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Kevin Miller and Dan Blake: At First Light
by Troy Dostert
A serendipitous pairing that first took shape in the early 2020s, guitarist Kevin Miller began meeting regularly with saxophonist Dan Blake for freely improvised sessions that resulted in the tandem developing a highly simpatico vocabulary. At First Light reflects the workings of the duo's distinctive dialogic approach through five spontaneously crafted musical discourses. Many listeners will already be conversant with Blake, who has a do-it-all resume including post-bop efforts like The Digging (Sunnyside, 2016) and avant-garde chamber works, ...
Continue ReadingAlex Weiss: Most Don't Have Enough
by Robert Middleton
This album is really special. It doesn't sound like anything else and every song is engaging and interesting. The titles of the songs are also fascinating. Even the collage cover is great and seems to reflect the music. Tenor saxophonist Alex Weiss started writing Most Don't Have Enough during the pandemic and went deep into writing and practicing. Much of the inspiration came from Chris Speed, as Weiss is a big fan of his writing and his tone. ...
Continue ReadingDan Blake: Da Fé
by Jerome Wilson
A lot of personal factors go into saxophonist Dan Blake's music on this CD, such as his concerns about the environment, his Buddhist teachings and his social activism. What comes out of this is a style of electro-acoustic jazz which is alternately meditative and fiery. The basic music here was performed in the studio by a quartet of Blake on saxophone, Carmen Staaf on piano, Dmitry Ishenko on bass and Jeff Williams on drums. The tunes were then ...
Continue ReadingDan Blake: Da Fé
by Mike Jurkovic
It's comforting to know that saxophonist Dan Blake hasn't taken Thoreau's inconvenient truth that “most men lead lives of quiet desperation" to heart. Instead, as his Da Fé (translated: of faith) and his apprenticeships with Anthony Braxton} and {{Julian Lage prove succinctly, Blake intends to bring the music, and the consciousness of our fragility within it, to the fore, in hopes the listener can shake the malaise too and pick up the call for action. Blake escorts his ...
Continue ReadingDan Blake: Da Fé
by Mark Corroto
Saxophonist-composer Dan Blake's Da Fé ("of faith"), a meditation on our world in crisis, may have taken, as a starting point, the lyrics to Lou Reed's “Busload Of Faith" from the über-cynical New York (Sire, 1989) recording, “You can depend on cruelty / crudity of thought and sound / You can depend on the worst always happening / you need a busload of faith to get by." What with global warming, income disparity, hunger, and homelessness, the gentle folk of ...
Continue ReadingOscar Penas: From Now On
by Dan Bilawsky
The music on From Now On is modern jazz marinated in the seductive flavors of Spain and South America. Guitarist Oscar Peñas' path lead him from Barcelona to Brooklyn, NY, and this geographic duality is ever-present in the intriguing blend of music that's presented on this, his debut for BJU records. While Iberian-influenced guitar lines often set the stage and thread their way through the music, this record goes well-beyond any single style or influence. Peñas' writing ...
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