear about that. :)
Take care.
Name I knew, but most of this info was news to me. Thanks. Listening to the "mama rosa" video. nice stuff for a Sunday morning is what I would call it.