Jazz Articles about Michael Blake

Slow Poke: At Home [MP 3]

by AAJ Italy Staff
April 14, 2008

La pigra indolenza che marca, sin dall’apertura, questo ottimo At Home del gruppo Slow Poke è un segno indelebile del tipo di approccio che il quartetto ha scelto dal primo momento (e l’indizio principale era già ben evidente nel nome stesso che i musicisti avevano deciso di darsi). Questo album in realtà non era mai uscito ufficialmente. Era una sorta di demo fatto in casa ('at home', per l'appunto) che serviva per proporsi alle case discografiche. Poi il gruppo decise ...

Slow Poke: At Home

by Donald Elfman
January 15, 2008

Formed at the home of bassist Tony Scherr, Slow Poke--David Tronzo, Michael Blake, Scherr and Kenny Wollesen--play everything slower and funkier. It's an extraordinary idea for a jam band--bring the groove way down and somehow the vibe and energy go way up thanks to the new focus. It certainly helps that all of these guys are virtuosos and truly care about the aesthetics of sound. This debut disc caught the attention of Paul Simon and producer Lee Townsend, and has ...

Slow Poke: At Home

by Ralph A. Miriello
December 13, 2007

This re-mastered recording of Tony Scherr's 1998 basement record, Slow Poke At Home , is a joy for those who can appreciate the slow cooked, steamy sound of master musicians plying their trade in a gutsy, simmering, sweetly rhythmic stew of sounds. The label, Palmetto Records, should be applauded for taking a now defunct band and reissuing the material as a testament to just how good the music was and still is.

Slow Poke was one ...

Michael Blake Sextet: Amor de Cosmos

by Jerry D'Souza
November 15, 2007

Nothing could be better than a homecoming, and saxophonist Michael Blake proves it on the musical odyssey of Amor de Cosmos. In 2005, Blake returned to Vancouver, where he played two shows. Out of that came this sextet of prime Canadian musicians, who realize Blake's music and vision most profoundly.

Blake's writing is imaginative. He is equally facile with an odd time signature or a mainstream tune. But there is no stasis; evolvement is constant, and comes in Blake's conceptualization ...

Michael Blake Sextet: Amor De Cosmos

by Troy Collins
November 6, 2007

A former member of the Lounge Lizards and co-founder of Slow Poke, saxophonist Michael Blake's familiarity with the esoteric is well documented. A restless searcher, Blake's varied discography reaches beyond jazz to include explorations into the traditional folk music of Vietnam and North Africa. The New York-based saxophonist recently delved into his Canadian roots after studying eccentric 19th century Canadian newspaperman / politician William Alexander Smith, who renamed himself Amor De Cosmos.

Amor De Cosmos is Blake's first ...

Slow Poke: At Home

by Troy Collins
October 28, 2007

Slow Poke was a unique band, even among the fertile late nineties Downtown (New York) scene. Gradually warming to neo-classical formalism, various Downtown line-ups began incorporating traditional elements into their compositions, progressively moving beyond their No Wave roots by embracing a more traditional aesthetic. Blending accessible tunefulness with adventurous improvisation, ensembles like Ballin' The Jack, The Jazz Passengers and Sex Mob all embraced various aspects of the mainstream, but none with as much melodic assuredness as Slow Poke. ...

Michael Blake's Hellbent, Earshot Jazz event at Tula's

by Bill Bennett
March 17, 2007

Michael Blake's Hellbent Tula's Jazz Club Seattle, WA February 24, 2007 Michael Blake last played in Seattle during the 2002 Earshot Jazz Festival with The Herbie Nichols Project, a group spawned by The Jazz Composers Collective. This reviewer covered the Nichols show for Coda magazine (Issue 309, May/June 2003). Let's hope that the wait between performances won't be quite so long next time. Originally from Montreal, Quebec, Canada--he was born ...