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20 Years of One Man’s Jazz
This show marks the 20th anniversary of One Man's Jazz which began its radio journey on May 1, 1999 at CKUW 95.9 FM in Winnipeg, eventually shifting to extraterrestrial Taint Radio in 2012. Rather than just play something from my favourite recording list for each of those twenty years (that was too easy), I decided to head for the playlists and just pluck out one track from all the tunes played in each year, starting with 1999's Peter Epstein and ...
read moreMichael Blake - The Restless Adventures of a World Awakening Artist
An enduring presence for the last 30 years, saxophonist, composer and bandleader Michael Blake has built his reputation playing jazz and creative music in New York City. The visionary composer and arranger has built a discography that impresses for depth and range, from his hard-hitting projects Hellbent and Blake Tartare, to the soul and R&B tinged Red Hook Soul, to tribute projects dedicated to the repertoire of Lucky Thompson and Herbie Nichols and to his musical travelogues. This ...
read moreMichael Blake: Fulfillment
Saxophonist Michael Blake's previous concept album Kingdom of Champra (Intuition, 1997) is based on his experiences living with his family in Vietnam. On Fulfillment, the artist centers his focus on India, namely an incident that occurred when a Japanese freighter, transporting hundreds of East Indian immigrants was denied entry into the port of Vancouver, Canada in 1914. Another source of interest is that Blake's great grand uncle H.H. Stevens was instrumental in engaging the Canadian Parliament to take action.
read moreMichael Blake: Tiddy Boom
Tenor saxophonist Michael Blake has played a prominent factor within the backbone of New York's progressive jazz scene, having performed with big bands, small ensembles and on Tiddy Boom, re-aligning with New York Jazz Collective comrades, pianist Frank Kimbrough and bassist Ben Allison. In-demand session drummer Rudy Royston complements a group that proffers sympathetic support to Blake's line of attack, outlined by classic jazz outings by yesteryear's masters. Essentially, he revisits his origins and pays homage to Coleman Hawkins and ...
read moreMichael Blake: In the Grand Scheme of Things
The beginning of an unusual release, “Road to Lusaka" is the first track from Canadian-born, New York-based saxophonist Michael Blake's In the Grand Scheme of Things. While maybe not as widely known in some circles, Blake is a masterful practitioner of the art form who is at ease working in or outside of the mainstream with a discography that includes a number of recordings and credits with the Lounge Lizards, the Jazz Composers Collective and others. Sumptuous ...
read moreMichael Blake / Kresten Osgood: Control This
Interstellar Space (Impulse!, 1965), John Coltrane's raucous tenor sax duo album with drummer Rashied Ali, is widely considered the pinnacle achievement of such instrumental pairings. Its blistering intensity continues to haunt similar efforts, yet there are a few intrepid souls who have opted for a more subtle, dynamic approach--one which favors conversational interplay over kinetic fury.
New York-based saxophonist Michael Blake and Danish drummer Kresten Osgood are two such explorers. Longstanding collaborators, they served as sidemen to organist ...
read moreMichael Blake Sextet: Amor de Cosmos
With each release, saxophonist Michael Blake pushes himself in a different direction through composition, instrumentation and/or stylistic approach. On Amor de Cosmos, the native Canadian convened an all-Canuck sextet to perform compositions inspired by family memories and the local history of British Columbia, where he spent time as a child. In a departure for Blake, the group includes younger musicians with whom he had little prior experience: Brad Turner (trumpet), Sal Ferreras (marimba and percussion), Chris Gestrin (keyboards and electronics), ...
read moreMichael Blake Sextet: Amor de Cosmos
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 ...
read moreMichael Blake Sextet: Amor De Cosmos
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 ...
read moreMichael Blake's Hellbent, Earshot Jazz event, Tula's, Seattle, Washington
Michael Blake's Hellbent Earshot Jazz event, Tula's Seattle, Washington Saturday, 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 ...
read moreMichael Blake: More Like Us
More Like Us is the second release from saxophonist Michael Blake's Blake Tartare, with three Danish wunderkinds: keyboardist Soren Kjaergaard, bassist Jonas Westergaard and drummer Kresten Osgood. As the title suggests, the group has developed cohesion, easily maneuvering the circuitous compositions on the disc. The subtle opening of “The Meadows shifts after Blake's pronounced fluttering theme; the rhythm section bolsters him through a freer blowing section until Kjaergaard reels it in--effortlessly gliding through the changes. Similarly, on ...
read moreMichael Blake's Blake Tartare: More Like Us
Blake Tartare More Like Us Stunt Records 2006
Listen Includes full performance of “Something In The Water"
Michael Blake has long been on the cusp of being more-well known among jazz fans, but like his former employer John Lurie, often seems to be looking in. Regularly recording on fellow Jazz Composer Collective projects like with Ben Allison, he shines when given the opportunity without fail. Yet, the larger light of the jazz ...
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