Ran Blake - Something To Live For

Release date 2017

Ran Blake's tonal universe is a rich and varied one. Given his mastery of pianistic technique, his composer's sense of drama and timing, and the improviser's trust of his instincts when playing in unusual textural contexts, he has created a body work that, while outside the mainstream, shouldn't be. Only Bill Evans, Paul Bley, and Keith Jarrett could be said to have as wide a range of musical interests as Blake, but even these men -- Bley an exception -- reigned themselves in improvisation ally. Blake's vast expanse is governed by a barely hidden tenderness always. Whether the music approaches silence or the battlefields of warring gods, his hands firmly play -- and sometimes err -- on the side of the human heart. On this set, where the artist is featured solo and in duet, either with the guitar (David Fabris) or clarinet (Guillermo Gregorio), Blake uses the different tonalities these instruments bring to create more of an exposition of his own. There are the beautiful patterns of dueling guitar and piano chords that wind each other into a Moebius strip on Duke Ellington's tune which names this album. 
AllMusic Review by Thom Jurek