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Ron Blake

Tenor saxophonist Ron Blake and guitarist Bobby Broom have played together many times over the years, going back to Broom’s 1997 album, Waitin’ and Waitin,’ and beyond. It was Broom who hired Blake for his band shortly after his college years. The strong chemistry between these musicians is one of numerous elements that make Mistaken Identity—Blake’s first album under his own name in 15 years—special. (They’re joined by Nat Reeves or Reuben Rogers on bass and Kobie Watkins on drums.) Another key factor is the heartfelt inclusion of songs by jazz legends who have played important roles in Blake’s personal life as well as his career. 

“Uncle” Benny Golson’s classic “Stablemates” is performed with soulful clarity. The late Johnny Griffin’s beautiful minor key ballad “When We Were One” features Blake at his most lyrical on tenor. Then there is Blake’s hero Sonny Rollins’s “Allison” (from his underrated 1987 album, Dancing in the Dark), on which the tenorist’s unencumbered playing is bolstered by Broom’s forceful comping and sweetened by the guitarist’s unison lines.

​Recorded before and after the Covid lockdown Mistaken Identity boasts a pair of Blake originals, the lively postbop vehicle “Beyond Yesterday’s Tomorrows” and the ruminative “Grace Ann,” a duet with Rogers. Broom contributed “No Hype Blues,” one of the first songs Blake played with him. The golden Blue Note era is recalled via Duke Pearson’s “Is That So?” And steel pan artist Victor Provost wrote the title calypso tune, which celebrates Blake’s Caribbean roots and Rollins’s classic “St. Thomas.”

Ron Blake was born in Santurce, Puerto Rico on September 7, 1965 (he’s thrilled to share a birthday with Rollins) and grew up in St. Thomas, Virgin Islands. The youngest of four children, he inherited his architect father’s love of jazz, particularly the alto saxophone, which he began playing in school at age 10 (having first taken guitar lessons at eight). 

In 1979, at the age of 14, Blake left home to attend the National Music Camp in Interlochen, Michigan for three consecutive summers and remained there to enroll in the Interlochen Arts Academy where he completed his junior and senior years of high school. He studied music there under distinguished classical saxophonist Dr. Frederick L. Hemke. Hemke then convinced Blake to attend Northwestern University outside of Chicago, where he taught. 

It was at Northwestern that Blake committed himself to jazz and started playing baritone and tenor, in addition to alto saxophone. He received the Presidential Award for Outstanding Artistic and Academic Achievement. When he began playing at various clubs in suburban Evanston, where Northwestern is located, he was largely unfamiliar with Chicago’s celebrated Tough Tenor tradition. But with tenor greats including Von Freeman, Clifford Jordan, Eddie Johnson, and Fred Anderson still active on the scene, and Johnny Griffin paying his annual visits from Europe, he gained a deep appreciation for it.

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Radio & Podcasts

Ron Blake: No Mistaking His Identity

Read "Ron Blake: No Mistaking His Identity" reviewed 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 ...

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Album Review

Ron Blake: Mistaken Identity

Read "Mistaken Identity" reviewed 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 ...

3
Album Review

Brian Landrus: Red List

Read "Red List" reviewed 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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Album Review

Brian Landrus: Red List

Read "Red List" reviewed by Jack Bowers


No matter how one receives his music, there is no doubt that woodwind specialist Brian Landrus' heart is in the right place. Red List, his eleventh album as leader, is dedicated to the preservation of Earth's endangered animal species. Landrus names thirteen, at least five of which--the kakapo, Malayan tiger, gharial, vaquita and Javan rhino--are all but gone, with less than three hundred of each species remaining. In fact, it is estimated that only eight vaquitas (a species of porpoise ...

3
Album Review

Walter White: BB XL

Read "BB XL" reviewed by Chris M. Slawecki


Born in a musical family near Detroit and classically trained at Juilliard, trumpet and flugelhorn player Walter White keeps a hectic schedule as leader of Atlantic Bridge, the Walter White Jazz Quartet, Walter White & Small Medium @ Large, and of the fusion ensemble IFUNU; as a member of the Beige Trio; and as lead trumpet for the Manhattan Jazz Orchestra directed by David Matthews. White has also served as Virtual Guest Artist-In-Residence for the Rutgers University Jazz Program directed ...

