From staff reports

DURHAM -- Duke Performances will present two live recording sessions for a new album of gospel music from jazz drummer and bandleader Brian Blade featuring his father Pastor Brady Blade Sr., which will be produced by Brian and Daniel Lanois. Duke Performances has commissioned this live recording.

Two open-to-the-public concerts -- Saturday at 8 p.m. and Sunday at 5 p.m., both in Hayti Heritage Center -- will serve as the recording sessions for "The Hallelujah Train" album. In addition to Brian Blade, Pastor Blade and Lanois, musicians include Brady Blade Jr., Greg Leisz, Buddy Miller, Chris Thomas, Ada Small, Aaron Embry and the Zion Baptist Church Choir under the direction of Sereca Henderson. This all-star band will create an album of gospel music -- with dashes of jazz, country and Americana.

Brian Blade learned to play drums in Shreveport's Zion Baptist Church, where his father, Pastor Brady Blade Sr., has presided for the last 40 years. In New Orleans nearly a decade ago, Brian Blade partnered with Lanois (producer of U2 and Bob Dylan) to devise the gospel project that culminates here as "The Hallelujah Train."

Nearly 150 parishioners will accompany Pastor Blade on the 16-hour bus ride from Zion Baptist in Shreveport, La., to Durham for the weekend of performances.

In addition to the two concerts, a host of other free and open-to-the-public events are scheduled for Blade's visit to Durham. The schedule is below:

Sunday. 10 a.m.: Worship service with Pastor Brady Blade Sr., Zion Baptist Church Choir and full The Hallelujah Train Band. Hayti Heritage Center. No tickets necessary.

Monday. 12:30-1:30 p.m.: Lunchtime conversation between Brian Blade and Melvin Butler, in the Alumni Memorial Commons Room in the Duke Divinity School. Blade and Butler will discuss the intersection of music and faith with particular emphasis on the African-American community. Patrons are welcome to bring their lunches. Free and open to the public.

4:25-5:40 p.m.: Visit to professor John Brown's Introduction to Jazz Course and Philip Rupprecht's Music Theory 65 Course, in White 107 on Duke's East Campus. Blade and Butler will discuss the cultural and musical connections between gospel and jazz. Free and open to the public.

6:30-8 p.m.: Listening session and conversation with Brian Blade and Melvin Butler at the Pinhook bar in Durham, 117 W. Main Street. Free and open to the public.

Tuesday. 1:15-2:30 p.m.: Visit to Professor Charles Piot's Religion in African Diaspora Course, in Friedl 240, between Aycock and Wilson on East Campus. Free and open to the public.

4 p.m.: Conversation and demonstration with Brian Blade and Melvin Butler, North Carolina Central University Music Building. Free and open to the public

Tickets are $26, $5 for Duke and NCCU students. To purchase, call 684-4444 or www.dukeperformances.org.