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Ran Blake: Gray Moon, When Soft Rains Fall and Northern Noir
by John Ephland
I'm a sucker for musical duets. Duets that make me feel like I'm in the same room with the two of them. Here we have three recent releases with the iconoclastic, legendary Ran Blake, now 83, in what is his most typical setting. Yes, to hear Blake paired up like this is to hear more of an artist completely at home by and with himself as well as with others, one at a time. In this ...
read moreRan Blake / Christine Correa: When Soft Rains Fall
by Jerome Wilson
Pianist Ran Blake and vocalist Christine Correa have recorded several duo albums together including two on the music of Abbey Lincoln. Here they turn to another iconic singer, Billie Holiday, concentrating on the contents of her final album, Lady In Satin (Columbia, 1958). Lady In Satin is known for its lush orchestral and choral arrangements by Ray Ellis. This 2020 version is stripped down to a bare bones pairing of voice and piano. Correa's singing is raw and ...
read moreThe Very Singular Mr. Ran Blake
by Duncan Heining
There have been few American composers and musicians, with the ability to encapsulate their country's music in all its racial and ethnic complexity. We might perhaps point to Aaron Copland, Leonard Bernstein, Charles Ives and perhaps, in their own distaff ways, Harry Partch and Steve Reich. In jazz, their number is fewer still--Duke Ellington and George Russell certainly and, at a stretch, Jelly Roll Morton. And then there's pianist and composer Ran Blake. Listening to any one of ...
read moreRan Blake - Christine Correa: Streaming
by Neri Pollastri
Pianista raffinatissimo e di straordinaria esperienza, Ran Blake ha frequentato spesso i duetti con la voce, tanto che il suo primo disco, del 1962, è appunto in coppia con Jeanne Lee. Ultimo lavoro del genere in ordine di tempo è questo Streaming con la cantante Christine Correa, di origini indiane ma ormai da quarant'anni negli USA, che tra le molte collaborazione ne ha una proprio con Jeanne Lee. I due si cimentano su un repertorio perlopiù di standard, ma che ...
read moreRan Blake & Jeanne Lee: The Newest Sound You Never Heard
by Jerome Wilson
Pianist Ran Blake has developed a reputation over the years for recording duets with vocalists, including in recent times, Sara Serpa, Dominique Eade and Christine Correa. That began back in 1961 when he released The Newest Sound Around (RCA), a remarkable set of duets with singer Jeanne Lee. The duo toured together occasionally in subsequent years but never released another recording until You Stepped Out Of A Dream (Owl) in 1989. Now here comes a new and very welcome discovery, ...
read moreRan Blake / Christine Correa: Streaming
by Jerome Wilson
Pianist Ran Blake has been known for his duo work with vocalists dating back to his 1962 collaboration with Jeanne Lee, The Newest Sound Around (RCA Victor). In recent years, he has been working with three individualistic singers, Sara Serpa, Dominique Eade and Christine Correa. The year 2017 brought a session of folk songs and soundtrack music with Eade, the excellent Town And Country (Sunnyside Records). This time it's Correa's turn in a program of mostly jazz and pop standards. ...
read moreRan Blake & Christine Correa: Streaming
by Gareth Thompson
Back in 1946, Ran Blake watched The Spiral Staircase and was rather freaked. This classic chiller's opening scene shows a silent film flickering whilst a woman accompanies the visuals on piano. Blake later composed his own piano sketches for each character and wrote fan letters to the entire cast. His only reply came from Carlton, the housekeeper's sleepy bulldog, via a paw print autograph. Blake also claims a childhood interest in Irish ghost stories and church spirituals. Thus ...
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