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About Ron Blake
Trombocalist Big Band: The Vigil and the Sleeping Giant
by Jack Bowers
Even those whose batting averages are high are not immune from life's unforeseen and often disastrous curve balls. Low-brass multi-instrumentalist Ron Wilkins, riding the wave as a successful musician and bandleader, learned that the hard way when he was struck by Covid in 2020 and spent more than a month in a medically induced coma with the outcome clearly in doubt. As it turns out, fortune smiled on Wilkins, and after relearning such basics as breathing normally, walking, ...
Continue ReadingDan West: Presenting the Dan West Big Band
by Jack Bowers
"If it walks like a big band and talks like a big band..." well, that does not always mean it actually is a big band. For example, Los Angeles-based composer, arranger and multi-instrumentalist Dan West 's able group is by and large an octet which, by means of modern electronics, has been transformed into a full-fledged big band, and a pretty good one at that. On its debut recording, Presenting the Dan West Big Band, the ensemble is strong and ...
Continue ReadingAlbum Review
Ron Blake: SCRATCH Band
by Vincenzo Roggero
Il richiamo alla tradizione folklorica delle Isole Vergini, dove Ron Blake nacque sessant'anni fa, è evidente fin dalle prime battute di “Bassman," una sorta di “St. Thomas" di rollinsiana memoria, trasportata nel nuovo millennio. È musica che nasce dai cantastorie che popolavano l'isola, e che--supportati da una gioiosa base ritmica, scratch bands per l'appunto--dispensavano gioia e divertimento. Blake sostenuto dall'eccellente ritmica di Reuben Rogers e John Hadfield, non lesina in quanto a groove proponendo una musica colloquiale ma ...
Continue ReadingRon Blake, feat. Reuben Rogers & John Hadfield: SCRATCH Band
by Jack Bowers
There several interesting features that single out saxophonist Ron Blake's new recording with what he refers to as his SCRATCH Band. First, the Puerto Rican-born Blake, best known for his work on tenor saxophone, plays baritone sax on five of the album's nine numbers, tenor sax on only three, tenor and soprano (separately) on one of his four original compositions, “Appointment." Second, the SCRATCH Band is actually a duo with bassist Reuben Rogers on four tracks, a trio with drummer ...
Continue ReadingRon Blake: No Mistaking His Identity
by David Bixler
Holding down the bari chair at Saturday Night Live, performing with musicians like Christian McBride, and teaching at Julliard have saxophonist Ron Blake at full capacity. These time constraints left little time for him to focus on his own music, but fortunately he enlisted the help of his long time-friend guitarist Bobby Broom and has recently released Mistaken Identity, his first recording under his own name in fifteen years. In this episode of LINER NOTES Ron talks about the journey ...
Continue ReadingRon Blake: Mistaken Identity
by Jack Bowers
Once hailed as a promising young lion, Puerto Rico-born saxophonist Ron Blake is more a crafty old fox these days, bringing his wealth of experience and undeniable talent to bear on Mistaken Identity, his first album as leader in fifteen years. To assure a broad comfort zone, Blake invited guitarist Bobby Broom, a longtime friend and music partner, to join him alongside drummer Kobie Watkins and bassists Nat Reeves (five numbers) and Reuben Rogers (four). Among the ...
Continue ReadingBrian Landrus: Red List
by Jerome Wilson
Saxophonist Brian Landrus created this project with a purpose summed up in its subtitle, Music Dedicated to the Preservation of our Endangered Species. The album was made to create awareness about all the animal species on Earth in danger of extinction, thirteen of which are explicitly referenced here. For most of these, such as the Malayan tiger and the snow leopard, only a few hundreds or thousands are still alive. For the Javan rhino, there were only 67 left at ...
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