Big doings at the Columbus — The Low Anthem’s Eyeland Studios will open its doors for a special recording session with celebrated jazz drummer Brian Blade and the Fellowship Band to be released on Blue Note Records. This will culminate in a show on Friday with Q&A on Saturday
The day after the recording session, on Saturday, August 22, there will be a Q&A talkback session with Blade moderated by local jazz icon Eric Jackson. Known as “the dean of Boston jazz,” Jackson has been broadcasting for 46 years, and hosting his signature show on 89.7 WGBH, Eric in the Evening, for over 30 years.
Admission for the talk-back session will be free for anyone with a ticket stub from the previous night, $5 for all others. Low Anthem drummer Jeff Prystowsky announced the studio upgrade adding Ben’s take on recording drums.
This recording session and performance will mark the launch of Eyeland Studios within the Columbus Theatre. The studio will open for professional recording sessions beginning in September. Blade’s will be the first of two internationally touring bands to record there; the second will be Xylouris White, featuring another world-class drummer, Jim White of Australian instrumental rock band Dirty Three.
. . . Ben Knox Miller, of the Low Anthem and the Columbus Cooperative, is also enthusiastic about the unique experience the studio offers for musicians, presenting both opportunities and challenges. “Brian and Jim are really good drummers, but the theatre wasn’t built for drums. It was built for opera singers. Playing in there is like tickling the mouth of a cannon, acoustically – you could get your head blown off if you don’t listen to the room telling you what it needs. There is some mystery around this phenomenon, but it knows what it likes to sing.”
(Andy Smith has more at the ProJo website.)
$25 day of, Brian Blade and the Fellowship Band, show 8pm, Friday, August 21, Columbus Theatre, 270 Broadway