Customer Reviews

Perceptual

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

When listening to this recording I can't help but sense the
love and empathy that these musicians have for one another. I especially enjoy the interesting blend of horns and electric guitars, and the full spectrum of emotions found in the music that is produced by them. Moreover, I believe this proves beyond doubt that Brian Blade is one of the best drummers to come around since may be Tony Williams. He certainly knows how to inject a sense of what I would call "sound expansion and musical-idea exploration" via his polyrhythmic approach to drumming. And for this reason it doesn't surprise me that he's now touring with Wayne Shorter (check out Blade on Shorter's "Footprints Live" and better yet don't miss them on their world tour!) who is amoung the masters at creating winding, detailed musical stories based on basic instrumental sound patterns.

After my primary title of Student, I consider myself to be a lot of things, most accurately "Weird Jazz Musician." I've spent my life--or at least, the 6 years that have passed between 7th grade and now--listening to John Zorn, Ornette Coleman, Bill Frisell, Dewey Redman, etc., as well as more mainstream weirdos such as mid-to-late Miles, Mingus, Dave Holland, and Anthony Braxton.

I've heard a lot of CD's in my (paltry) 18 (almost 19) years, and up until now, I thought that maybe _A Love Supreme_ or _The Black Saint and Sinner Lady_ was my absolute favorite album.

But something about Fellowship's 2 albums--the self titled and this one, _Perceptual_--strikes a string deep within my soul. It hits me as pure honesty, pure unabashed beauty.

My crazy jazz friends and I saw this group last Tuesday at Catalina's in Hollywood, and we were struck deeply. Brian Blade is an amazing musician, a deeply intelligent, spiritual and highly physical drummer whose compositions are just PERFECT. He seems, in the words of my drummer friend, completely HONEST.

It is no hyperbole when I say these are the most amazing jazz albums (and with Paul Simon's _Rhythm of the Saints_ and Peter Gabriel's _Us_, thebest, period) I've ever heard.

I saw Brian Blade play a couple of weeks ago with the Wayne Shorter Quartet (which included, besides Shorter and Blade, John Patitucci on bass and Danilo Perez on piano). It was an extraordinary ensemble, and they played with a taut ferocity, one that deconstructed and reconstructed Shorter's classic compositions in fresh new ways (much as Shorter, Herbie Hancock, Tony Williams, and Ron Carter had once deconstructed and reconstructed Miles Davis' old songbook in their performances at Plugged Nickel).

Brian Blade's "Perceptual" may be one of finest jazz CDs put out in 2000. It showcases Blade's percussive brilliance. No--"showcase" is not quite the word, for it makes it sound as if he is out front. Rather, his percussion work undergirds the music, swims beneath it, knits it together without drawing undue attention to itself. As other reviewers have noted, Blades is a colorist who uses the drumset not to thunder out rhythms, but to paint subtle textures whose webs intertwine with the intricate ebb and flow of the other voices, especially Melvin Butler's sax and Kurt Rosenwinkel's guitar. But this is more than dazzling technique. A risk among certain contemporary jazz musicians is to be all technique and not have sometime to say. Blade and his colleagues have much to say: about memories, about love and anguish and tenderness. The melodies are beautiful, haunting, melancholy at times, yet without sentimentality. But they eschew the drift into "smooth jazz" fluff and maintain a crisp edge to the textures they weave. While the title song is excellent, most representative of the range and intensity of the CD is the medley "Variations of a Bloodline." This is a conjuring of beauty not to be missed.

I saw Brian Blade play a couple of weeks ago with the Wayne Shorter Quartet (which included, besides Shorter and Blade, John Patitucci on bass and Danilo Perez on piano). It was an extraordinary ensemble, and they played with a taut ferocity, one that deconstructed and reconstructed Shorter's classic compositions in fresh new ways (much as Shorter, Herbie Hancock, Tony Williams, and Ron Carter had once deconstructed and reconstructed Miles Davis' old songbook in their performances at Plugged Nickel).

Brian Blade's "Perceptual" may be one of finest jazz CDs put out in 2000. It showcases Blade's percussive brilliance. No--"showcase" is not quite the word, for it makes it sound as if he is out front. Rather, his percussion work undergirds the music, swims beneath it, knits it together without drawing undue attention to itself. As other reviewers have noted, Blades is a colorist who uses the drumset not to thunder out rhythms, but to paint subtle textures whose webs intertwine with the intricate ebb and flow of the other voices, especially Melvin Butler's sax and Kurt Rosenwinkel's guitar. This is more than technique. A risk among certain contemporary jazz musicians is to be all technique and not have sometime to say. Blade and his colleagues have much to say: about memories, about love and anguish and tenderness. The melodies are beautiful, haunting, melancholy at times, yet without sentimentality. But they eschew the drift into "smooth jazz" fluff and maintain a crisp edge. While the title song is excellent, most representative of the range and intensity of the CD is the medley "Variations of a Bloodline." This is a conjuring of beauty not to be missed.

The Brian Blade Fellowship is one of the more intriguing bands working these days.

