Archived News
Mahler in Chinatown -- Ran debuted a new suite, "Mahler Noir," during a November 29 concert honoring the Austrian composer Gustav Mahler at the New England Conservatory. The show was part of "Mahler Unleashed," several months of activities celebrating Mahler's works that includes concerts, jam sessions, conversation, and film.
Tuesday's concert, titled "Mahler in Chinatown," featured contributions from NEC Classical, Jazz and Contemporary Improvisation faculty, as well as the student Chamber Orchestra. Ran's contribution was a solo piano inspired by important events in Mahler's life that included six parts:
I - Death Gong
II - Conversion
III - Death of Maria
IV - Auf Wiedersehen Wien
V - The Last Boat Trip: New York to France
VI - Flashback and Death.
Halloween Concert at NEC -- Ran and coproducer Aaron Hartley celebrated Halloween by staging a musical and cinematic tribute in honor of Alfred Hitchcock and Claude Chabrol at the New England Conservatory. This year's concert focused on two films: Hitchcock's Shadow of a Doubt (1943) and Chabrol's Le Boucher (1970). The films have a lot in common: Both take place in suffocating small-town settings include the viewpoint of a child whose world is clouded by the "shadow of a doubt" when they realize an admired adult may be a murderer.
Students and faculty of NEC's Contemporary Improvisation department -- along with guests -- performed in response to the plots, moods, scenes, spirit, and music of these two films as clips appear onscreen. Read more about it on NEC's website.
May 15 -- Ran performed a memorial concert in honor of Abbey Lincoln titled "Nothing But the Truth" at Cobi's Place in New York City.
January -- Ran is back in Boston after a successful tour of Europe in December that included five shows in four countries (Spain, Lithuania, Italy and Portugal). Overall, the tour went well, despite cold, rainy weather on many of the days. Several of the shows were sold out, with hundreds of fans in attendance. Ran performed in a variety of settings, from a traditional concert hall to a church to a record store. As expected, Ran was joined onstage by guitarist David "Knife" Fabris at several shows and performed with tenor saxophonist Jacopo Jacopetti in Rome and vocalist Sara Serpa in Lisbon. You can view Knife's photos of the trip here.
2010
December -- Ran will be playing a series of concerts in Europe in December. These are the confirmed dates:
Dec. 1 - Universidad de Cantabria, Santander, Spain, duo performance with guitarist David "Knife" Fabris
Dec. 4 - Siguenza Jazz Festival, Spain, duo with Knife
Dec. 10 - St. Catherin's Church, Vilnius, Lithuania, duo with Knife
Dec. 16 - Casa Del Jazz, Rome, Italy, solo performance with appearances by Knife and tenor saxophonist Jacopo Jacopetti
Dec. 19 - Trem Azul Jazz Store, Lisbon, Portugal, duo performance with vocalist Sara Serpa
The tour marks Ran's first performance in Lithuania. An additional exciting development is that if all goes to plan, the tour will produce two live albums. The show in Vilnius may be released by NoBusiness Records as an LP-only recording, and the Rome concert may be issued on CD on the Tompkins Square label.
September -- By all accounts, Ran's 75th birthday celebration September 20 at NEC was a joyous occasion, with dozens of heartfelt performances and hundreds in attendance.
You can download the program here. Also, in advance of the event, the Boston Globe published an excellent Q&A (titled "Ran Blake, 75, reflects on life played by ear") in which John Medeski, keyboardist with Medeski, Martin & Wood and a former student, interviews Ran. Read it here.
George Russell Tribute Album -- In August Ran recorded a tribute album to George Russell at the New England Conservatory. Russell, an educator, composer and musician, as well as a friend and colleague of Ran's, died in July 2009.
The album, on HatHut Records, is tentatively titled Autumn in New York: Russell Noir. A release date has yet to be set.
During the two-day session, Ran and a dozen NEC alumni and students recorded 17 songs, including well-known Russell compositions such as "Stratusphunk" and "Ezz-Thetic." They also recorded several songs of Ran's and a few standards.
Participating musicians included Rachel Massey (violin), Doug Pet (tenor saxophone) Peter Kenagy (trumpet), Aaron Hartley (trombone), Ryan Dugre (guitar), David "Knife" Fabris (pedal steel guitar), Brad Barrett (bass), Eric Lane (piano), Jason Yeager (piano) Charles Burchell (drums, timpani, vibraphone), David Flaherty (drums, timpani), and Luke Moldof (electronics).
The musicians recorded in a range of combinations, with Ran playing solo at times and being accompanied by small and large groups at others. Ran played electric piano on several songs, which marks a first for Ran's own recordings. Art Lange, who has worked with Ran on several earlier albums, produced the session.
