Last night I went to see The Brian Blade Fellowship at Koerner Hall in downtown Toronto. The band was first formed in 1998 by drummer Brian Blade. Blade is also drummer for Wayne Shorter's band and I saw him in that band a couple of years ago. He is also a very busy sideman and session musician. Pianist Jon Cowherd is another very busy guy. He is a member of Rosanne Cash's band. I saw him with her band a couple of years ago. And he is also a busy sideman and and expert arranger. The other members are Chris Thomas on bass, Myron Walden on alto sax and bass clarinet and Melvin Butler on sax. Walden has recorded several albums as a leader but these days he concentrates on his role in this band. The band returned to Blue Note for the 2014 CD Landmarks after recording for other labels. Most of the selections were from this CD. Though they live in New York City, Blade is from Louisiana and he met Cowherd in New Orleans. So there's no question of the New Orleans influence. It was a great straight ahead jazz concert. That's what I went to see and that's what I got. These guys are really good.
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