Ron Blake: Mistaken Identity

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 nine songs on offer, only Benny Golson's "Stablemates" could reasonably be thought of as well-known. The others were written by Duke Pearson, Sonny Rollins, Johnny Griffin and fellow Puerto Rican Victor Provost, with two others ("Beyond Yesterday's Tomorrows," "Grace Ann") by Blake and one each by Broom ("No Hype Blues") and Rogers ("To Be").

As Rollins, with whom he shares a birth date, is one of Blake's leading influences, there is a touch of Rollins in his robust tenor but not so much that anyone would confuse one for the other. Unlike Rollins' typically jagged style, Blake's delivery is smooth and supple, his vocabulary less emphatic but every inch as creative and pleasing. Blake plays tenor most of the way, superb baritone on "Grace Ann" (sans Broom) and the breezy, Caribbean-flavored closer, "Mistaken Identity." More baritone would have been most welcome.

That's not to imply that Blake is less than charming on tenor. From the opening passages on Pearson's "Is That So?" (which sounds a great deal like the Mack Gordon/Harry Warren standard, "The More I See You"), Blake proves that experience is indeed a marvelous teacher, ad libbing with perception and soul, as he does on every number. Broom is in the same class, steady and reliable, comping and soloing with assurance while making every nuance seem remarkably suitable. There is more of the same on Rollins' "Allison" and Griffin's "When We Were Young," which lead to Brown's "No Hype Blues," wherein no inflection is overpassed.

"Stablemates" is another glossy showcase for Blake who has kept busy in the time since last he recorded, spending more than twenty years in the Saturday Night Live band, performing in the Christian McBride and Charles Mingus ensembles, teaching at the Jiulliard School, earning a master's degree in Jazz Studies from NYU, and founding the Caribbean Jazz Institute in Sidney, Maine. Hardly a lightweight resume for someone who has been flying mostly under the radar.

Blake puts that experience to good use on Mistaken Identity, causing one to ponder why he hasn't recorded more often while prompting the hope that he will be visiting another recording studio in the near future.