Brian Blade

Submitted by nonesuch on Thu, 03/05/2020 - 18:13
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The members of the original Joshua Redman Quartet—Redman (saxophone), Brad Mehldau (piano), Christian McBride (bass), and Brian Blade (drums)—reunite with RoundAgain, the group’s first recording since 1994’s MoodSwing. The album features seven newly composed songs: three from Redman, two from Mehldau, and one each from McBride and Blade.

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The members of the legendary original 1990s Joshua Redman Quartet—Redman (saxophone), Brad Mehldau (piano), Christian McBride (bass), and Brian Blade (drums)—reunited after twenty-six years for 2020’s RoundAgain; they returned with LongGone, featuring six original songs by Redman, due September 9, 2022, on Nonesuch Records. Here's a life performance of the album track “Disco Ears":

RoundAgain, the group’s first recording since 1994’s MoodSwing, debuted at No. 1 on the Current Traditional Jazz Albums chart in the US and at No. 1 on the Jazz & Blues chart in the UK. The album received two Grammy nominations. NPR called it “a flawless effort,” stating that the four musicians have “only gotten better in that time” and are each “at the very top of his game now.”

“Musicians with a scary level of talent playing into the moment,” says the New York Times. “The blend of outside influences into a consensual jazz language, the polyrhythmic play, the scholarly bravado: All those things felt fresh for these musicians in the 1990s ... There’s something undeniable—consoling, even—about hearing them remain true to it today.”

Redman says of his first group as a bandleader, which was together for approximately a year and a half: “I realized almost immediately that this band wouldn’t stay together for very long. They were without a doubt, for our generation, among the most accomplished and innovative on their respective instruments. I knew better than anyone else just how incredibly lucky I was to have even that short time with them.” 

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Latest Release

  • September 9, 2022

    In 1994, the original Joshua Redman Quartet—Redman (saxophone), Brad Mehldau (piano), Christian McBride (bass), and Brian Blade (drums)—released MoodSwing, an instant classic that helped launch each member’s career as a leader. The members of the quartet reunited for the critically acclaimed album RoundAgain in 2020 and now for a new album, LongGone, featuring original Redman compositions from the RoundAgain recording sessions, plus a live performance of the MoodSwing track “Rejoice,” captured by SFJAZZ at the San Francisco Jazz Festival. Grammy Nominee for Best Instrumental Album.

Releases

News

  • November 15, 2022

    Congratulations to all of the Nonesuch nominees for the 65th Grammy Awards: Molly Tuttle for Best New Artist and Best Bluegrass Album for Crooked Tree with Golden Highway; The Black Keys for Best Rock Album for Dropout Boogie and Best Rock Performance for "Wild Child"; Dan Auerbach for Producer of the Year, Non-Classical; Cécile McLorin Salvant for Best Jazz Vocal Album for Ghost Song and Best Arrangement, Instrumental and Vocals for "Optimistic Voices / No Love Dying"; Joshua Redman, Brad Mehldau, Christian McBride, and Brian Blade's LongGone for Best Instrumental Album; Brad Mehldau's Jacob's Ladder for Best Contemporary Instrumental Album; Punch Brothers' Hell on Church Street for Best Folk Album; Caroline Shaw & Attacca Quartet's Evergreen for Best Chamber Music/Small Ensemble Performance; Taj Mahal & Ry Cooder's GET ON BOARD for Best Traditional Blues Album; Wilco's Yankee Hotel Foxtrot (20th Anniversary Super Deluxe Edition) for Best Historical Album and Best Album Notes for Bob Mehr; and Astor Piazzolla: The American Clavé Recordings. for Best Album Notes for Fernando González. 

  • September 9, 2022

    The members of the legendary original 1990s Joshua Redman Quartet—Redman, Brad Mehldau, Christian McBride, and Brian Blade—who reunited after twenty-six years for the 2020 album RoundAgain, return now with LongGone, out now. The new album features original Redman compositions from the RoundAgain recording sessions, plus a live performance “Rejoice,” captured by SFJAZZ at the San Francisco Jazz Festival. "Musical soulmates reunite to stunning effect," the Guardian exclaims, naming LongGone its Jazz Album of the Month.

Tour

Sun, Aug 06
Newport, RI
Fort Adams State Park
Sun, Aug 06
Newport, RI
Fort Adams State Park

Photos

About Brian Blade

  • The members of the legendary original 1990s Joshua Redman Quartet—Redman (saxophone), Brad Mehldau (piano), Christian McBride (bass), and Brian Blade (drums)—reunited after twenty-six years for 2020’s RoundAgain; they returned with LongGone, featuring six original songs by Redman, due September 9, 2022, on Nonesuch Records. Here's a life performance of the album track “Disco Ears":

    RoundAgain, the group’s first recording since 1994’s MoodSwing, debuted at No. 1 on the Current Traditional Jazz Albums chart in the US and at No. 1 on the Jazz & Blues chart in the UK. The album received two Grammy nominations. NPR called it “a flawless effort,” stating that the four musicians have “only gotten better in that time” and are each “at the very top of his game now.”

    “Musicians with a scary level of talent playing into the moment,” says the New York Times. “The blend of outside influences into a consensual jazz language, the polyrhythmic play, the scholarly bravado: All those things felt fresh for these musicians in the 1990s ... There’s something undeniable—consoling, even—about hearing them remain true to it today.”

    Redman says of his first group as a bandleader, which was together for approximately a year and a half: “I realized almost immediately that this band wouldn’t stay together for very long. They were without a doubt, for our generation, among the most accomplished and innovative on their respective instruments. I knew better than anyone else just how incredibly lucky I was to have even that short time with them.” 

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