Two stunning videos of Ran and Jeanne Lee performing in October 1963 have surfaced on a French website. The duo play "Something's Coming" (from West Side Story) and "Jada."

A Memory of Vienna, Ran's celebrated duet album with saxophonist Anthony Braxton that has been out of print for several years, has been reissued in a remastered version by Hat Hut Records.

The album, which was recorded in November 1988 and originally released in 1997, includes standards such as Monk's "'Round Midnight," Charlie Parker's "Yardbird Suite," Miles Davis' "Four," and Mal Waldron's "Soul Eyes."

Thanks to Hat Hut founder Werner X. Uehlinger, we have a limited quantity available for order from ranblake.com.

Driftwoods, Ran's album of solo piano released earlier this year, turned up on a number of lists of the best albums of 2009.

--In Slate, Fred Kaplan rates Driftwoods 10th in his listing of the best jazz albums of the year. Kaplan writes: "His chords, dissonant but heartfelt, waft out of a dream."

--emusic lists Driftwoods as the 19th best album of 2009 (of any genre).

--Boston Phoenix jazz critic Jon Garelick includes Driftwoods and Ran's November NEC tribute to the film Pawnbroker among a list of his favorite things of 2009.

--AllMusic mentions Driftwoods in a list of the top jazz albums of the year.

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 January.
--Steve

Vol. 5, No. 12