Biography
A robust, forceful, and energetically swinging saxophonist specializing in hard bop and soul-jazz, Ron Blake requires careful distinction from both the 1960s drummer Ronnie Blake and the later trumpeter of the same name who worked as a session musician in rock and R&B contexts. Primarily recognized for his tenor and soprano work while remaining proficient on baritone and alto, the saxophonist can turn lyrical or romantic yet consistently infuses his solos with substantial grit; thoroughly grounded in the funkier and blues-inflected dimensions of the music, he rarely pursues abstraction. His broad range of influences encompasses Dexter Gordon, Johnny Griffin, Sonny Rollins, John Coltrane, Grover Washington, Jr., Gene Ammons, and Stanley Turrentine, though equally pertinent parallels have been drawn to Eddie Harris, Ron Holloway, Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis, David "Fathead" Newman, and Philadelphia-based tenor specialist Robert "Bootsie" Barnes, whose reputation has remained largely local. Although Blake has called New York City home since the early 1990s, he was born in the Virgin Islands. He began on guitar at age eight and took up the saxophone at ten after encountering his father’s collection of hard bop, soul-jazz, and organ-combo recordings. An alto served as his initial horn, but he later mastered tenor, soprano, and baritone as well as flute. Following his departure from the Virgin Islands, he completed his secondary education at the Interlochen Arts Academy in Michigan, then relocated to the Chicago area and enrolled at Northwestern University in Evanston during the 1980s. There he pursued classical saxophone studies with Dr. Frederick Hemke, yet jazz ultimately prevailed; by the late 1980s he was working frequent bop engagements in Chicago, where he encountered such local figures as tenorist Von Freeman and pianist Jodie Christian. Despite the city’s thriving jazz community, Blake accepted a teaching position at the University of South Florida and moved to Florida in 1990. Two years later he settled in New York, spending five years with trumpeter Roy Hargrove’s quintet and seven years with flugelhornist Art Farmer’s ensemble. By the early 2000s he was leading his own quartet featuring pianist Shedrick Mitchell, bassist Reuben Rogers, and drummer Greg Hutchinson. His debut album as a leader, Up Front & Personal, appeared on the Tahmun label in 2000. The follow-up, Lest We Forget, produced by Christian McBride and issued by Mack Avenue in 2003, paid tribute to three recently deceased soul-jazz masters: Grover Washington, Jr., Stanley Turrentine, and organist Charles Earland.
Albums
Singles
