Drummer and composer Brian Blade on music, The Fellowship Band and Portsmouth shows

The Seacoast is in for a treat when four-time Grammy Award winning drummer and composer Brian Blade & The Fellowship Band visit Portsmouth for four shows (Friday, Aug. 12 at 7 and 9:30 p.m., and Saturday, Aug. 13 at 7 and 9:30 p.m.) at Jimmy’s Jazz & Blues Club.

Blade, who has been around music for his entire life due to his father’s involvement as a pastor at the Zion Baptist Church in Shreveport, Louisiana, turned to the drums as a middle schooler. He never looked back and has been a widely sought-after collaborative partner for decades (working with everyone from Chick Corea and Christian McBride to Bob Dylan and Joni Mitchell — and many, many more), along with carving out his own path as a decorated and well-respected composer of his own.

Seacoastonline caught up with the spiritual percussive maestro and ran some questions by him in support of the band’s impending performances here in town.

Seacoastonline: Let’s trace the roots right out of the gate, Brian. How’d the Fellowship Band come together? Why’d the Fellowship Band come together?

When I moved to New Orleans to attend Loyola University in 1988, I met my friend and pianist/composer Jon Cowherd. Although I was not aware of it at the time, that was the beginning of the Fellowship Band.

Seacoastonline: What’s this group of musicians mean to you? What do you get out of the Fellowship Band that you don’t from other projects you participate in?

Blade: The Fellowship Band is a family to me and the fulfillment and joy that comes from creating together is a blessing that I could not make happen. I enjoy every opportunity to play music with many friends, but as I said, the Fellowship Band is family.

Seacoastonline: You guys are re-releasing “Season of Changes” in September (for the first time ever on vinyl). Why are you revisiting this particular record? What were the goals for it at the outset (back in ’08 when it was originally released)?

Blade: At the time when the period of licensing to Verve Records ended, I was unfortunately not prepared to pick up the ball and keep the record available, but thankfully, now that we are establishing Stoner Hill Records & Press with the help of friends and family, we are able to reissue several recordings that have gone out of print. We hope that new listeners might come to know our music as well as renewing the inspiration of longtime fans.

 Seacoastonline: What’s the songwriting process like in the Fellowship Band? Do you guys field demos from each other, or get together to jam and flesh things out as time allows to illustrate the next set of compositions to fit a record? Curious how the recipes get written.

Blade: I write specifically for the band members and their voices and Jon Cowherd composes in this way as well. When we come together, because of our friendship and bond, there is a spirit that ties and connects the music as we collectively make decisions about the interpretive trip.

Seacoastonline: How long have you been playing drums? What was the moment or hook setting experience that kept you hammering away?

Blade: I have been playing drums for 39 years and I’m not sure when I realized that I would focus on drumming and the music in general. As early as elementary school and because of my church family, the music was always an integral part of my life and praising god with every moment.

Seacoastonline: You’ve collaborated with so many folks over the span of your career. It’s kind of mesmerizing to look at the list and consider the history that exists within it. Wayne Shorter, Daniel Lanois, Joni Mitchell, Ellis Marsalis, Marianne Faithfull, Emmylou Harris, Billy Childs, Herbie Hancock, Christian McBride, Joshua Redman, Johnny Vidacovich, Norah Jones, Bob Dylan, and many others. What do you get out of the art collaboration? How does working with your peers inform your own music?

Blade: Many of these artists became my heroes long before I knew them, but the one thing that they all share is a passion and desire to keep seeking and reaching beyond what they already know. Working together brings out this unseen possibility that ourselves alone do not possess. Relationship enriches our lives and in turn, makes the music that much deeper.

Seacoastonline: Forgot to mention Chick Corea up there in that list of collaborations. You won a Grammy with Chick back in 2013. What was that experience like? What can you say about what he meant to you?

Blade: Chick always included me in a most exhorting and loving way. He had such high regard for his friends and bandmates and although he could play his entire life as a solo pianist, he thrived within every group that he assembled, I think because of his love for others.

Seacoastonline: As both a student and active participant in creating music, what’s the importance of walking the line of celebrating the traditions of jazz while working to expand upon the conversation in contemporary times?

Blade: I think it is important to hear that inner voice that only speaks to you, regardless of what the popularity or the prevalence of trends in culture might be. Knowing what you are made of and where your hope comes from will inform your creativity and fuel the fire of traditions within us to bring about something personal and unique to who we are.

Seacoastonline: Alright, you’re coming to visit us here in Portsmouth for four shows at Jimmy’s Jazz & Blues Club. What excites you about the gigs? What can folks expect when they come out to see the Fellowship Band do its thing?

Blade: I am looking forward to coming to Portsmouth to play at Jimmy’s for the first time and I hope that the folks who come will be uplifted and inspired by our music and the place itself.

Visit jimmysoncongress.com and brianblade.com for further information.

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Brian Blade and The Fellowship Band to play in Portsmouth NH