Brian Blade

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Brian Blade (born 1970 in Shreveport, Louisiana) is an American jazz drummer and composer.

Blade made his first appearances as a sideman with pianist Brad Mehldau and Joshua Redman and continued to work as a sideman with other musicians commonly known as "young lions." As a leader, he has released two albums under the Brian Blade Fellowship with a distinct country music feel, due in part to Blade's being one the few jazz bandleaders to prominently feature pedal steel guitar. (Another jazz drummer/composer, Bobby Previte, has also featured pedal steel occasionally.)

While continuing to work with Fellowship, he has been a member of Wayne Shorter's most recent quartet and also participated in the "Directions in Music" band, a band dedicated to the music of Miles Davis and John Coltrane, featuring Michael Brecker, Herbie Hancock, and Roy Hargrove.

Blade has also recorded or performed with Joni Mitchell, Bill Frisell, Emmylou Harris, Daniel Lanois, and others. He is often dubbed a young lion in the current jazz scene.

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