Jump to content

Michael Blake (musician)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by KylieTastic (talk | contribs) at 16:31, 18 August 2020 (lead). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Michael Blake
Smiling with Sax
Background information
Birth nameMichael Stephen Blake
BornMay 19, 1964
Montreal, Canada
Occupation(s)Musician, Composer
Instrument(s)Tenor saxophone, soprano saxophone, clarinet, bass clarinet, flute, alto flute, piano

Michael Blake (Born May 19,1964) is a Canadian-American tenor saxophonist, composer, arranger and bandleader. He is best known for his work with The Lounge Lizards, Slow Poke, Blake Tartare, Hellbent, Ben Allison and Steven Bernstein. His 2014 album Tiddy Boom[1] was selected as Album of the Year by Downbeat Magazine critic James Hale.[2]

Early Life

Michael Blake was born in Montreal, Canada. He began playing the clarinet at the age of 14.

He began his professional career in Vancouver, Canada, performing with local musicians Hugh Fraser, Phil Dwyer, John Korsrud, Ross Taggart and Kate Hammett-Vaughan.

From 1984-1985 he attended summer jazz workshops at The Banff Center for Arts and Creativity, studying saxophone with Steve Coleman and David Liebman.

In 1986 Blake received a grant from The Canada Council for the Arts to further his studies in New York City.

Professional Career

1990’s

In the fall of 1989 Blake began working with John Lurie and The Lounge Lizards and for that group he also began playing the soprano saxophone. He toured and performed with the band from 1990-1999. During his tenure with Lurie he was featured on the albums Live in Berlin Vol 1 & 2 and Queen of All Ears. Blake also played saxophone and clarinet on Lurie’s TV series Fishing with John and film-scores for Get Shorty, Excess Baggage and Box of Moonlight. He played an extended tenor solo over the end credits of the Get Shorty soundtrack which was nominated for a Grammy Award.

Blake became a Composer in Residence in the Jazz Composers Collective in 1995. Throughout its active period (1992-2005) the Collective presented original compositions at their concerts in Greenwich Village. Joining core members Ben Allison, Frank Kimbrough, Ron Horton and Ted Nash the Jazz Composers Collective formed the Herbie Nichols Project, devoted to the music of pianist/composer Herbie Nichols.

In 1996 Blake signed with Intuition Music and released two albums under his own name. His debut album Kingdom of Champa (1997) - an electro-acoustic concept album about Vietnam - received wide critical acclaim[3] . Playboy Magazine jazz critic Neil Tesser wrote, "Blake's vision bristles with colors, textures and mystery." His sophomore album Drift[4] (1999) was chosen as Album of the Year by Germany’s Jazzthing Magazine. Both albums were produced by Teo Macero.

2000’s

Blake recorded Elevated[5] (2000) for Knitting Factory Records. He also began co-leading Slow Poke with David Tronzo, Tony Scherr and Kenny Wollesen. Between 1997-2001 Slow Poke recorded two albums Slow Poke at Home (1998) and Redemption (1999) and toured in Canada, the US and Europe.

Blake was selected in 2002 by Downbeat Magazine’s Critics Poll for Rising Star Artist of the Year, Rising Star Tenor saxophonist and Rising Star Soprano Saxophonist

In 2001 Blake assembled a new band with Danish musicians Kresten Osgood, Soren Kjaergaard and Jonas Westergaard in New York where they recorded their self produced album Blake Tartare (2002). Subsequently they were signed to the Danish jazz label Stunt Music for which they recorded two more albums. His final album for Stunt, The World Awakes[6] (2008) - a tribute to saxophonist/composer Eli ‘Lucky’ Thompson - was produced by Danish Radio Jazz empresario Ib Skovgaard.

He received Chamber Music America's: New Jazz Works Grant in 2001. The grant, provided by The Doris Duke Foundation commissioned a suite of original compositions inspired by Blake's fascination with 1970's TV show themes titled Mr. Carefree.

Blake formed Hellbent in 2006, featuring Philadelphia based drummer Calvin G Weston, Steven Bernstein and Marcus Rojas. Violinist Charlie Burnham also performed with the group.

In 2007 Blake began a series of Canadian concept albums for Songlines Recordings[7]. His first effort, Amor de Cosmos[8] (2007), is dedicated to his grandfather who passed away at the age of 101. His second album, In the Grand Scheme of Things[9] (2012) debuted The Variety Hour, a new quartet with Dylan Van der Schyff, JP Carter and Chris Gestrin. His third album Fulfillment[10] (2016) brought Blake back to the larger electro-acoustic instrumentation he used on his earlier albums.

