Michael Blake

Jazz saxophonist Michael Blake was an associate from the the Lounge Lizards from 1990 on, and kept dynamic in a number of additional N.Con.C.-centered innovative jazz projects. After he was created in Montreal in 1964, his family members relocated to California for a short while, then settled back Canada, in Vancouver, BC. While youthful, Blake attempted learning the violin and piano, but finished up taking towards the clarinet. By senior high school, he was playing tenor saxophone and taking part in a number of shows, celebrations, and workshops. At age 18, Blake examined harmony in a community university and began functioning professionally in a variety of lineups. He started getting familiar with the Vancouver picture after his initial calendar year in university, and surely got to understand a number of the innovative players and composers there. In 1984, he had taken part within the Banff Jazz Workshop, where he fulfilled Cecil Taylor, Kenny Wheeler, Steve Coleman, and much more. Blake came back to Banff another summer months, and afterward, received a Canada Council offer to reside and research in N.Con.C. He came back to Vancouver by the end of his calendar year apart, and led his very own quartet which competed on the Alcan Jazz Competition, significantly impressing the judges, but got disqualified on the technicality. Therefore, at age 23, Blake came back to N.Con.C., earning money by playing in merengue rings, in addition to backing a number of performers from Chubby Checker to Jack port McDuff. His big break emerged in 1990 when John Lurie noticed him playing in a downtown membership; six months afterwards, Blake became a member of Lurie’s Lounge Lizards and found the soprano saxophone. In 1997, Blake’s first documenting as a head premiered on Intuition, to very much vital acclaim. Kingdom of Champa was made by Teo Macero, and was a remarkably solid debut that included Vietnamese music affects right into a jazz record featuring such youthful downtown NY greats as Thomas Chapin and Steven Bernstein. Blake in addition has worked frequently with bassist Ben Allison, and performs on his 1998 and 1999 Palmetto produces. Drift was released in early 2001. Various other tasks of Blake’s consist of his Free of charge Association ensemble; a groove quartet, Decrease Poke, which toured Canada; his use Canadian music artists Chris Dark brown and Kate Fenner (he works on their Compact disc, Geronimo); and Whipcracker, his task with Scott Harding. Blake in addition has performed or documented with Groove Collective, Medeski, Martin & Hardwood, Tricky, Gil Evans Orchestra, Pinetop Perkins, as well as the Herbie Nichols Task.