Name: Brian Blade & the Fellowship Band
Start: 2025-10-30T19:00:00-05:00
Location: New Orleans Jazz Market

𝟒𝐱-𝐆𝐑𝐀𝐌𝐌𝐘® 𝐀𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝-𝐖𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐫 & 𝟏𝟑𝐱-𝐆𝐑𝐀𝐌𝐌𝐘® 𝐀𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐍𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐃𝐫𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐫, 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐫 & 𝐁𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐁𝐑𝐈𝐀𝐍 𝐁𝐋𝐀𝐃𝐄 & 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐅𝐄𝐋𝐋𝐎𝐖𝐒𝐇𝐈𝐏 𝐁𝐀𝐍𝐃 perform at the New Orleans Jazz & Blues Market on 𝐓𝐡𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐅𝐫𝐢𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐎𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝟑𝟎 & 𝟑𝟏 𝐚𝐭 𝟕 & 𝟗:𝟑𝟎 𝐏.𝐌. 𝐵𝑟𝑖𝑎𝑛 𝐵𝑙𝑎𝑑𝑒 𝑖𝑠 𝑎 𝑙𝑒𝑔𝑒𝑛𝑑𝑎𝑟𝑦 𝑗𝑎𝑧𝑧 𝑑𝑟𝑢𝑚𝑚𝑒𝑟 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑏𝑙𝑖𝑠ℎ𝑒𝑑 ℎ𝑖𝑚𝑠𝑒𝑙𝑓 𝑎𝑠 𝑎 𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑙𝑒, 𝑎𝑐𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑖𝑠ℎ𝑒𝑑 𝑑𝑟𝑢𝑚𝑚𝑒𝑟 𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑙𝑦 𝑖𝑛 ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑐𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑒𝑟. 𝐻𝑒 ℎ𝑎𝑠 𝑎𝑝𝑝𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑑 𝑜𝑛 𝑎𝑙𝑏𝑢𝑚𝑠 𝑏𝑦 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑙𝑖𝑘𝑒𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝐽𝑜𝑠ℎ𝑢𝑎 𝑅𝑒𝑑𝑚𝑎𝑛, 𝐾𝑒𝑛𝑛𝑦 𝐺𝑎𝑟𝑟𝑒𝑡𝑡, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 Bob Dylan 𝑎𝑛𝑑 ℎ𝑎𝑠 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑘𝑒𝑑 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑎 𝑣𝑎𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑑 𝑏𝑒𝑣𝑦 𝑜𝑓 𝑎𝑟𝑡𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑠, 𝑖𝑛𝑐𝑙𝑢𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔 Herbie Hancock, Chick Corea, 𝐽𝑜𝑛𝑖 𝑀𝑖𝑡𝑐ℎ𝑒𝑙𝑙, Norah Jones, 𝐵𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝐹𝑟𝑖𝑠𝑒𝑙𝑙, Christian McBride, 𝐸𝑚𝑚𝑦𝑙𝑜𝑢 𝐻𝑎𝑟𝑟𝑖𝑠, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑎𝑠 𝑎 𝑙𝑜𝑛𝑔-𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑚𝑒𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑓 Wayne Shorter’𝑠 𝑏𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑏𝑒𝑔𝑖𝑛𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎𝑡 𝑎𝑔𝑒 30.
"𝑶𝒏𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒋𝒂𝒛𝒛’𝒔 𝒎𝒐𝒔𝒕 𝒅𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉𝒕-𝒂𝒇𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒅𝒓𝒖𝒎𝒎𝒆𝒓𝒔..."
— 𝑵𝑬𝑾 𝒀𝑶𝑹𝑲 𝑻𝑰𝑴𝑬𝑺
"𝑩𝒓𝒊𝒂𝒏 𝑩𝒍𝒂𝒅𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝒅𝒓𝒖𝒎𝒎𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒈𝒆𝒏𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏—𝒉𝒆’𝒔 𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒐𝒑 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒍𝒊𝒔𝒕 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒆𝒙𝒕𝒓𝒆𝒎𝒆 𝒔𝒆𝒏𝒔𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒗𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝒐𝒓 𝒈𝒐𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒇𝒖𝒍𝒍-𝒕𝒉𝒓𝒐𝒕𝒕𝒍𝒆..."