August -- 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).
August -- Ran's duet album with Portuguese singer Sara Serpa is now available from Inner Circle Music and ranblake.com. 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."
April -- 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.
February -- 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.
January -- The New England Conservatory's Spaulding Library is running an exhibit of photos, records, posters and other memorabilia from Ran's career. Exhibit materials come from NEC's extensive Ran Blake Archives. You can view several other items on Flickr. The library is at 33 Gainsborough Street, at the corner of Huntington Ave. and Gainsborough St. The exhibit will be up until this year's commencement in May.
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.
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.
2009
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 ranblake.com, the Jazz Loft and Amazon. You can also download it from Amazon, iTunes and e-music.
August -- Ran worked on an album of duets with vocalist Christine Correa in August at Rear Window Studio in Coolidge Corner. The album is likely to include a number of songs from films, including "Hi Lily Hi Lo" from Lili and the theme from The Bad and Beautiful, as well as several of Ran's compositions (some old and some new). Christine, a native of Bombay, India who lives in Brooklyn, is the director of the Maine Jazz Camp, a jazz camp for high school and junior school students. Ran and Christine also collaborated on Round About, a 1994 CD on the Music and Arts label.
September -- Ran performed two songs at a reception Thursday, September 10 at Brookline Public Library in honor of an exhibition of photos and memorabilia from the collection of Justin Freed, the Coolidge Corner Theater's owner and programmer from 1977 to 1989.
The exhibition, titled "I Found It At the Coolidge," tells the story of Freed's tenure at the Coolidge, during which the theater first became a haven for international art films, retrospectives, documentaries and independent films. It includes photos of actors, directors and musicians from the era, including Ran, Dennis Hopper, Norman Mailer, Al Green, John Sayles, and many others.
The exhibition runs until September 28. It's open from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday to Thursday and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Friday. It will open on weekends starting September 8 (from 10 to 5 on Saturdays and 1 to 5 on Sundays).
Two Upcoming Books -- As a long-awaited book on Ran's teaching philosophy nears completion, a second book on his life is now taking shape.
The music theory book, The Primacy of the Ear, presents Ran's practice of emphasizing the listening process to learn and develop a personal style instead of the traditional method of relying on written scores. It will include a CD of examples to help illustrate key points.
The book, which has been in the works for many years, is expected to be released later this year. Jason Rogers and Pat Donaher are major collaborators, and Alyssa Voorhis and many others have contributed to the editing.
The biography, meanwhile, is still in its early stages. Leo McFadden, a former NEC student, is the author. It's expected to cover the many chapters of Ran's life, including his childhood in Western Massachusetts, his college years at Bard, his many recordings and performances, his teaching at NEC, community involvement, etc. Work on the book, which has included hours of interviews and sifting through old photos and correspondence, has led Ran to revisit a lifetime of memories.
Leo is seeking stories, anecdotes or reflections from those who know Ran and/or witnessed extraordinary performances. Please send submissions (as Word attachments, in the body of an e-mail, or as MP3s) to leo.mcfadden@gmail.com.
July -- The Wire, a London-based music magazine, posted a lengthy interview with Ran on its website. The interview, conducted by Byron Coley, hits on every stage of Ran's life and musical career, including comments on many specific albums; encounters with Sun Ra, Steve Lacy and other jazz luminaries; European tours; his fondness for Al Green; his early days at NEC; and much more. At nearly 9,000 words, the interview makes for perfect summertime reading, so pour your favorite libation and dig in.
In addition, the magazine's July issue includes a feature story on Ran. The article isn't available on line but you can order the issue from the magazine's website or look for it at bookstores.
June -- Allaboutjazz.com posted a lengthy feature about Ran and his most recent album, Driftwoods, in June. Tod Smith's story, titled "Lurking in the Shadows," includes Ran's reflections on his career, film and many of the album's songs. An introductory excerpt follows:
"If you close your eyes while listening to Driftwoods, you may find yourself transported into the grainy, low-key black and white world of a 1940s or '50s classic noir film. Try to leave the theater and something quietly, without much fanfare draws you back into the story. This is the music of Ran Blake. While the vaguely familiar exists, there's enough hidden in the shadows of Driftwoods to make each listen seem like a world premiere."
Read the whole story here.
April -- NPR's Morning Edition aired an in-depth profile of Ran on April 13. Titled "Pianist Ran Blake Takes His Cues From Film Noir," the 7-minute piece featured interviews with Ran, New York Times music critic Ben Ratliff, and several students, as well as samples from Ran's new Driftwoods album. Andrea Shea, a reporter for NPR-affiliate WBUR in Boston, put together the segment, which does an outstanding job highlighting Ran's life and creative process, as well as capturing his personality. If you missed it, you can stream or download it here and read the text here.
