Saxophonist, composer and arranger Michael Blake has established his presence in the jazz world

Michael Blake: Biography

"Panoramic imagination" - The New York Times

Born: May 19, 1964 in Montreal, Canada
Saxophonist, composer and arranger Michael Blake has established his presence in the jazz world, while his work gracefully erases the borders between different areas of music. Highlights of 2008 include a special guest appearance on Ben Allison’s Man Size Safe and performances with Blake Tartare at the Rochester, Vancouver and Copenhagen jazz festivals. Michael’s new band Hellbent recently played at Milano’s esteemed Mito Festival. His soprano sax work was recognized in the 2008 Downbeat Reader’s Poll.

Michael’s two latest CD's Amor de Cosmos (Songlines), starring an all-Canadian cast of west coast talent and The World Awakes/A Tribute to Lucky Thompson (Stunt Records), featuring his Danish band Blake Tartare, portray a diverse and original artist. Blake Tartare has been performing and touring internationally since 2002 and have two other albums out: Blake Tartare and More Like Us (Stunt Records).

His previous releases show that he is a restless and creative visionary: Right Before Your Very Ears (Clean Feed) is an off-the-cuff improvised album for Trio. Elevated (Knitting Factory Records) is a traditional quartet album. His critically acclaimed debut CD Kingdom of Champa (Intuition) was released in 1997. Produced by the legendary Teo Macero, it is an empathetic musical travelogue of Vietnam featuring a brilliant cast of NY players. His follow-up album Drift (Intuition) was chosen by Jazzthing Magazine’s Critics Pick as Best CD of 2000.

From Soul and Reggae to traditional African and Vietnamese music - Blake is always exploring music that inspires him while staying true to himself. One of the best examples of this is the unique group effort of the co-operative band Slow Poke. In 1997, while playing in the Lounge Lizards together, Michael and slide-guitarist David Tronzo shared a similar aspiration to perform a reflective repertoire of American roots music.

Who better to grab then the Sex Mob/Bill Frisell bass and drum team of Tony Scherr and Kenny Wolleson? It wasn’t long before the quartet was recording Slow Poke at Home in Tony’s living room. A year later they toured Canada and recorded Redemption for Michael’s German based label Intuition Music. After being out of print for over 5 years Slow Poke at Home is now available on Palmetto Records.

For almost two decades the New York City resident has presented an array of innovative bands and compositions that display his ability to simultaneously embrace jazz history while challenging it. That, along with a natural and relaxed approach to improvisation, is the reason he received a grant from the Doris Duke Foundation’s New Works for Jazz Program. He has also received various grants from The Canada Council for the Arts for studies, composition and touring.

Michael continues to tour and record internationally while remaining rooted in the NY downtown music scene. His tenure with John Lurie and the Lounge Lizards spans over a decade and includes numerous record dates, TV appearances, a live concert film from Berlin, and film soundtracks such as the Grammy nominated score for Get Shorty. He was a Composer in Residence in the Jazz Composers Collective, a nonprofit, musician-run organization dedicated to presenting original works.

He still participates in many Collective activities, including Ben Allison’s groups as well as their repertoire ensemble The Herbie Nichols Project. He performs frequently with his organ based MB3 trio, Hellbent and the Eulipion Orchestra an 18 piece big band bringing together some of the most respected musicians from New York’s diverse musical community.

Among the many artists he has recorded and performed with are Oliver Lake, Grachon Moncour III, Medeski Martin and Wood, Ray LaMontagne, The Gil Evans Orchestra, Ben E. King, Neil Sedaka, Tricky, Prince Paul, Roscoe Gordon, The Groove Collective, Jack McDuff, Steven Bernstein, Chris Brown/Kate Fenner, Dr. Lonnie Smith, Hal Wilner, Sir Coxsone Dodd and Pinetop Perkins.

Recordings as a leader and with Slow Poke:

• 2010 Hellbent
• 2009 Control This (Clean Feed Records)
• 2008 "The World Awakes/A Tribute to Lucky Thompson" (Stunt Records STUCD 07092)
• 2007 "Amor de Cosmos" (Songlines Records)
• 2007 "Slow Poke at Home" reissued (Palmetto Records)
• 2006 "More Like Us" (Stunt Records)
• 2005 "Right Before Your Very Ears" (Clean Feed CF044)
• 2005 "Blake Tartare" (Stunt Records)
• 2002 "Elevated" (Knitting Factory Records KFW-304)
• 2000/2001 "Drift" (Intuition INT 32132)
• 1999 Slow Poke "Redemption" (Intuition INT 32602)
• 1998 Slow Poke "Slow Poke at Home" (Independent)
• 1997 "Kingdom of Champa" (Intuition INT 31892)

Thursday, September 23 at 8:30pm

Michael Blake Quartet, w/Landon Knoblock (piano), Greg Ritchie (drums), Michael Bates (bass)

Cornelia St. Cafe, 29 Cornelia St, New York, 10014

Sunday, September 26 at 8pm

Scott Neumann Trio, w/Mark Helias (bass) and MB (Saxophones)

Produced by Brooklyn Jazz Underground
Sycamore, 1118 Cortelyou Road, Ditmas Park, Brooklyn 

Sunday, October 3 at 7:30pm

Ben Allison Trio

KUSH, 191 Christie St. at, NYC 10022

Tuesday, October 5 at Midnight

MB meets the Dred Scott Trio

Rockwood Music Hall, 196 Allen street, New York, NY 10002

Tour of China (October 16-30)

w/ Peter Scherr (bass), Tommasso Cappellato (drums) and Teddy Kumpel (guitar)

• Saturday, 10/16 Guangzhou - The Cafe
• Sunday 10/17 Shanghai
• Tuesday, 10/19 Wuxi
• Wednesday 10/20 Hangzhou - JZ Club
• Thursday 10/21 Suzhou - Bookworm Cafe
• Friday 10/22 Suzhou - True Colors
• Saturday 10/23 Qingdao - Concert Hall
• Sunday 10/24 Changsha - Freedom House
• Tuesday 10/26 Shenzhen - C-union
• Wednesday 10/27 Guangzhou - University TBC
• Saturday 10/30 Hong Kong- Hidden Agenda