— 𝑻𝑯𝑬 𝑮𝑼𝑨𝑹𝑫𝑰𝑨𝑵
“𝑫𝒓𝒖𝒎𝒎𝒆𝒓, 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒑𝒐𝒔𝒆𝒓, 𝒃𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒆𝒓: 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒅𝒔 𝒔𝒆𝒆𝒎 𝒊𝒏𝒂𝒅𝒆𝒒𝒖𝒂𝒕𝒆. 𝑩𝒓𝒊𝒂𝒏 𝑩𝒍𝒂𝒅𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒂𝒏 𝒆𝒙𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆. 𝑳𝒆𝒂𝒗𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒄𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒊𝒎𝒑𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒕 𝒐𝒏 𝒂 𝒘𝒊𝒅𝒆 𝒔𝒘𝒂𝒕𝒉 𝒐𝒇 𝒋𝒂𝒛𝒛 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒑𝒐𝒑 𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒍𝒂𝒔𝒕 25 𝒚𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒔…”
— 𝑱𝑨𝒁𝒁 𝑻𝑰𝑴𝑬𝑺
“𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆'𝒔 𝒂 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝑩𝒓𝒊𝒂𝒏 𝑩𝒍𝒂𝒅𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒔 𝒃𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒊𝒓𝒔𝒕 𝒄𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒅𝒓𝒖𝒎𝒎𝒆𝒓 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒋𝒂𝒛𝒛 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒍𝒅 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒂𝒔𝒕 20 𝒚𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒔. 𝑯𝒆'𝒔 𝒂 𝒎𝒂𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒓…𝑰𝒕'𝒔 𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒂𝒗𝒐𝒊𝒅 𝒃𝒆𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒊𝒏𝒔𝒑𝒊𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒔𝒆𝒆 𝒉𝒊𝒎 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚…”
— 𝑨𝑳𝑳 𝑨𝑩𝑶𝑼𝑻 𝑱𝑨𝒁𝒁
"𝑰𝒕'𝒔 𝒂 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒇𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒍𝒚 𝒊𝒎𝒑𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒃𝒂𝒏𝒅 [𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑭𝒆𝒍𝒍𝒐𝒘𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒑 𝑩𝒂𝒏𝒅], 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑩𝒍𝒂𝒅𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒘𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒍𝒚 𝒂𝒄𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘𝒍𝒆𝒅𝒈𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒔 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒐𝒑 𝒅𝒓𝒖𝒎𝒎𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝒋𝒂𝒛𝒛.”
— 𝑫𝑶𝑾𝑵𝑩𝑬𝑨𝑻 𝑴𝑨𝑮𝑨𝒁𝑰𝑵𝑬
“𝑳𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐 𝑲𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒔 𝑯𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒘𝒂𝒚 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒇𝒆𝒆𝒍 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒇𝒆𝒍𝒍𝒐𝒘𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒑 [𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑭𝒆𝒍𝒍𝒐𝒘𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒑 𝑩𝒂𝒏𝒅], 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒐𝒍𝒊𝒅𝒂𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒖𝒔𝒊𝒄𝒊𝒂𝒏𝒔, 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒊𝒓 𝒔𝒆𝒏𝒔𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒑𝒖𝒓𝒑𝒐𝒔𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒂𝒄𝒉𝒊𝒆𝒗𝒆 𝒂 𝒇𝒆𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒈𝒐𝒆𝒔 𝒃𝒆𝒚𝒐𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒏𝒐𝒕𝒆𝒔 𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒆𝒄𝒉𝒏𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒍 𝒂𝒃𝒊𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒆𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒊𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒗𝒊𝒅𝒖𝒂𝒍 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚𝒆𝒓𝒔. 𝑵𝒐𝒕 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒋𝒂𝒛𝒛 𝒊𝒔 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔.”
