One of four duet albums Ran recorded in the past two years is now available -- Out of the Shadows with vocalist Christine Correa.

You can order the album, released by Red Piano Records, from Downtown Music Gallery, and it's expected to be available soon from the label, cdbaby and iTunes. It has 14 songs, including "Little Yellow Bird," "Hi Lili Hi Lo," "Mendacity" and "When Malindy Sings."

Out of the Shadows, produced by the pianist Frank Carlberg, was recorded last August at Rear Window Studio in Coolidge Corner. This is Christine's second collaboration with Ran; the duo released Round About in 1994.

To celebrate the album's release, Ran and Christine will perform a concert titled "Nuance" June 18th at the Woodfords Congregational Church in Portland, Maine. We'll have further details as the date draws closer.

Since 2008, Ran has also recorded (as-yet-unreleased) duet albums with percussionist Jon Hazilla and vocalists Dominique Eade and Sara Serpa.

New England Conservatory Jazz Orchestra Director Ken Schaphorst is presenting "April is the Cruelest Month," a concert spotlighting Ran's music Friday, April 23 at Jordan Hall.

The orchestra will perform new arrangements of two songs closely associated with Ran: his recomposition of "Never on Sunday" (inspired by the 1967 coup in Greece) and "Memphis" (an original he wrote after the assassination of MLK). Ran will perform a solo interpretation of Ken's "Cleopatra," which will also be performed in its full orchestral version under the composer's direction.

The concert, which kicks off JazzBoston's fourth annual Jazz Week, starts at 8 p.m.

Before the show, at 7 p.m., Fred Harris, Director of Wind & Jazz Ensembles at MIT, will interview Ran and Ken about the show's music and other topics.

Both events are free and open to the public. Jordan Hall is at 290 Huntington Ave.

Jazz blogger Ken Blanchard recently posted a thoughtful entry on Ran's album The Short Life of Barbara Monk. You can read it here.

And writer Steve Holtje posted an appreciation of Ran's career on a website called The Big Takeover. The article includes Holtje's listing of his 10 favorite Ran albums. Read it here.

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

To learn more about studying at NEC's Contemporary Improvisation Department, visit the department's website or contact Department Chairperson Hankus Netsky.

We'll see you in May.
--Steve

Vol. 6, No. 4