Ran Blake is a bit of an enigma to me. I know next to nothing about the fellah. Not a single person has ever tried to turn me onto his music, except perhaps inadvertently. There was a Ran Blake record mixed in with a pile of odd jazz lps my friend wanted burned. I was happy to oblige as I had not heard much of the stuff and I was curious. I don't even remember what record it was of his that caught my ear, but subsequent exploration was of little help. Some stuff was really cool and some just left me scratching my head. My biggest thing was that the songs were often so short without stretching out at all. Perhaps Blake likes to just say what he has to say and move on.
So why in the world would I take a chance on this lp? It's expensive and the only other featured performer is on guitar, which is not amongst my favorite jazz instruments.And I'm betting it is not very long.
Well I was right on that count, This clocks in just over 30 minutes. For the record... 30+ seamless minutes of some damn sweet music that these dudes played live in a church. Why is it that church recordings always seems so special?
Anyway this is a drink and smoke lp, and not one that will cause one's feet to move. So sit back and smolder.
Vilnius Noir
1. Vilna/Turning Point
2. Cry Wolf
3. In Pursuit
4. Shlof Mayn Kind
5. Jack's Blues/Stratusphunk
6. Driftwood
7. Sontagism
8. Watch What Happens/Papirosn
9. Thursday
10. Desifinado
11. My Cherie Amour
12. Mood Indigo
Ran Blake - piano
David "Knife" Fabris - guitar
recorded live on 10th December, 2010 at St. Catherine's Church
*after a nice conversation with Danas at NoBusiness he has informed me that since this is not available on disc, he will be more than happy to make a cd-r for people without turntables who might request it, making sure that a portion of the proceeds are funneled to the artist. This seems more than fair to me so I have removed the links even though he did not insist that I do so. His label much like this blog is a labor of love and I implore you to support him in any way you can.
4 comments:
Look I don't want to sell the guy short who is putting out these records. This is a limited release of 500 lps with no cd reissue. And they are pricey since they coming from Lithuania but if you really dig it, you can get one from NoBusiness records. They have some great stuff and I hope someone will at least throw some love their way.
thanks Hookfinger, this is a most interesting Blake, and late blake are not usually easy to find. brevity is not scarcity.
Hi Hooks,
You raise an interesting issue. Should we, bloggers, post an album that was recently released and is still available even if its distribution is somewhat confidential?
As for Ran Blale, I concur that his music is a bit of an acquired taste. I saw him live around 1970/71, at the Centre Culturel d'Anderlecht (Brussels), a jazz and poetry evening. A bit of a high-brow affair. I remember I was kinda disapponted by this abstract music that did not swing nor groove. At the same period, I had the chance to ttend a Cecil Taylor concert (with Beaver Harris and Sam Rivers), I was blown by the sheer power of the music, a niagara of sound. It did not "swing" in the usual sense of the word but it hit me straight in the face. I'm not sure i liked it but I was fascinated. Ran Blake on the other hand rather bored me. Two different approaches to abstract music.
boogieman - I agree with what you have to say about posting this stuff. I struggled with putting this up. In retrospect I maybe should have waited a bit longer. I truly respect the dude at NoBusiness and appreciate what he is doing. He and the artist are in the business of making money, in addition to sharing the music. I am just sharing with no financial stake and therefor also no risk of loss.
My decision to share was based on the fact that most people no longer own - hell may not even know how to operate - a turntable. I implore all who still love the fact that great music is being released in the vinyl format to buy the damn record from NoBusiness. They deserve all the credit.
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