— 𝑨𝑳𝑳 𝑨𝑩𝑶𝑼𝑻 𝑱𝑨𝒁𝒁 (2023 𝑨𝒍𝒃𝒖𝒎 𝑹𝒆𝒗𝒊𝒆𝒘 – ‘𝑲𝒊𝒏𝒈’𝒔 𝑯𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒘𝒂𝒚’)
𝐓𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐭𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐍𝐞𝐰 𝐎𝐫𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐬 𝐉𝐚𝐳𝐳 & 𝐁𝐥𝐮𝐞𝐬 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐞𝐭 𝐒𝐡𝐨𝐰𝐬 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐛𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐭: https://jazzandbluesmarket.com/events/
Nᴇᴡ Oʀʟᴇᴀɴs Jᴀᴢᴢ & Bʟᴜᴇs Mᴀʀᴋᴇᴛ ᴏꜰꜰᴇʀs Wᴏʀʟᴅ-Rᴇɴᴏᴡɴᴇᴅ & Aᴡᴀʀᴅ-Wɪɴɴɪɴɢ Mᴜsɪᴄɪᴀɴs, Nᴇᴡ Pʀᴇᴍɪᴜᴍ Sᴏᴜɴᴅ & Lɪɢʜᴛɪɴɢ Tᴇᴄʜɴᴏʟᴏɢɪᴇs, Sɪɢɴᴀᴛᴜʀᴇ Cᴏᴄᴋᴛᴀɪʟs & Dʀɪɴᴋs, Pʀɪᴠᴀᴛᴇ Vᴀʟᴇᴛ Pᴀʀᴋɪɴɢ, ᴀs ᴡᴇʟʟ ᴀs Lᴇɢᴇɴᴅᴀʀʏ Lɪᴠᴇ Pᴇʀꜰᴏʀᴍᴀɴᴄᴇs, ᴀɴᴅ Oᴜᴛsᴛᴀɴᴅɪɴɢ Mᴇᴍᴏʀᴀʙʟᴇ Exᴘᴇʀɪᴇɴᴄᴇs!
𝟒𝐱-𝐆𝐑𝐀𝐌𝐌𝐘® 𝐀𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝-𝐖𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐫 & 𝟏𝟑𝐱-𝐆𝐑𝐀𝐌𝐌𝐘® 𝐀𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐍𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐃𝐫𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐫, 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐫 & 𝐁𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐁𝐑𝐈𝐀𝐍 𝐁𝐋𝐀𝐃𝐄 𝐢𝐬 𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐥𝐲 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐟𝐮𝐥 𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐧𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐣𝐚𝐳𝐳. In addition to The Fellowship Band, since 2000 Blade has also been a member of jazz legend Wayne Shorter's quartet. Blade grew up listening to Shorter's albums and started playing with Shorter at 30 years old.
𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐁𝐥𝐚𝐝𝐞 & 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐅𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩 𝐁𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐜𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝟐𝟓𝐭𝐡 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐚𝐫𝐲. In 2017, they released their sublime and acclaimed fifth album, ‘Body and Shadow’, a succinct nine-track meditation on lightness/darkness that arrives like a balm for the soul, ebbing and flowing with grace, subtlety and no shortness of beauty. In 2023, they released their critically acclaimed 6th album, ‘King’s Highway’, to rave reviews.
𝐅𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝟏𝟗𝟗𝟕, 𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐁𝐥𝐚𝐝𝐞 & 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐅𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩 𝐁𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐞𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐲𝐦𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐁𝐥𝐮𝐞 𝐍𝐨𝐭𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝟏𝟗𝟗𝟖, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐨𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐧𝐬 𝐠𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐟𝐮𝐫𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫. Brian Blade, the band’s namesake and drummer, first met pianist Jon Cowherd in 1988 while attending Loyola University in New Orleans, and they met bassist Chris Thomas in the Crescent City a year later. With Myron Walden (Alto Saxophone and Bass Clarinet) and Melvin Butler (Tenor Saxophone) the Fellowship Band bond was unified - “we think of the band as a collective instrument,” Cowherd says.
𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐁𝐥𝐚𝐝𝐞 & 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐅𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩 𝐁𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐬𝐢𝐱 𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐚𝐜𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐥𝐛𝐮𝐦𝐬: 'Brian Blade Fellowship' (1998), 'Perceptual' (2000), 'Season of Changes' (2008), 'Landmarks' (2014), 'Body and Shadow' (2017), and 'Kings Highway' (2023).
