Remembering Abbey Lincoln -- An August 28 article in the New York Times by Nate Chinen on Abbey Lincoln's legacy included quotes from Ran and discusses her influence on Ran's new duet albums with Christine Correa and Sara Serpa (below).
Camera Obscura -- Ran's duet album with Portuguese singer Sara Serpa is now available from Inner Circle Music. Ran and Sara recorded the album in December of 2009. It includes several compositions of Ran's, a few standards, and some originals of Sara's. You can get a taste of the album by checking out this video. The Lucid Culture blog called the album "arguably the best album so far this year in jazz, or for that matter any style of music, every bit as original as Blake’s landmark 1961 collaboration with Jeanne Lee, The Newest Sound Around."
Birthday Concert -- As the poster above suggests, Ran will celebrate his 75th birthday with a concert in his honor Monday, September 20 at the New England Conservatory's Jordan Hall.
The show will feature musical performances, spoken tributes, and archival audio and video. Performers will include Bruce Brubaker, Frank Carlberg, Dominique Eade, Cecil McBee, Hankus Netsky, Ken Schaphorst, Christine Correa, Alonzo Harris and Sara Serpa.
If you would like to contribute a message of congratulations or appreciation for a scrapbook that will be presented to Ran, please e-mail Aaron Hartley at tromboneman03@yahoo.com.
The concert is free and it starts at 8 p.m. Read more about it here.
Out of the Shadows Released -- One of four duet albums Ran recorded in the past two years is now available -- Out of the Shadows with vocalist Christine Correa. The album is drawing some great reviews: review #1, review #2, review #3, review #4.
You can order the album, released by Red Piano Records, from ranblake.com and cdbaby and download it from iTunes and amazon. 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.
Notes From the Blogosphere -- 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.
Duo Recording -- In late December Ran recorded an album of duets with vocalist Sara Serpa. Sara was born in Lisbon and got her master's degree in jazz performance at the New England Conservatory. In two nights Ran and Sara recorded multiple takes of about a dozen songs, including several compositions of Ran's ("Memphis," "Vanguard"), a few standards ("April in Paris," "Nutty"), and some originals of Sara's.
Rare Videos -- 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". Click on the song titles to see samples of the clips.
A Memory of Vienna Rereleased -- 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.
End of the Year Honors -- 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.
Phoenix Review -- Ran's November 9 NEC Contemporary Improvisation Department production, which focused on Sidney Lumet's 1965 film The Pawnbroker and its film score by Quincy Jones, was favorably reviewed by Boston Phoenix critic Jon Garelick, who called the show "a riveting evening of music" and a "one-of-a-kind experience." You can read the full review here.
Radio Ran -- National Public Radio's Morning Edition aired an extended profile of Ran on October 17. Titled "Ran Blake: A Blur of Film Noir, Improvisation," the 8-minute story by Andrea Shea is an expanded version of the piece WBUR aired last April. You can read and hear it here, and there's also a new annotated link to Ran's performance at WGBH last March.
Duo En Noir Rereleased -- Duo En Noir, a live album featuring Ran and the Italian trumpeter Enrico Rava that's been out of print for several years, was re-released in October. The new version has a different cover. The album, on the European Between the Lines label, first came out in 1999. It has 10 tracks, including "Nature Boy," "Vertigo/Laura," "Spiral Staircase," and "Let's Stay Together." The reissue is available from the Jazz Loft and Amazon. You can also download it from Amazon, iTunes and e-music.
Ran Blake T-shirts -- Ran Blake T-shirts featuring Ran's "black bag" logo are now available from Ran's assistant Aaron Hartley. Here's a photo. The cotton jerseys come in small, medium, large and extra large. The cost is $15 per shirt. If you're in the Boston area, you can arrange to pick them up directly from Aaron at NEC or at Ran's Brookline apartment. If you order by mail, there's an additional $4 shipping charge. For more information or to arrange an order, please contact Aaron.
Ran has performed at major jazz festivals, concert halls, jazz clubs, colleges and universities
throughout the U.S., Canada, Europe, South America, and Mexico.
Appearances include Monterey Festival, Antibes Music Festival, Nancy
Jazz Festival, Third Stream Festival, Praxis Festival, Grenoble Jazz
Festival, Montreal Jazz Festival, Ottawa jazz Festival, Edmonton Jazz
Festival, Jazz and Blues Festival, Museum of Modern Art, Du Maurier
International Jazz festival.
Additional appearances on numerous radio and television programs.
Composition
and improvisation studies with Ray Cassarino, Willis Lawrence
James, Oscar Peterson, Bill Russo, Gunther Schuller, Mal Waldron, and
Mary Lou Williams
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