April -- Jazz critic Kevin White reviewed Driftwoods on April 22 for NPR's Fresh Air. Read or listen here.
April -- Music Inn, a documentary on The Lenox School of Jazz, where Ran studied and performed at the start of his career, screens twice in Massachusetts in late April.
The first showing is Monday, April 27 at 5 p.m. at Amherst College. The free screening is at Pruyne Lecture Hall in the Fayerweather Building as part of the Faultlines Series.
The second screening is Tuesday, April 28 at 6 p.m. at the Boston Public Library.The free screening is part of Jazz Week events at the library. The library is located in Copley Square at 700 Boylston St, and the film screens in BPL's Rabb Lecture Hall.
At both screenings co-producer George Schuller will introduce the film and lead a panel afterward. Ran (who also appears in the film) is on the panel at the screening at the Boston Public Library, along with Gunther Schuller, Ted Casher, and Joe Hunt.
The Lenox School of Jazz operated at the Music Inn in Lenox during summers from 1957 to 1960. Faculty and guests included Gunther Schuller, Dizzy Gillespie, Kenny Dorham, the Modern Jazz Quartet, Dave Brubeck, Bill Evans, Oscar Peterson, Willis Laurence James and Jimmy Giuffre. Ran attended all four years and looks back on it as one of the highlights of his life.
You can watch the trailer here.
March -- Ran's March 18 appearance on WGBH Radio's "Eric in the Evening" Wednesday is now available for streaming. You can download a printed program Ran prepared for the evening here.
February -- Driftwoods is drawing rave reviews. Here are some excerpts:
Ben Ratliff, New York Times: "Blake seems to hear other people's music through a kind of creative seance; in the process it becomes transformed. On Driftwoods he takes a tightly written old pop song ... and reveals behind it a slow-moving fantasia, full of shuddering harmony played with the sustain pedal down ... He's been doing this for nearly 50 years, forming his own canon of composers and performers from across the best of midcentury jazz, gospel, soul and classical music, and he's still in great form." The full review is here.
Kevin Lowenthal, Boston Globe: "Next time you're up until quarter to 3 and looking for music to fit the hour, we suggest this set of film noir nocturnes for solo piano ... Blake is a stealth piano virtuoso, master of touch and timing, a flinty melodist who fills the spaces between the notes with lingering harmonics ... At the album's heart are two takes of 'Dancing in the Dark,' saluting Sarah Vaughan's definitive 1956 recording. In the shorter of the two, the dance is a faded memory; the longer presents a montage of moods, the dance holding its own with the dark ... Deliciously, the darkness dominates these 13 tunes tossed and transformed in the ocean of Blake's musical imagination."
Full review
Henry Smith, AllAboutJazz.com: "Blake's noir-like approach to the piano, with his open sense of harmony and time as well as the deep and beautiful melancholy which ingrains his playing, is present on all of the pieces here. Never once does a cliche emerge from his fingers as he infuses these works with a personal and carefully chosen character all his own. ... Hank Williams' 'Lost Highway' is completely transformed from its country crooner roots into a work whose contrast between spacious detail and rural feel recasts it as a viable improvisational setting. ... The disc closes with 'You Are My Sunshine,' a summery rendition of the classic that fits in nicely with the entire feel of this beautiful album. Full review
Thom Jurek, AllMusic.com: "Blake's sense of restraint, even in the most deliberate of his improvised readings such as on Lewis Allan's 'Strange Fruit,' Quincy Jones' theme from The Pawnbroker, Milton Nascimento's 'Cançao do Sol,' and even Gershwin's 'I Loves You, Porgy,' offers such distinctive readings of these tunes rhythmically, harmonically, and lyrically that it's difficult after a while to see where the body of the original composition ends and Blake begins. ... Blake's achievement is that he simply re-inscribes their images in a new way, placing his lovingly individualistic stamp of musical recognition on them as sophisticated, singular moments in the history of song."
Full review
Driftwoods is available from ranblake.com, Amazon, Tompkins Square, and other retailers. You can also download it from iTunes.
January -- Ran's new album, Driftwoods, was released by Tompkins Square Records on January 27 and is now available from ranblake.com and Amazon. The album of solo piano is Ran's tribute to his favorite singers, with interpretations of songs popularized by Billie Holiday, Mahalia Jackson, Hank Williams, Nat King Cole, and others.
The track list is "Driftwood," "Dancing in the Dark," "Lost Highway," "Cancao do Sol," "No More," "I Loves You, Porgy," "Strange Fruit," "Pawnbroker," "There's Been a Change," "Portrait," "I'm Going to Tell God," and "You Are My Sunshine."