More colorist than groove-meister Blade is also a surprisingly engaging composer as well as a capable band leader. And only 29 years old. A remarkably subtle player, Blade reminds me a lot of Paul Motian, with a bit more of a rock back beat.

Like folks such as Pat Metheney and Bill Frisell Blade has taken an enthusiasm for American song forms, blues , country and pop, filtered them through an improvisers sensibility and come up with something very fresh and appealing.

There is a richness to the group's sound which has the power to astonish. The two saxophonists (both agile, muscular players) coupled with electric guitar and pedal steel (a brilliant addition) driven by a piano, bass and drums rhythm section provide a complex, varied sound. By turns earthy and rambunctious and then contemplative and ethereal the group's approach is both varied and astute.

I've always felt that Fellowship's first recording (released in May 1998) was one of the best and most underrated jazz releases of the year. Then again, I've always been partial to Blade's approach to the drums--instead of pounding out a steady rhythm, he plays textures, using the entirety of his kit to produce a vast wash of sound. This approach works particularly well with his group, the Fellowship. 'Perceptual' is really quite a good album, and a worthy follow-up to the group's first outing. Not much new ground has been broken here, but the musicians all seem much more confident and relaxed with their respective roles in the group. The compositions are all memorable, sometimes haunting. That pedal steel guitar sounds beautiful, especially in this context! What Brian has done with Fellowship, I think, is filtered his own highly unique vision through a very talented group of musicians--with beautiful results.

I'm not a musician, so my comments are for all the other laypeople out there: This album is completely different from anything I've heard before, jazz or otherwise. My first impression was simply that it was soothing, non-abrasive music. As time passed and I listened to it again, I started to hear and appreciate the complex textures of the sound. For example, the way Brian Blade uses the drums is unique and entirely unlike what you expect drums to sound like--it's almost melodic. And Joni Mitchell's voice blends in so smoothly with the instrumentation that you might not realize at first that it's her singing. As a group, the Fellowship's work is both haunting and soothing, both thoughtful and uplifting. It's subtle enough that, like me, you may not really hear it at first (and heavy metal headbangers might not get it at all). But it's worth repeated listenings--in fact, it gets better with them. I can't think of what to compare it to, although I did notice Daniel Lanois' influence, so if you like what he did with U2 and Emmylou Harris you might like this; it has the same feeling of wide-open spaces about it. However, this is more quintessentially jazz than those works. I tend to buy music for practical purposes--for relaxation, for studying, for long-distance driving--oh, and sometimes I even listen to it ;)--and this album works on all those levels. More than just a jazz CD, "Perceptual" has become an integral part of my life. I recommend it highly.

Great drummers often make boring records. Not this one! This album is a real band achievement, like it says in the linernotes. There's a lot going on, but I espacialy like the sound of the album: it's edgy and beautifull at the same time.
And very well-balanced. With great guitarplaying of Kurt Rosenwinkel, fantastic drumming of Brian Blade (I saw and heared him do some incredible stuff live at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam with Wayne Shorter.) and even the pedal steel guitar is blending in perfectly with the rest of the music. The album's got the warmth of some classical jazz albums together with a little roughness, as found in modern music. Sometimes with an ECM-like touch, but never getting too soft and mellow.

FJB/O!-music 2006

... more delicious even than 1998's Brian Blade Fellowship, at least to these ears. As much as I love that album - and gave it a full five stars - among other things, there's an urgent energy to this one, released in 2000, that elevates it just that little bit higher. From the first few minutes of the opening title number, Kurt Rosenwinkel's guitar was immediately seductive and drew me in closer, figuratively and literally. I actually went to sit down nearer the speaker to listen to the album, so as not to miss anything. I could've turned the volume up of course but I wasn't thinking straight. That's the effect the music had on me.

From beginning to end, I found this amazing music to listen to and Joni Mitchell even pops up to provide some vocals on "Steadfast"!

It's a totally collaborative effort and the love and respect the musicians have for each other practically leaps out of the speakers and Blade avoids the jack-of-all-trades trap that many of his contemporaries fall into, allowing his band members to contribute a few of the songs. Keyboardist Jon Cowherd contributes three; "Perceptual", "Reconciliation" and "Crooked Creek" and he co-writes "The Sunday Boys (Improvisation)" with saxophonist Myron Walden.

Apart from Blade himself of course, who continues to astound me with his drum patterns (he also played acoustic guitar on "Steadfast", and also played acoustic guitar and performed the vocal on the album closer, "Trembling") and Rosenwinkel who I've already mentioned, a special shout out has to go to Myron Walden who played alto saxophone and bass clarinet with great heart and maturity. I'll be keeping a keen eye (and ear) out for him from now on!

Six stars out of five, no question.

Just when I thought that the Brian Blade Fellowship couldn't take me to new emotional heights, it does. Perceptual is Blade's second venture as drummer/bandleader but you wouldn't know that Brian wasn't playing every instrument because he and fellow band members blend so well, fuse so tightly, that it all flows out as simply "one" breathtaking, emotional sound. But... don't think that you won't hear Blade on the drums either, you will feel the highs and lows of his every drum beat as you take the journey into jazz unlike any you've ever heard or will ever hear again.