Michael Blake - Fulfillment

Styles: Saxophone Jazz
Year: 2016
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 54:49
Size: 126,7 MB
Art: Front

(7:21) 1. Sea Shanty
(6:35) 2. Perimeters
(7:05) 3. The Ballad of Gurdit Singh
(4:44) 4. Arrivals
(5:49) 5. Departures
(7:34) 6. Battle at Baj Baj
(9:28) 7. Exaltation
(6:09) 8. The Soldier and the Saint

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.

Blake's manifold tactics are structured on contrasting modal processes and clever arrangements amid heartwarming, melodic choruses; straight-four jazz rock cadenzas, several reengineering exercises and shades of East India. Each piece encompasses a standalone storyline. And this positive attribute offers a sense of intrigue as Blake diversifies these arrangements with great depth, marked by his deeply personalized vision and so forth. For example, "Departures" poses a combination of glee and solace, commencing with Chris Gestin's brisk piano solo, and a linear horns and cello arrangement, amped by perky accents. The musicians bounce between free-jazz and modern mainstream, gelled with catchy phrasings and spunky soloing jaunts.

"Battle at Baj Baj," features a somber current, launched by drummer Dylan van der Schyff's rolling mallets and cymbals extrapolations, while Blake's dusky tonal range and commanding presence initiates the expansive movements with a touch of angst towards closeout. Other works are designed with climactic passages and guitarist Ron Samworth's distortion- streaked solos, but several regions of sound are softened with gentle overtones. Indeed, Blake's creative and imaginative sparks are in full force and he's undoubtedly at the top of his game here. By Glenn Astarita
https://www.allaboutjazz.com/fulfillment-michael-blake-songlines-recordings-review-by-glenn-astarita

Personnel: Michael Blake: tenor & soprano saxophone, compositions; J.P. Carter, trumpet, electronics; Peggy Lee, cello; Chris Gestrin, piano, MicroMoog; Ron Samworth: electric guitar, banjo; André Lachance: bass; Dylan van der Schyff: drums, percussion. Special guests -Aram Bajakian: acoustic & electric guitar (1, 6, 7); Emma Postl, voice (1, 3); Neelamjit Dhillon, tabla (7).

Fulfillment

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Michael Blake - Dance of the Mystic Bliss

Styles: Saxophone, Flute Jazz
Year: 2023
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 59:09
Size: 136,1 MB
Art: Front

(3:50) 1. Merle the Pearl
(5:38) 2. Le Coeur du Jardin (The Heart of the Garden)
(6:38) 3. Little Demons
(6:26) 4. Love Finally Arrives
(4:08) 5. Topanga Burns
(5:06) 6. Sagra
(7:56) 7. Prune Pluck Pangloss
(7:34) 8. The Meadows
(8:02) 9. Weeds
(3:50) 10. Cleopatra

This is saxophonist Michael Blake's new group, Chroma Nova, which contains guitar, violin, cello, bass and two Brazilian percussionists. They play a set of compositions, inspired by Blake's late mother, dancer Merle Blake, which rely on fluid rhythms and textures taken in many different directions.

Blake is often the main solo voice here but he also blends in with the other instruments to create all kinds of intriguing sonic fabrics. For example, "Topanga Burns" starts with a stately clockwork pattern from Blake's soprano sax and Christopher Hoffman's cello. The music then changes into a blast of violin, hand percussion and fuzz guitar before Blake's soprano comes swirling back into the foreground. "Prune Pluck Pangloss" begins with flute and steely bowed strings before pizzicato violin and the intricate patterns of percussionists Mauro Refosco and Rogerio Boccato bring in a tenser mood. Blake's tenor saxophone then dominates with a broadly rhapsodic solo over Guilherme Monteiro's electric guitar chords.

Blake's comfort within the group shows in the way he navigates all the twists and angles of these compositions. His flute sings brightly over the droning strings and formal dance patterns of "The Meadows" while his tenor sax dances effortlessly over a tricky mesh of Latin rhythms and string accents on "Little Demons." On "Weeds" he plays tenor sax snugly over a menacing up-and-down rhythm vamp before Hoffman's digging cello and Monterio's heavy, scouring rock guitar take over. On the closing track "Cleopatra" Blake blows sorrowful soprano sax into a thick noirish fog of cavernous sound.

In the end, Blake brings Latin, Middle Eastern, and other elements together here into fresh compositions with a flair for the unusual. Chroma Nova has the lightness and flexibility of a dance troupe and they really make the leader's music come to life. This is an album one can listen to many times and always hear something new. By Jerome Wilson
https://www.allaboutjazz.com/dance-of-the-mystic-bliss-michael-blake-self-produced

Personnel: Michael Blake: saxophone, tenor; Guilherme Monteiro: guitar; Mauro Refosco: percussion; Rogerio Boccato: drums; Skye Steele: violin; Chris Hoffman: cello; Michael Bates: bass.

Additional Instrumentation: Michael Blake: soprano saxophone, flute, alto flute; Skye Steele: rabeca, gonji.

Dance of the Mystic Bliss

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Michael Blake & Blake Tartare - More Like Us

Styles: Saxophone, Clarinet Jazz
Year: 2006
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 54:43
Size: 125,8 MB
Art: Front

(4:54) 1. Hush
(6:56) 2. The Meadows
(9:36) 3. Happy Old You
(4:05) 4. To Whom This May Concern
(8:01) 5. Maria
(4:57) 6. Something In The Water
(3:51) 7. Africa Used To Be Home
(2:08) 8. Interlude With Soren
(4:39) 9. Paddy Pie Face
(5:30) 10. Johnny To Bad

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 masses has yet to really focus in on him.

