Archived News
August — Ran's summer class on the jazz vocalist Chris Connor went well, with strong attendance and good reviews for the August 14 open forum. There were many highlights, including a memorable phone call to Connor in New Jersey in which Bill McDonough interviewed Connor's longtime manager, Lori Muscarelle; Dinan Messiqua sang "All About Ronnie" in French; the class interviewed Connor; and the class sang "Happy Birthday" in honor of Connor's 80th birthday.
The Boston Globe's Kevin Lowenthal reviewed the evening in an August 16 story titled "A Heartfelt, and Tuneful Tribute." Excerpts follow:
"...Much of Tuesday's concert was spent listening to Connor's classic recordings, interspersed with reminiscences, illuminating appreciations, and musical performances ... Standouts included James Merenda's searching saxophone interpretation of "The Thrill Is Gone"; vocalist Buzz Brooks's version of "Misty," rewritten as a comic tribute to Connor; and Prudence Steiner's dramatic reading of Scott Sandvik's poem about Connor, 'That VOICE!'
"...It's rare that a concert's highlights come prerecorded, but that was the case here. And a remarkable video of Connor's 1995 performance with a big band at Quinnipiac University showed her talents not just undiminished but deepened by time.
"If anyone had arrived doubting Blake's thesis that Connor should be recognized as a great jazz musician, few left unconvinced."
You can read the full review here and download the evening's program here.
Here is one of Ran's favorite tracks of Chris', Get Out of Town. You can listen to a number of her other songs on her website.
August — Down Beat reviewed Wende in a roundup of reissues. The magazine called it "a prime example of the undersung pianist's poetic sensibility" and also noted: "Like Ives or Monk, Blake loves a good wrong note. But where Ives is expansive, Blake is practically a minimalist, distilling ideas to their essence and whispering truths some pianists would shout."
AllAboutJazz-New York reviewed The Complete All That Is Tied Sessions with several solo piano albums: "Ran Blake exposes the Americana roots of gospel chording and cadences, the hammered and bent notes of the blues and the whorehouse ragtime of the Crescent City, all felt or implied without overt imitation. Older lineages are evident in his borrowings from Western European classical composers, notably the piano-friendly texturing of Frederic Chopin and the modern romanticism of the Third Streamers."
May 17 -- Ran performed solo at the Center for Improvisational Music in Brooklyn at 8 p.m.
May 16 -- Ran appeared with trombonist-composer Wycliffe Gordon and video artist Andrew Demirjian as part of a panel on jazz and film at Lincoln Center in New York City. Dr. Lewis Porter led the event, which included performances.
February — You can hear a radio interview with Ran on WMUA in Amherst here. Ran did the interview with DJ Stephen Hart the day before his show at the Northampton Center for the Arts.
February 1 — An enhanced version of All That Is Tied is available by digital download. Ran's label, Tompkins Square, reports that The Complete All That Is Tied Sessions can be downloaded from eMusic.com, a website that offers various downloading packages via monthly subscription. The eMusic version includes 25 songs recorded during the original album sessions: the original 12, alternate takes of five songs (some radically different), plus eight songs not on the album (Arline, Spiral Staircase, Indian Winter, Sister Tee, Straight Ahead, Turning Point, Touch of Evil and Vanguard).
2006
End of the Year Honors -- All That Is Tied, Ran's album of solo piano released last spring on Tompkins Square Records, received numerous end of the year honors, earning a rave review in the Penguin Guide to Jazz Records and appearing on many critics' Best of 2006 lists.
The newly published 8th edition of the Penguin Guide, edited by Richard Cook and Brian Morton, awards the album a crown, which denotes records the editors "feel a special admiration or affection for." The album also gets four stars, the highest rating.
"It is a quiet masterpiece, marked by the same almost mystical approach to harmony and melody that has marked recent projects," the book's review says. "A magnificient record from a neglected master."
In addition, the editors include The Short Life of Barbara Monk, from 1986, as an album that belongs in the core collection of every jazz fan. Only about 200 albums received this honor. All told, a dozen of Ran's albums receive three or four stars.
