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Ran 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. ...
Continue ReadingRan 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 ...
Continue ReadingRan Blake: Something To Live For
by Alberto Bazzurro
Con copertina diversa, torna a quasi diciannove anni dalla sua prima edizione (1999; incisione Boston, marzo '98) un album certamente prezioso (per quanto magari un po' discontinuo) di quel singolare pianista (e personaggio tout court) che è Ran Blake, oggi ottantatreenne. L'album si compone, adesso come allora, di diciannove brani, per lo più brevi o molto brevi (da quaranta secondi a sei minuti), di cui nove in piano solo e gli altri dieci equamente divisi fra duetti col clarinetto di ...
Continue ReadingRan Blake: Chabrol Noir
by Alberto Bazzurro
Notoriamente appassionato di cinema, Ran Blake ci regala una delle sue opere più significative e appassionate esplorando l'universo di uno dei suoi grandi amori, Claude Chabrol, di cui fin dalla copertina, scopertamente hitchcockiana, il disco rievoca abilmente l'universo espressivo. L'album ha come persino scontato filo conduttore il pianoforte di Blake, senza accompagnamento alcuno (se non qualche effetto generato da lui stesso) in dieci dei diciassette brani totali (e in sette dei primi otto, e otto dei primi ...
Continue ReadingGli ottant’anni di Ran Blake
by Alberto Bazzurro
Alla non banale soglia degli ottant'anni, compiuti lo scorso 20 aprile, Ran Blake se ne esce con tre nuovi lavori che in parte ribadiscono concetti già noti (almeno nei suoi percorsi più recenti) e in parte ne insinuano di meno battuti. Ran Blake Ghost Tones: Portraits of George Russell A-Side Records 2015 Valutazione: * * * ½ Partendo da quest'ultimo profilo, se è nota la dedizione ...
Continue ReadingRan Blake: Ghost Tones: Portraits of George Russell
by Jakob Baekgaard
Sometimes an album can haunt you. It can be a companion that follows you through life. In the liner notes for the album: Ghost Tones: Portraits of George Russell (A-Side Records, 2015), pianist and composer Ran Blake reveals his love for composer and bandleader George Russell's album Jazz Workshop (RCA-Victor, 1957): “I listened to it so much that I wore out several copies, each time having to revisit the record store to replace it." Blake's love for ...
Continue ReadingRan Blake: Ghost Tones: Portraits of George Russell
by Mark Sullivan
Pianist/composer Ran Blake presents a loving tribute to his late colleague George Russell in a diverse program anchored by his sensitive piano playing. Blake and Russell taught together at the New England Conservatory for many years. Russell was immensely influential as a modal jazz theorist, but Blake loves his compositions above all. He interprets several of them here, along with some of his own and a few biographically relevant standards. The set opens and closes with solo piano ...
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