Following the release of a stripped down trio affair on Clean Feed Records, Right Before Your Very Ears with Allison and Jeff Ballard where a particular rawness was revealed, he returns under the moniker of Blake Tartare where Blake has forged a working group of musicians that share his conception creating that elusive mix of the unique yet familiar that falls within the domain of modern jazz. And with their second release, More Like Us, they are sounding more and more cohesive in performance even as guest musicians are added into the mix.

The trademark sound of Michael Blake's saxophone work is still the major draw to the group even with the strong contributions from his Danish counterparts including a number of impressive spots by pianist Soren Kjaergaard, and in a somewhat surprising move the saxophonist opens the album with some very nice work on the clarinet.

The soft clarity of the sound he manages with the instrument fits the mood perfectly here, and throughout More Like Us Blake never seems out of place. Penned by the saxophonist, "Hush also features guest vocals by Maria Laurette Friis that at first sounds plain and unaffected, but with repeated listens becomes so ingrained to the music's structure that she becomes another lead voice rather than a singer lending her voice to a song.

"Hush is an interesting opening track for Michael Blake's group and shows another facet of their sound. Along with Friis' vocals which Blake utilizes on three of the ten tracks, he also incorporates other guest spots such as the instantly recognizable, former fellow Lounge Lizard Steven Bernstein on "Happy Old Yoy that was written by John Lurie. Bernstein's echoed delay hanging over the band fits nicely during the nine and a half minute track.

Following the debut record by Blake Tartare, self titled, it was easy to see that Blake had a band here that pushed each other. And although that record comes across a little more brash and unfocused, the same intensity persists where you can tell that each musician isn't playing licks or running safe route. One of the many highlights of the more focused More Like Us though is the ballad "Maria penned by Coleman Hawkins, also featuring more wordless vocals by Friis.

Overall, Michael Blake and Blake Tartare have crafted another fine album here for Stunt Records that ideally would shed more light on the man or the band. For those who do seek it out or come across it, they are in for a unique sound and experience driven by a unique saxophonist. After all, not many would include the reggae classic "Johnny Too Bad by The Slickers as their album closer. By Michael McCaw
https://www.allaboutjazz.com/michael-blakes-blake-tartare-more-like-us-michael-blake-by-michael-mccaw

Personnel: Michael Blake: tenor & soprano saxophone, clarinet, bass clarinet, ghost flute; Soren Kjaergaard: piano, Wurlitzer, effects; Jonas Westergaard: acoustic bass; Kresten Osgood: drums; Maria Laurette Friis: vocals (1, 4, 6); Steven Bernstein: slide trumpet (3); Jane Scarpantoni: cello (1); Jeppe Kjellberg: guitar (3); Teddy Kumpel: baritone guitar (5), guitar (10).

More Like Us

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Michael Blake - The World Awakes: A Tribute To Lucky Thompson

Styles: Saxophone, Clarinet Jazz
Year: 2007
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 58:21
Size: 133,7MB
Art: Front

(8:39) 1. Lucky Charm
(8:40) 2. Reminiscent
(9:13) 3. The World Awakes
(5:00) 4. Little Tenderfoot
(8:21) 5. Scratch
(7:15) 6. Mumba Neua
(5:08) 7. To You Dear One
(2:26) 8. Little Tenderfoot (Reprise)
(3:35) 9. Single Petal of a Rose

Paying affectionate homage to bygone greats is a tricky business, especially when it comes to an artist in the line of jazz duty who rolled with stylistic changes and abided by the dictum that jazz is inherently a progressive music, but with firm traditional roots. Michael Blake’s nod to saxophonist-deserving-wider-recognition “Lucky” Thompson, with a bold and sensitive group of Danish players, is a fine role model of how to do the right thing. Thompson (1924-2005) spanned the eras of swing, bebop and beyond, was self-exiled from what he found a racist music business for years, and generally is an artist waiting for history to catch up to him.

For his tribute record, Blake plays tenor, clarinet and also soprano sax, the tool which Thompson mastered, inspiring Coltrane to pick up the instrument. Blake wrote the vintage-waxing opening tune, “Lucky Charms” (“charms” as both verb and noun) and also the funk-lined but intuitively smart “Scratch,” including a smattering of Thompson’s own words re: the sorry fate of the artist.

Thompson’s own tunes, making up the bulk of the set here, are deceptively clean and simple. On this selected sampling, the Thompson touch ranges from the friendly swinging sashay of “Reminiscent” to the querulous title track (here warmed over by a small string ensemble and a slow-meets-fast, suite-like arrangement), to the lush ballad “To You Dear One.” Thompson’s sinuous boppish tune “Little Tenderfoot” is heard in two versions: in the first, Blake’s tenor works out over bass, before the added horns thicken the harmonic plot; in the second, Thompson’s transcribed solo makes a once-removed reincarnation through Blake’s horn. Duke Ellington’s “Single Petal of a Rose,” with strings and an attitude of elegance, closes the set on an urbanely graceful note. Overall, Blake does right here by a musical hero, one whom jazz history needs to readdress. By Josef Woodard
https://jazztimes.com/archives/michael-blake-the-world-awakes-a-tribute-to-eli-lucky-thompson/

Personnel: Michael Blake (tenor sax, soprano sax, clarinet); Soren Kjaergaard (keys); Jonas Westergaard (bass); Kresten Osgood (drums); Peter Fuglsang (bass clarinet, clarinet); Kasper Tranberg (trumpet); Lars Bjornkjaer (violin); Henrik Dam Thomsen (cello); Teddy Kumpel (guitar); ob Jost (flugelhorn)

The World Awakes: A Tribute To Lucky Thompson

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