𝑩𝒍𝒂𝒅𝒆 𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒏𝒆𝒅 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒎𝒐𝒔𝒕 𝒓𝒆𝒄𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝑮𝑹𝑨𝑴𝑴𝒀® 𝑨𝒘𝒂𝒓𝒅 𝒇𝒐𝒓 "𝑩𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝑱𝒂𝒛𝒛 𝑰𝒏𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒖𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒂𝒍 𝑨𝒍𝒃𝒖𝒎" 𝒇𝒐𝒓 '𝑻𝒓𝒊𝒍𝒐𝒈𝒚 2' 𝒘𝒉𝒊𝒄𝒉 𝒊𝒔 𝒂 𝒍𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒂𝒍𝒃𝒖𝒎 𝒃𝒚 𝑪𝒉𝒊𝒄𝒌 𝑪𝒐𝒓𝒆𝒂 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝑪𝒉𝒓𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒂𝒏 𝑴𝒄𝑩𝒓𝒊𝒅𝒆. 𝑰𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒇𝒊𝒓𝒔𝒕 𝒓𝒆𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒆𝒅 𝒊𝒏 2018 𝒊𝒏 𝑱𝒂𝒑𝒂𝒏 𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑼𝒏𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒂𝒍 𝑴𝒖𝒔𝒊𝒄 𝒍𝒂𝒃𝒆𝒍, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒊𝒏 2019 𝒃𝒚 𝑪𝒐𝒏𝒄𝒐𝒓𝒅 𝑹𝒆𝒄𝒐𝒓𝒅𝒔.
𝐴𝑛𝑑 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑖𝑛𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑚𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑜𝑛 𝑝𝑒𝑟ℎ𝑎𝑝𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑏𝑒𝑠𝑡 𝐽𝑎𝑧𝑧 𝐷𝑟𝑢𝑚𝑚𝑒𝑟 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑙𝑑 𝑡𝑜𝑑𝑎𝑦, 𝐵𝑟𝑖𝑎𝑛 𝐵𝑙𝑎𝑑𝑒…
𝐁𝐨𝐫𝐧 𝐢𝐧 𝟏𝟗𝟕𝟎 𝐢𝐧 𝐒𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭, 𝐋𝐨𝐮𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐚𝐧𝐚, 𝐁𝐥𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐜 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐙𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐁𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐬𝐭 𝐂𝐡𝐮𝐫𝐜𝐡, 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐟𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫. At elementary school he took up the violin. However, inspired by his older brother who played drums at church, he eventually switched to that instrument, playing drums and percussion throughout his middle and high school years. It was during high school that he also began investigating jazz, listening to artists like Elvin Jones, Art Blakey, Philly Joe Jones, Tony Williams, and sundry other influential drummers. After high school, he moved to New Orleans where he further honed his skills attending both Loyola University and New Orleans University. There, he gained valuable experience performing with artists like Ellis Marsalis, Alvin Red Tyler, and Harold Battiste. He also sought out local mentors, studying David Lee, as well as highly respected drummer and second-line master Johnny Vidacovich, who keyed Blade into other New Orleans luminaries like Ernie Elly, Herlin Riley, and Herman Lebo.
𝐈𝐧 𝟐𝟎𝟎𝟎, 𝐡𝐞 𝐣𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐬𝐚𝐱𝐨𝐩𝐡𝐨𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐭 Wayne Shorter'𝐬 𝐛𝐚𝐧𝐝, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐮𝐫𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐝𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝, 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐫𝐞𝐠𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐲 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬 𝐛𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐬𝐭 𝐉𝐨𝐡𝐧 𝐏𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐮𝐜𝐜𝐢 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐩𝐢𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐭 𝐃𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐥𝐨 𝐏𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐳. Together, they helped shepherd in a renewed period of creative energy for Shorter, issuing albums like 2002's ‘Footprints Live!’, 2003's GRAMMY® Award-Winning ‘Alegria’, and 2005's ‘Beyond the Sound Barrier’, for which Blade also picked up a GRAMMY® Award. Around the same time, he also contributed to John Patitucci's GRAMMY® Award Nominated ‘Remembrance’ and appeared on albums by David Binney, Scott Colley, Myron Walden, and others.
