John Abbott
BRIAN BLADE & THE FELLOWSHIP BAND
THURSDAY 2/1. Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts. 7:30 p.m. $40-$45.
To peruse drummer Brian Blade’s 150-plus album discography of credits is to take a tour through music history. A collaborator of Herbie Hancock, Chick Corea, Wayne Shorter and countless other jazz stalwarts, he’s also played on records by Bob Dylan, Emmylou Harris, Joni Mitchell, Sarah McClaughlan and Norah Jones. His most consistent and enduring partnership, though, is with the Fellowship Band, a group he co-founded with pianist Jon Cowherd in 1997. Now seven LPs deep, their latest release — 2023’s “Kings Highway” — has a “zen quality achieved with simmering yet soothing measures while effectively blending elements of jazz, gospel and folk music,” according to JazzTrail. In addition to Blade and Cowherd, the Fellowship Band’s AMFA performance will include Melvin Butler on tenor and soprano saxophone; Myron Walden on alto and bass clarinet; and Roland Guerin on bass. Get tickets here.
Also, the night before the show, AMFA is offering a free conversation at 6 p.m. between Blade and producer Jason Weinheimer, who runs Fellowship Hall Sound in Little Rock.
