Ran Blake

Performing and studying

Beginning in the late 1950s, Blake performed as a duo with vocalist Jeanne Lee. Their first album, The Newest Sound Around, was released on RCA in 1962, and the following year they toured Europe. The album reflects Blake's emerging style, including a tribute to David Raksin's "Laura" and a reworking of the gospel standard "The Church on Russell Street." Lee and Blake continued to collaborate and released another album, You Stepped out of a Cloud, in 1989.

Blake met Gunther Schuller at Atlantic Records in 1959. Schuller invited him to study at the School of Jazz in Lenox, Massachusetts, a summer program that ran from 1957 to 1960 and brought together leading jazz musicians such as Dizzy Gillespie and William Russo. Blake attended in 1959 and 1960, and during those summers he began developing his signature style. Schuller became a lifelong mentor, organizing the recording of The Newest Sound Around and later bringing Blake to the New England Conservatory.

Blake also met Mary Lou Williams at a performance at The Composer in New York. She became a mentor and significant influence; while a student at Bard, Blake often traveled to see her perform and take lessons. In 1966, Blake released his first solo album, Ran Blake Plays Solo Piano, on ESP Disk.

Educator

In 1967, Gunther Schuller, then president of the New England Conservatory, recruited Blake as the Conservatory's Community Services Director, a role in which he organized concerts in prisons, retirement homes, and community centers. Blake held this position until 1973, when he became chairman of the new Third Stream Department (now Contemporary Improvisation), an initiative he started with Schuller.

Schuller had coined the term "Third Stream" in 1957, describing it as a genre halfway between jazz and classical music, intended to counter purists in both fields. Blake's blend of free jazz, gospel, classical composition, and film noir soundtracks fit this concept, and he chaired the department until 2005. Musicians who studied with Blake at NEC include Don Byron, Matthew Shipp, John Medeski, Frank London, Grayson Hugh, and Yitzhak Yedid.

Recording career

Blake has continued recording throughout his career, amassing over forty recording credits. His first album with Jeanne Lee won the RCA Album First Prize in Germany, the 1980 Prix Billie Holiday, and is part of the Académie du Jazz. He has recorded primarily as a solo pianist, though collaborative albums have also received critical acclaim.

Duke Dreams (1981), an album of songs by or associated with Duke Ellington, received 4.5 stars from AllMusic, a five-star rating in Down Beat, and inclusion in the All Music Guide to Jazz. Short Life of Barbara Monk (1986), recorded with saxophonist Ricky Ford, was selected by the Penguin Guide to Jazz for its Core Collection. Blake has also collaborated with Jaki Byard, Houston Person, Steve Lacy, Clifford Jordan, and Christine Correa.

Educational philosophy

Blake's teaching philosophy, which he calls "the primacy of the ear," differs from many music educators. In 1977 he wrote an article for the Music Educator's Journal on a career as a "Pop/Rock/Jazz instrumentalist," and in 1981 he published Third Stream and the Importance of the Ear, a guide to his educational style. He stresses that "the ear is and should be of primary importance" and emphasizes luck and showmanship over education and background.

Blake views Third Stream composition as any work bridging two distinct musical cultures, not only classical-jazz fusion. He argues that music, being an aural art, should be taught through dedicated listening, imitating, and improvising, rather than by focusing on playing Chopin preludes or using The Real Book. He calls for students to listen and sing along to melodies on tape until they can reproduce them without the tape, before touching an instrument.

In 2010, Blake published The Primacy of the Ear with Jason Rogers, a 144-page book detailing his thinking on the artistic process, musical memory, ear training exercises, and developing personal style.

Did You Know?

• Blake became fascinated by film noir after seeing Robert Siodmak's Spiral Staircase as a twelve-year-old.
• Blake was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship for composition in 1982 and a MacArthur Genius Grant six years later.