𝐼𝑛 2012, 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑎𝑙𝑏𝑢𝑚 ‘𝑄𝑢𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑟’, 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑔𝑢𝑖𝑡𝑎𝑟𝑖𝑠𝑡 𝐵𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝐹𝑟𝑖𝑠𝑒𝑙𝑙 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑐𝑜𝑟𝑛𝑒𝑡𝑖𝑠𝑡 𝑅𝑜𝑛 𝑀𝑖𝑙𝑒𝑠, 𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑛𝑒𝑑 𝐵𝑙𝑎𝑑𝑒 𝐺𝑒𝑟𝑚𝑎𝑛𝑦'𝑠 𝐸𝐶𝐻𝑂 𝐽𝑎𝑧𝑧 𝐴𝑤𝑎𝑟𝑑 𝑓𝑜𝑟 “𝐼𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑛𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑎𝑙 𝐴𝑟𝑡𝑖𝑠𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑌𝑒𝑎𝑟 𝐷𝑟𝑢𝑚𝑠/𝑃𝑒𝑟𝑐𝑢𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑜𝑛.”
𝐈𝐧 𝟐𝟎𝟏𝟑, 𝐁𝐥𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐣𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐩𝐢𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐭 𝐂𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐤 𝐂𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐚'𝐬 𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐨 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐛𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐬𝐭 𝐂𝐡𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐌𝐜𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐝𝐞. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐩'𝐬 𝐝𝐞𝐛𝐮𝐭, ‘𝐓𝐫𝐢𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐲’, 𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐭 #𝟗 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐁𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐛𝐨𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐉𝐚𝐳𝐳 𝐀𝐥𝐛𝐮𝐦𝐬 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐆𝐑𝐀𝐌𝐌𝐘® 𝐀𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫 “𝐁𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐈𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐉𝐚𝐳𝐳 𝐀𝐥𝐛𝐮𝐦”. The drummer then re-signed with Blue Note in a cooperative deal with the Shreveport, Louisiana-based Mid-City Records.
𝐈𝐧 𝟐𝟎𝟏𝟕, 𝐁𝐥𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐞𝐝 𝐲𝐞𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐨, 𝐫𝐞𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐟𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧 𝐢𝐧 𝐖𝐚𝐲𝐧𝐞 𝐒𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐫'𝐬 𝐪𝐮𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐭, 𝐩𝐢𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐭 𝐏𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐳 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐛𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐬𝐭 𝐉𝐨𝐡𝐧 𝐏𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐮𝐜𝐜𝐢, 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐮𝐝𝐢𝐨 𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐞 ‘𝐂𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐋𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭’ 𝐨𝐧 𝐌𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐀𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐮𝐞. During the same season, Blade's Fellowship released ‘Body and Shadow’ on Blue Note. Recorded in the historic Columbus Theatre in Providence, Rhode Island, the album was co-written, arranged, and produced by Blade and longtime collaborator pianist Cowherd.
𝐈𝐧 𝟐𝟎𝟏𝟖, 𝐁𝐥𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐣𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐬𝐚𝐱𝐨𝐩𝐡𝐨𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐭 𝐉𝐨𝐬𝐡𝐮𝐚 𝐑𝐞𝐝𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐆𝐑𝐀𝐌𝐌𝐘® 𝐀𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐍𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐪𝐮𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐭 𝐚𝐥𝐛𝐮𝐦 ‘𝐒𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐃𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠’, and in 2019 joined bassist Jeff Denson and guitarist Romain Pilon for the trio album ‘Between Two Worlds’. In 2020, he was back with Joshua Redman for a reunion of the saxophonist's '90s quartet with bassist Christian McBride and pianist Brad Mehldau on ‘RoundAgain’.
𝐼𝑛 2022, 𝐵𝑙𝑎𝑑𝑒 𝑎𝑙𝑜𝑛𝑔 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝐽𝑜𝑠ℎ𝑢𝑎 𝑅𝑒𝑑𝑚𝑎𝑛, 𝐵𝑟𝑎𝑑 𝑀𝑒ℎ𝑙𝑑𝑎𝑢 & 𝐶ℎ𝑟𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑎𝑛 𝑀𝑐𝐵𝑟𝑖𝑑𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑒𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑎𝑐𝑐𝑙𝑎𝑖𝑚𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑙𝑏𝑢𝑚 '𝐿𝑜𝑛𝑔𝐺𝑜𝑛𝑒’ 𝑤ℎ𝑖𝑐ℎ 𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑒𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑑 𝑎 𝐺𝑅𝐴𝑀𝑀𝑌® 𝐴𝑤𝑎𝑟𝑑 𝑁𝑜𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑓𝑜𝑟 “𝐵𝑒𝑠𝑡 𝐽𝑎𝑧𝑧 𝐼𝑛𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑢𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝐴𝑙𝑏𝑢𝑚”.