2010’s

In 2013 Blake received Chamber Music America's New Jazz Works: Commissioning and Ensemble Development program funded through the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation commissioning him to write a new work entitled Contrasts in Individualism: The Innovations of Coleman Hawkins and Lester Young. He recorded the music with Ben Allison, Frank Kimbrough and Rudy Royston and released the album, Tiddy Boom[11] (2014) on Sunnyside Records.

Blake was on faculty at Italy’s Siena Jazz Summer Workshop from 2009-2014.

In 2015 Blake recorded Red Hook Soul[12] (2016) for Ropeadope Records.

Throughout 2017 Blake performed in the Charlie Hunter Trio.

From 2015-present, he has been on the faculty at Jerry Granelli’s Creative Music Workshop in Halifax, Canada.

In 2019 Blake formed the New Canadian Art Quartet with Jerry Granelli, Peggy Lee and Chris Gestrin.

In 2020 he received the Explore and Create Concept to Realization Grant from Canada Council of the Arts to compose and record new work entitled Le Couer de Gardin for Strings, Percussion and Woodwinds.

Blake has performed on more than fifty additional recordings as a co-leader or sideman, including albums by Ben Allison, Ray Lamontagne, Kresten Osgood/Lonnie Smith, Steven Bernstein/Henry Butler and the Hot 9, Erik Friedlander and Chris McCarthy.

Discography

Recordings as a leader

  • 2016 Red Hook Soul (Ropeadope Records)
  • 2016 Fulfillment (Songlines Records)
  • 2014 Tiddy Boom (Sunnyside Records)
  • 2012 In the Grand Scheme of Things (Songlines Records)
  • 2010 Hellbent (Bandcamp)
  • 2008 The World Awakes/A Tribute to Lucky Thompson (Stunt Records)
  • 2007 Amor de Cosmos (Songlines Records)
  • 2006 More Like Us (Stunt Records)
  • 2005 Right Before Your Very Ears (Clean Feed Records)
  • 2005 Blake Tartare (Stunt Records)
  • 2002 Elevated (Knitting Factory Records)
  • 2000 Drift (Intuition Music)
  • 1997 Kingdom of Champa (Intuition Music)

Recordings as a co-leader

  • 2016 Michael Blake/Samuel Blaser/Michael Sarin, Transmissions (For Tune Records)
  • 2012 Michael Blake/Ben Allison/Rudy Royston, Union Square (A-Beat Records)
  • 2011 Michael Blake/Tommaso Cappellato/Stefano Senni, Live in Pisa (Punto Rojo)
  • 2009 Michael Blake/Kresten Osgood, Control This, (Clean Feed Records)
  • 1999 Slow Poke, Redemption (Intuition Music)
  • 1998 Slow Poke, Slow Poke at Home (Bandcamp)

