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Ron Blake: Up Front and Personal
ByLike all good leaders, Blake gives everyone ample opportunities to express their individual voices. Mitchell is a modern, hard-swinging pianist in the McCoy Tyner mode. Rogers and Hutchinson expertly put an insistent spin on everything from straight-ahead grooves (“Ready or Not” and “Quotatious”), to the Caribbean rhythms of Blake’s “Tom Blake” (written for his father) and “Song for Michael Carvin” (dedicated to the disc’s producer). Rogers has a lovely, full tone that stands out in all of the ensemble passages as well as his solos, and Hutchinson’s turns display logic and order that complement his aggressive stickwork and frequently convoluted rhythms.
Blake’s solos eschew gratuitous displays of chops in favor of the careful, deliberate development of ideas. He interacts with the rhythm section instead of simply playing over it, and always manages to sound relaxed even in the most heated passages. His ballad feature, Andrew Lloyd Weber’s “All I Ask Of You,” is a deeply moving performance. Blake’s playing of the melody and solo slowly builds in intensity without breaking the wistful mood, somehow managing to sound both vulnerable and hopeful.
Track List:Ready Or Not; Waltz For Gwen; Waltswing!; Quotatious; Tom Blake; Fried Bananas; All I Ask Of You; Song For Michael Carvin.
Personnel
Ron Blake
saxophoneRon Blake
Album information
Title: Up Front and Personal | Year Released: 2000 | Record Label: Tahmun Records
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