𝐓𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐭𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝟒𝐱-𝐆𝐑𝐀𝐌𝐌𝐘® 𝐀𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝-𝐖𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐫 & 𝟏𝟑𝐱-𝐆𝐑𝐀𝐌𝐌𝐘® 𝐀𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐍𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐃𝐫𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐫, 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐫 & 𝐁𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐁𝐑𝐈𝐀𝐍 𝐁𝐋𝐀𝐃𝐄 & 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐅𝐄𝐋𝐋𝐎𝐖𝐒𝐇𝐈𝐏 𝐁𝐀𝐍𝐃 at the New Orleans Jazz & Blues Market on 𝐓𝐡𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐅𝐫𝐢𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐎𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝟑𝟎 & 𝟑𝟏 𝐚𝐭 𝟕 & 𝟗:𝟑𝟎 𝐏.𝐌. are NOW On-Sale on Ticketmaster, Facebook Events at:
https://www.facebook.com/share/19MEJJj7pk/ (THU at 7 PM) and https://www.facebook.com/share/1Cit2SCp4W/ (THU at 9:30 PM) and https://www.facebook.com/share/16tQUSTb6o/ (FRI at 7 PM) and https://www.facebook.com/share/1B4SMesumE/ (FRI at 9:30 PM) and the New Orleans Jazz & Blues Market Website at: https://jazzandbluesmarket.com/events/list/?tribe-bar-search=Brian+Blade - 𝑫𝒐𝒐𝒓𝒔 𝑶𝒑𝒆𝒏 2 𝑯𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒔 𝒃𝒆𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 1𝒔𝒕 𝑺𝒉𝒐𝒘 𝒂𝒏𝒅 1 𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒃𝒆𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 2𝒏𝒅 𝑺𝒉𝒐𝒘!!
𝐏𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐮𝐬 𝐨𝐧 𝐈𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐦 𝐚𝐭: https://www.instagram.com/jazzbluesmarket/
𝐀𝐥𝐥 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐍𝐞𝐰 𝐎𝐫𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐬 𝐉𝐚𝐳𝐳 & 𝐁𝐥𝐮𝐞𝐬 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐞𝐭 𝐒𝐡𝐨𝐰𝐬 & 𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐛𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐭: https://jazzandbluesmarket.com/events/ - 𝑶𝑼𝑻𝑺𝑻𝑨𝑵𝑫𝑰𝑵𝑮 2025 𝑺𝑯𝑶𝑾𝑺 𝑶𝑵-𝑺𝑨𝑳𝑬 𝑵𝑶𝑾!!
𝐒𝐢𝐠𝐧-𝐮𝐩 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐍𝐞𝐰 𝐎𝐫𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐬 𝐉𝐚𝐳𝐳 & 𝐁𝐥𝐮𝐞𝐬 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐞𝐭 𝐄𝐦𝐚𝐢𝐥 𝐍𝐞𝐰𝐬𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐭: www.jazzandbluesmarket.com/subscribe to stay informed on Upcoming Shows, New Artist Announcements, Promotional Offers, Ticket On-Sale Dates, Special Performances, and much more!! Thank you!!
𝐏𝐑𝐈𝐕𝐀𝐓𝐄 𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐒, 𝐂𝐎𝐑𝐏𝐎𝐑𝐀𝐓𝐄 𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐒 & 𝐖𝐄𝐃𝐃𝐈𝐍𝐆𝐒. The New Orleans Jazz & Blues Market offers a spectacular venue to host important corporate functions, weddings, intimate or large-scale social gatherings, private parties, and memorable celebrations!! If interested, please email: [email protected].
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