Michael Blake

Tenor and soprano saxophonist Michael Blake has established his presence in the jazz world, while his work gracefully erases the borders between different areas of music. For over two decades, this Canadian born/New York City resident has presented an array of innovative bands and compositions that display his ability to simultaneously embrace jazz history while challenging it. Michael’s recent CDs, Amor de Cosmos (Songlines), starring an all-Canadian cast of West Coast talent, and The World Awakes/A Tribute to Lucky Thompson (Stunt Records), featuring his Danish band Blake Tartare, portray a diverse and original artist. Blake Tartare has been performing and touring internationally since 2002 and have released two other albums: Blake Tartare and More Like Us (Stunt Records).

His natural and relaxed approach to improvisation is the reason he received a grant from the Doris Duke Foundation’s New Works for Jazz Program. He has also received various grants from the Canada Council for the Arts for studies, composition, and touring. His tenure with John Lurie and the Lounge Lizards spans over a decade and includes numerous record dates, TV appearances, a live concert film from Berlin, and film soundtracks such as the Grammy-nominated score for Get Shorty. Throughout the 1990s, he was a Composer in Residence in the Jazz Composers Collective, a nonprofit, musician-run organization dedicated to presenting original works. Michael is currently touring and performing with Hellbent, Blake Tartare, and a new trio he co-leads with bassist Ben Allison and drummer Hamid Drake. With Søren Kjærgaard piano, Jonas Westergaard bass, Ben Perowsky drums.