Saturday, November 6, 2010

Almost Here

Brother Eldridge pens our latest "newser":

This may be our “sleeper” show of the fall: tenor & soprano
saxophonist Michael Blake, who plays HSU’s Kate Buchanan room Monday
night, was part of the downtown “Knitting Factory” scene in 1990s New
York, where he was a member of hipster legend John Lurie’s Lounge
Lizards. Since then, he’s played key roles in Steven Bernstein’s New
Millennial Territory Orchestra and many projects associated with the
Jazz Composers Collective (Ben Allison’s bands, the Herbie Nichols
Project, etc.)--all while leading a variety of groups of his own on a
series of well regarded albums. But somehow, as Chris Kelsey put it
in Jazz Times, he’s remained "one of an all-too-common subset of the
jazz community: players who create brilliant music while flying
largely under the radar of widespread critical and/or popular
acclaim...One hopes the public--or at least the critics--will get hip
to it eventually."


Here’s your chance to get hip. With members of his Danish quartet
Blake Tartare, Blake is on a West Coast tour that included a stop at
Seattle’s forward-thinking Earshot Jazz Festival earlier this week.
(See some fantastic pictures and read a short review at:
http://eyeshotjazz.com/2010/11/04/michael-blake%E2%80%99s-lucky-thompson-project-earshot-jazz-festival-photography/
.)


With a mix of imaginative covers and inspired originals, the group is
paying tribute to one of Blake’s own unsung heroes, tenor saxophonist
Eli “Lucky” Thompson, who died in obscurity after a promising career
in the 1950s and 60s.


We’re looking forward to a brilliant night of beautiful, straight-
ahead jazz that still knows how to throw some daring curves. We
really hope you don’t miss it. (Program note: Bring a sweater!
Fulkerson can get hot, but Kate Buchanan blows cold.)


Details: Michael Blake’s Lucky Thompson Project, Monday, November 8 at
8:00 pm in the Kate Buchanan in HSU’s University Center. Tickets ($15
General, $10 Student/Senior) are The Works and People’s Records--and
at our website: http://www.redwoodjazzalliance.org/tickets.htm


You can read more about Michael Blake, listen to his music, and watch
a video of the band at:
http://www.redwoodjazzalliance.org/blake.html

--