December 5 at All Souls at Sundown:

Seamus Blake, saxophone

New York based tenor sax player Seamus Blake is gaining increasing recognition as one of the finest and most creative young players emerging in jazz. His inclusion in the 1997 Downbeat Critics Poll as an artist deserving of wider recognition attests to this fact. Pat Metheny has described him as "the best tenor player I’ve heard in a couple of years" (JazzTimes, April 1997). John Scofield, who hired him for his ‘Quiet Band’, calls him "extraordinary, a total saxophonist". He continues to tour with Scofield and recently finished a summer 2001 quartet tour.

Born in England but raised in Vancouver, Canada, Blake was first asked to record at the age of 21 with drummer Victor Lewis while Blake was still a student at Boston’s prestigious Berklee College. Following his graduation, Blake moved to New York, where he rapidly established himself on the New York scene. At 30, Blake now has 4 releases on Criss Cross Records, including the 1995 premiere release of the Bloomdaddies—a "funky, alternative grunge jazz" band featuring 2 electrified tenors, electric bass, vocals and 2 drums (Downbeat, July1996). His latest for them entitled Echonomics features Dave Kikowski and Victor lewis.

A CD of originals entitled Stranger Things Have Happened has also just been released on the Fresh Sound label with Kurt Rosenwinkel, Jorge Rossy and Larry Grenadier. Blake is long standing member of the Mingus Big Band and is featured on their last three recordings for Dreyfuss. He continues to play and record with the Victor Lewis Quintet (Enja, Red), as well as with Bill Stewart and Kevin Hays (Blue Note Records). He has also recorded with Franco Ambrosetti (Enja), Mark Turner and Billy Drummond on Criss Cross. He recently placed 1st in the Thelonious Monk Jazz Competition in Feburary 2002.