When Brian Blade performs at Bears this week – seated, with an acoustic guitar in his lap – people in the Shreveport audience will see Blade the singer-songwriter rather than the top tier jazz drummer. Blade’s songs – personal and emotional as well as tuneful and melodic – will give his fans a window on his soul. He is performing a show called “Mama Rosa” after a song written about his grandmother and about Shreveport.
Blade will also show the audience the broader world of music he inhabits. Guitarist Mark Griffith reported from rehearsals that they will do a Link Wray tune as well as a Dylan number. That’s in addition to an entire suite of folk-rock, mid-tempo tunes penned by Blade. His vocal partner will be his Shreveport comradre of many years, gospel singer Monica Blake Mickle. Expect to see Shawn Stroope on bass and Lane Bayliss on drums, says Griffith.
It’s not going to be a night of dance, though from time to time crescendos will be thunderous, says Griffith. “Maybe a few hippie chicks swaying to some of the tunes,” went the joke at the Blade rehearsal.
When last he performed the Mama Rosa session – Naked Bean Cafe, Line Ave, 2010 – the waves of energy that rolled out from Blade and group were like sonic Pacific swells at midnight.
In his life as a composer and percussionist, Blade’s group, the Fellowship Band, is up for a Grammy for the album Landmarks. He’s a steady partner to jazz legend Wayne Shorter. He even had a part of the Antonio Sanchez drum score for the movie “Birdman.” Blade continually tours Europe and the US. NPR.org recently captured Blade with Daniel Lanois.
All that music and a smoke free tavern, too? Last week Chase Boytim declared Bears to be a full time no smoking zone. Hats off to Boytim, a serious student of entertainment and how to bring it. He has also reopened the Bears kitchen. Regan Horn reports that the burgers are mwuf!
It’s a family and soul night for Blade and Shreveport.
Tickets, $18.89 online, after fees, and $20 at the door. Drop by Bears this week to buy a ticket at $15 and save a few shekels. “This show will sell out,” says Boytim.