Brian Blade, Pastor Brady Blade, Daniel Lanois

Brian Blade is “the most imaginatively supple drummer in jazz” (The New York Times). He learned his trade hitting rhythm at Shreveport’s Zion Baptist, where his father — the spine-shaking gospel singer, Pastor Brady Blade, Sr. — presides. In New Orleans, Brian partnered with Daniel Lanois (producer of U2 & Bob Dylan) to devise a gospel project, The Hallelujah Train, that culminated in Durham.

On the weekend of October 10, 2009, the members of The Hallelujah Train convened in Durham to cut a live album. They were joined by bus-fulls of churchgoers from Shreveport and the sharpest sidemen in the business.

The residency included a live recording, a Sunday morning sermon by Pastor Blade, and a second live performance. All of it unfolded at Hayti, once an A.M.E church and now a deconsecrated chapel whose walls create acoustics better than any studio’s. 

Organized by Duke Performances, The Hallelujah Train was an unforgettable celebration of hands-in-the-air music that will never die.