Jonah Kraut, Ran's longtime friend and former assistant at the New England Conservatory, produced the album, Ran's 36th since his 1961 debut. It includes liner notes by Brian Morton, editor of Jazz Review, UK and the Penguin Jazz Guide.
To see the cover and download a free song, check out the January issue of Ran's newsletter.
2008
November -- Ran accompanied vocalist Dominique Eade on several songs at her faculty recital at the New England Conservatory's Jordan Hall. Also performing were John Lockwood (bass), Tim Ray (piano), Yoron Israel (percussion), John Wheatley (guitar) and Aryeh Kobrinsky (bass).
November -- Ran joined New York Times' jazz critic Ben Ratliff at Brookline Booksmith November 20 for an event promoting Ben's new book, The Jazz Ear.
For the book, Ratliff sat down with 15 jazz luminaries (including Sonny Rollins, Ornette Coleman and Hank Jones) to discuss compositions that strongly influenced them and how they listen to music. The bookstore event followed a similar format, with Ben and Ran listening to and discussing key compositions in Ran's life.
June -- Ran is among 60 musician/educators featured in a new book, Teaching Musicians: A Photographer's View, by Diane Griliches.
The photo of Ran shows him giving a lesson to a trumpeter. Accompanying text highlights his approach to teaching, noting that "he eschews musical notation ... he wants his students to concentrate on listening, and one course is called 'earobics'."
Many of the book's subjects are NEC alumni and current or former NEC staff, including Frank Battisti, Dorothy DeLay, Dominique Eade, Anne Hobson Pilot, Joe Maneri, Cecil McBee, Bob Moses, Hankus Netsky, Danilo Perez, Kenneth Radnofsky, Roger Voisin, and Ben Zander. Other notable subjects include Yo-Yo Ma, Jimmy Heath, Bobby McFerrin and Ravi Shankar.
Teaching Musicians is available at bookstores and from Amazon and Bunker Hill Publishing.
May -- Ran's July 2006 performance at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris is now available for download from Sans Bruit, a new company that offers live jazz recordings on-line. Sans Bruit is the brainchild of Stephane Oskeritzian, a concert promoter and longtime friend of Ran's.
Ran's July 7 concert closed a four-day jazz festival. He performed an eight-part suite titled "Cinema Chatelet" that he described it as a soundtrack to an imaginary film directed by his heroes of cinema. The track list follows:
Part I: Noir (4:10)
Part II: All that is tied (2:08)
Part III: Shostakovich 13 (1:48)
Part IV: The Monk family (1:02)
Part V: New York (6:44)
Part VI: Paris (4:30)
Part VII: Memphis (2:36)
Part VIII: Desafinado 3:06
Encore (6:42)
The download is in the MP3 format and costs 5 euros (about $7.75). You can also download free artwork from the website.
April -- If you've ever wondered what Ran's music would sound like when performed by a symphonic ensemble, your wait is over. An album released in April by the MIT Wind Ensemble, titled Solo Eclipse, includes two of Ran's compositions: "Impresario of Death" and "Ghosts of Cimetiere de Pere Lachaise."
The compositions (both of which originally appeared on Something to Live For), were transcribed for chamber wind ensemble by Kenneth Amis, a composer and tuba player for the Empire Brass Quintet. They were commissioned by MIT and first performed by the NEC Wind Ensemble (conducted by Charles Peltz) as a surprise gift for Ran's 70th birthday concert in Jordan Hall in 2005.
Solo Eclipse also includes compositions by Amis (the three-movement "Concerto for Tuba") and Argentinean composer and pianist Guillermo Klein ("Solar Return Suite," featuring tenor saxophonist Bill McHenry).
The album is available from Amazon, Albany Records, Amis Musical Circle and ArkivMusic.
February -- Ran wrapped up an album of piano/vocal duets with longtime friend (and NEC colleague) Dominique Eade.
The pair actually started the project in 2004, recording several cuts. After the New Year they resumed work on the album, which was recorded at Rear Window studio in Brookline (where All That Is Tied was recorded).
The album is expected to include a mix of Dominique and Ran's originals; standards such as "Old Devil Moon" and "The Thrill is Gone"; and some lesser known songs, such as Quincy Jones' "Pawnbroker" and Stan Kenton's "Falling."
No word yet on label info or a release date.
2007
December 2007 -- Ran and guitarist David "Knife" Fabris returned in late December from a successful European tour that included performances in France, Germany and Italy. Highlights included the Casa Jazz show in Rome, which nearly 400 people attended, and saxophonist Ricky Ford joining Ran onstage in Tours. Ran also enjoyed seeing many old friends. Check out the December issue of Ran's newsletter for photos from the tour.
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.