Recordings with other artists

  • 2020 Allesandro Giachero/Franco Fabrini/Francesco Petreni, feat. Michael Blake, At the Fortress (Bandcamp)
  • 2020 Rusty Cloud, Big Apple Ball, (Independent)
  • 2020 Chris McCarthy, Still Time to Quit (Ropeadope Records)
  • 2020 Falkner Evans, Marbles (Consolidated Artists Productions)
  • 2018 Greg Cordez, Last Things Last (Bandcamp)
  • 2015 Michael Bates, Northern Spy (Stereoscopic)
  • 2014 Henry Butler/Steven Bernstein and the Hot 9, Vipers Drag (Impulse! Records)
  • 2013 Scott Neumann, Blessed (Origin Records)
  • 2011 Giovanni Guidi, We Don't Live Here Anymore (CAM Jazz)
  • 2011 Ben Allison, Action/Refraction (Palmetto Records)
  • 2010 Peter Scherr, Son of August (1hr Music/CDBaby)
  • 2009 Tommaso Cappellato, Open (Elefante Rosso)
  • 2008 Ben Allison, Small Things Run the World (Palmetto)
  • 2006 Ray Lamontagne, Til' the Sun Turns Black (RCA Records)
  • 2004 Ben Allison, Buzz (Palmetto)
  • 2002 Kresten Osgood feat.Lonnie Smith, Hammond Rens (ILK)
  • 2002 Ben Allison, Peace Pipe (Palmetto Records)
  • 2001 The Herbie Nichols Project, Strange City (Palmetto Records)
  • 2001 Ben Allison, Riding the Nuclear Tiger (Palmetto Records)
  • 2001 Chris Brown/Kate Fenner, O' Witness (Wolfe Island Records)
  • 2001 Richard Bliwas, Compose Yourself - Ten Improvisations (Rising Rose Records)
  • 2000 John Lurie, The Legendary Recordings of Marvin Pontiac (Strange and Beautiful Music)
  • 2000 Richard Bliwas, Walk the Bike (Rising Rose Records)
  • 2000 The Herbie Nichols Project, Dr. Cyclops Dream (Soul Note Records)
  • 2000 Tony Scherr, Come Around (Smells Like Records)
  • 1999 African Swim John Lurie (Strange and Beautiful Music)
  • 1999 John Lurie, Fishing with John (Strange and Beautiful Music)
  • 1999 Chris Brown/Kate Fenner, Geronimo (Wolfe Island records)
  • 1999 Steven Bernstein, Diaspora Soul (Tzadik Records)
  • 1999 Ben Allison, Third Eye (Palmetto Records)
  • 1998 Ben Allison, Medicine Wheel (Palmetto Records)
  • 1998 The Lounge Lizards, Queen of all Ears (Strange and Beautiful Music)
  • 1998 Soundtrack, Excess Baggage (Prophesy)
  • 1998 Tricky, Angels with Dirty Faces (Island records)
  • 1998 Walter Thompson Orchestra, The Colonel (Nine Winds)
  • 1998 Tim Otto's Pink Noise Saxophone Quartet, The Jig is Up (Pink Tomato)
  • 1997 Rusty Cloud & S'killit, Blue Fever (Moon Street)
  • 1997 Joe Gallant's Illuminati, Blues for Allah (Knitting Factory Records)
  • 1997 London McDaniel, Anatural Aphrodisiaca (Nubile)
  • 1996 Soundtrack, Get Shorty ({{Verve Records]])
  • 1996 Rosco Gordon, Let's Get it On (Studio One/Coxsone Music)
  • 1995 The Repercussions, The Repercussions ({{Warner Bros. Music]])
  • 1994 Rusty Cloud, Walkin' the Night (Moon Street)
  • 1993 Ben E. King, Shades of Blue (Halfnote Records)
  • 1993 Stereo MC's, Supernatural (G street)
  • 1993 The Lounge Lizards, Live in Berlin, Vol.2 (Intuition Music)
  • 1992 Justin Warfield, My Field Trip To Planet 9 (Warner Bros. Music)
  • 1991 The Lounge Lizards, Live in Berlin, Vol.1 (Intuition Music)
  • 1990 Compilation, Rock, Love and Understanding (Electra Records)

Other Activities

Starting in 2018 Blake began writing profiles on musicians (Jay Rodrigues[13], Marcus Rojas[14], Gina Leishman[15]) published on All About Jazz.

In 2018 Blake wrote an analysis of his solo from the title track of Tiddy Boom for Downbeat Magazine's Woodshed[16].

References

  1. ^ Blake, Michael. "Tiddy Boom". Jazztimes. Jazztimes.
  2. ^ Hale, James. "Tiddy Boom". Jazz Chronicles. Downbeat.
  3. ^ Blake, Michael. "Kingdom of Champa". Jazztimes. Jazztimes.
  4. ^ Blake, Michael. "Drift". Jazztimes. Jazztimes.
  5. ^ Blake, Michael. "Elevated". Jazztimes. Jazztimes.
  6. ^ Blake, Michael. "The World Awakes". Jazztimes. Jazztimes.
  7. ^ Blake, Michael. "Michael Blake". songlines. songlines.
  8. ^ Blake, Michael. "Amor de Cosmos". Jazztimes. Jazztimes.
  9. ^ Blake, Michael. "In the Grand Scheme of Things". Jazztimes. Jazztimes.
  10. ^ Blake, Michael. "Fulfillment". songlines. songlines.
  11. ^ Boom, Tiddy. "Tiddy Boom". chicago reader.
  12. ^ Blake, Michael. "Red Hook Soul". All About Jazz. All About Jazz.
  13. ^ Rodrigues, Jay. "Jay Rodrigues". All About Jazz. All About Jazz.
  14. ^ Rojas, Marcus. "Marcus Rojas". All About Jazz. All About Jazz.
  15. ^ Leishman, Gina. "Gina Leishman". All About Jazz. All About Jazz.
  16. ^ Blake, Michael. "Tiddy Boom". Michael Blake. Downbeat.


Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Michael_Blake_(musician)&oldid=973682252"