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Album Review

Christian McBride: The Movement Revisited

Read "The Movement Revisited" reviewed by Chris May


The spring 2020 release of The Movement Revisited: A Musical Portrait Of Four Icons is the latest chapter in Christian McBride's inspirational salute to the African American civil rights movement and to four of its heroes: Dr. Martin Luther King, Rosa Parks, Malcolm X and Muhammad Ali. Embracing big band jazz, small group jazz, gospel, funk and chorale musics, together with spoken word passages, the suite employs an eighteen-piece band, the ten-piece Voices Of The Flame gospel choir, two lead ...

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Album Review

Ron Blake: Shayari

Read "Shayari" reviewed by J Hunter


If you've heard bassist Christian McBride's blazing Live at Tonic (RopeaDope, 2006), then you're familiar with the powers of Ron Blake. On some tracks, Blake blasts soul-drenched tenor in the same vein as Junior Walker; on others, he launches solos that approache the same technical and emotional level visited by Wayne Shorter. Blake's overall performance on Tonic is world-class--and it leaves you completely unprepared for the relatively peaceful world of Shayari.

About the only thing Shayari has in common with ...

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Recording

Ron Blake: Mistaken Identity

Ron Blake: Mistaken Identity

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers

I'm picky about saxophonists. There are plenty of contemporary good ones but great ones tell a story on their horn with seductive determination, confidence and conviction. And when it comes to recording albums, taste is everything, especially regarding song choices. Ron Blake is a saxophonist who checks off all these boxes. His new album, Mistaken Identity (7Ten33 Productions), is superb and one of the most gratifying albums of the year. Too many artists take on the tone or phrasing of ...

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Recording

Saxophonist Ron Blake Releases His First New Album In 15 Years With 'Mistaken Identity,' Due October 13

Saxophonist Ron Blake Releases His First New Album In 15 Years With 'Mistaken Identity,' Due October 13

Source: Terri Hinte Publicity

Ron Blake marks his return to the recording studio after 15 years’ absence by reuniting with an old friend for the October 13 release of Mistaken Identityon his ownlabel 7tēn33 Productions. The tenor and baritone saxophonist partners for the record with esteemed guitarist Bobby Broom (who also serves as producer), enlisting as well a superb rhythm section with bassists Nat Reeves or Reuben Rogers and drummer Kobie Watkins on a smart, heartfelt collection of nine tracks that include band member ...

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Performance / Tour

Geoffrey Keezer with Ron Blake- February 22, 2008 - Harlem in the Himalayas Jazz Series- Rubin Museum NYC

Geoffrey Keezer with Ron Blake- February 22, 2008 - Harlem in the Himalayas Jazz Series- Rubin Museum NYC

Source: Two for the Show Media

Pianist & Composer, Geoffrey Keezer will be performing in duo format with saxophonist Ron Blake as part of the Harlem in the Himalayas series at the Rubin Museum in New York City on February 22nd, 2008 -Showtime 7:00 PM Geoffrey Keezer - Piano Ron Blake - Saxophone Harlem in the Himalayas Series Rubin Museum 150 West 17th Street NYC February 22, 2008 - Showtime - 7:00 PM Admission $18 in ...

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Recording

First 2005 Release From Mack Avenue Records Will Be Ron Blake

First 2005 Release From Mack Avenue Records Will Be Ron Blake

Source: All About Jazz


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Performance / Tour

Ron Blake, Sean Jones And Eugene Maslov To Tour As Mack Avenue All Stars

Ron Blake, Sean Jones And Eugene Maslov To Tour As Mack Avenue All Stars

Source: All About Jazz


"...With all the influence in his vocabulary, Ron Blake's very much his own man and one of the greatest tenor players of our time...."

Photos

Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

Mistaken Identity

7tēn33 Productions
2023

buy

Drum of Stories

In A Circle Records
2023

buy

Red List

Palmetto Records
2022

buy

The Movement Revisited

Mack Avenue Records
2020

buy

BB XL

Self Produced
2020

buy

For James

Palindrome 76 Records
2020

buy

Canopy of Trees

From: Red List
By Ron Blake

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