Brian Blade
Drums / Percussion / Guitar

Brian Blade

(1970–)

United States

Brian Blade (b. 1970) — Drums, Percussion. Led Brian Blade Fellowship, Perceptual. Worked with John Patitucci, Joshua Redman, Brad Mehldau.

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
MoodSwing
Joshua Redman · 1994

MoodSwing (1994) captured these four in the middle of their separate ascents. MehldauBrad MehldauBrad Mehldauブラッド・メルドー, McBrideChristian McBrideChristian McBrideクリスチャン・マクブライド, and BladeBrian 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's albums

Brian Blade Fellowship album co-led by Brian Blade

Brian Blade Fellowship
Brian Blade Fellowship
Brian Blade Fellowship · 1998

Brian BladeBrian 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 albums

Without a Net
Without a Net
Wayne Shorter · 2013
Pursuance: The Music of John Coltrane
Pursuance: The Music of John Coltrane
Kenny Garrett · 1996
MoodSwing
MoodSwing
Joshua Redman · 1994
Brian Blade Fellowship
Brian Blade Fellowship
Brian Blade Fellowship · 1998

Kenny Garrett's 1996 tribute record Pursuance has no pianist: the chords are carried by Pat Metheny's guitar, in a quartet of sax, guitar, bass and drums. The drum chair went to Brian Blade, then in his mid-twenties and still two years away from his own first album as a leader. By 2013 he was the drummer on Wayne Shorter's Without a Net.

Brian Blade's albums