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.