This year marks the 40th year of the New England Conservatory's Jazz Studies Program, and Ran will be appearing at events in Boston and New York to celebrate the anniversary.

The Boston events will feature nightly ticketed concerts at venues including the Western Front, Regattabar, Scullers Jazz Club and NEC's Jordan Hall during the week of October 18. The weekend will be highlighted by an All-Star Jam with the NEC Jazz Orchestra on Friday, October 23 in Jordan Hall. Confirmed artists for that program include Ran, Bob Brookmeyer, Danilo Perez, Roger Kellaway, Carl Atkins, Fred Hersch, Don Byron, and Rachael Price.

The New York City events take place March 21-27, 2010, with the centerpiece at B.B. King Blues Club on March 27. Artists confirmed for that performance include Ran, Jon Medeski, Regina Carter, Fred Hersch, Harvey Mason, Don Byron and Carl Atkins.

This photo, by Poppy de Villeneuve, accompanies the Wire interview.

Sonic Temples is now back in stock at ranblake.com.

Also, if you haven't ordered your copy of Driftwoods yet, you can do so through ranblake.com, Amazon, Tompkins Square, and other retailers. You can also download it from iTunes.

The Wire, a London-based music magazine, has posted a lengthy interview with Ran on its website. The interview, conducted by Byron Coley, hits on every stage of Ran's life and musical career, including comments on many specific albums; encounters with Sun Ra, Steve Lacy and other jazz luminaries; European tours; his fondness for Al Green; his early days at NEC; and much more.

At nearly 9,000 words, the interview makes for perfect summertime reading, so pour your favorite libation and dig in.

The website also includes a page with links to MP3s of songs from Driftwoods and All That Is Tied. The MP3 page is accompanied by a black and white photo that Ran supplied to the magazine (above). It's undated but looks to be from the late 1950s or early 1960s.

In addition, the magazine's July issue includes a feature story on Ran. The article isn't available on line but you can order the issue from the magazine's website or look for it at bookstores.

Elden Kelly, a guitarist and vocalist who studied with Ran at NEC and also worked for him as an assistant, has a released a new album, 1000 Doors. Visit Elden's website for song samples and information on ordering the CD.

Thanks for reading. As always, you can reach Ran directly at ran@ranblake.com, and you can read back issues here.

We'll see you in August.
--Steve

Vol. 5, No. 7