Other publications honoring All That Is Tied:
--Downbeat Magazine, included in "Best of 2006" list
--Village Voice, included in John Szwed's "Top 10 of 2006" list
--Wire Magazine, included in "50 Records of the Year" list
--Metro Times (of Detroit), #2 on W. Kim Heron's "Top 10 of 2006" list
--Cadence Magazine, #4 in Reader's Poll of "Best New Issues of 2006" and included in four critics' Best of 2006 lists
--Jazz Review, #8 on "CDs of the Year" list and included in three critics' Top Ten lists
--Coda Magazine,included in Nick Pitt's "Top 10 of 2006" list
Jazziz Magazine Profiles Ran — The October issue of Jazziz magazine includes a two-page feature on Ran. Titled "True Original," Alexander Gelfand's article focuses on Ran's musical style and his role as an educator.
"For nearly 50 years, the 71-year-old musician has sounded like no one but himself," Gelfand writes. "And as a teacher for more than 40 years, he also helped other musicians find their own singular voices."
Later, noting Ran's penchant for tastefully combining different genres, Gelfand includes this quote from Ran: "Occasionally, divisions are important. A hot-fudge sundae does not go well with Florentine pasta. There have to be a few barriers."
August 24 — To squeeze in some final summer musical fun before the school year starts up again, Ran organized a show at Rutman's Violins on August 24 that featured performances by Ran, members of his current group, and other musical friends. Musicians performed in various small group combos, with most of the compositions being songs Ran wrote or has an attachment to, including pieces by Ornette Coleman, George Gershwin, and Shostakovich. Performers included Ran, Jonah Kraut, Joel Yennior, Alonzo Harris, Mike Murray, Brian Fitzpatrick, Sharon Hart, Jamison Swanagon, Jason Yeager, Jeffrey Levenberg, and Steve Mardon.
August 15 — Each August, Ran offers an intensive weeklong course on one musician. This year's subject was the Russian composer Dimitri Shostakovich. The class on August 15th was a free public forum at NEC. A highlight of the evening was a phone interview with the conductor Stanislaw Skrowaczewski, who has recorded and performed many Shostakovich symphonies. Fred Harris, Director of Wind Ensembles at MIT, did the interview. The class also included reflections on Shostakovich by NEC's Alla Cohen, Berklee's Yakov Gubanov, Holy Cross' Eric Culver, and the Aspen Music Festival's Alan Fletcher; and live performances by Jeffrey Levenberg (viola), Jonah Kraut (guitar), and Giacomo Merega (bass).
May 21 — Ran received an honorary degree from the New England Conservatory at Commencement, along with Joan Tower, Janos Starker, and David Baker. NEC's Hankus Netsky delivered this eloquent introduction. You can read more about the honorees here.
March 31 — Ran was the subject of a lengthy feature in the Boston Globe by Bill Beuttler. The story, titled "From Ran Blake, a little noir music," appeared on the front of the Living/Arts section.
New CD -- All That Is Tied, Ran's first solo piano album in 15 years, is now available from Tompkins Square Records, as well as through ranblake.com and many record stores and online retailers. The CD is drawing critical raves.
Video -- You can view a 21-minute video of Ran and David "Knife" Fabris playing together at Ran's home on December 26, 2001. The video is available for both Dial Up and High Speed users, and it should open with both sound and video in Apple Quicktime and other players compatible with the MP4 format. There are two medleys — Vilna > Dr. Mabuse > Mood Indigo and You've Got It Bad Girl > Fantasy > Night Crawler > Haitian Fight Song > Merci Bon Dieu — followed by brief renditions of Elijah Rock and Spiral Staircase. From the same date, there's also a six-minute clip of Ran improvising solo: Dial Up and High Speed. Our thanks to Michael Hanish for filming these performances and sending them to ranblake.com.
If you're having trouble getting the videos to work, follow these steps:
1. If you don't already have Quicktime, download the free version
2. Open Quicktime
3. In Quicktime, click on "File" and then "Open URL in New Player"
4. Copy or type in: http://www.ranblake.com/solodialup.mp4
5. Press Play
January 28 — Night Lights, a radio show hosted by David Brent Johnson on Indiana's WFIU, devoted an hour to Ran's music. You can download the show by going here and clicking on "Listen to Program."
2005
December 19 — Ran appeared on WNYC's Soundcheck Program, accompanied by David Fabris. The program is archived here (toward the bottom of the page).
December — Boston Phoenix critic Jon Garelick included "Indian Winter" in his list of the 10 favorite things he encountered in 2005. With the CD and his November performance at the Regattabar, "the pianist/composer showed again why he's one of Boston's best natural resources," Garelick said.