The Ran Blake Interview

MYJAZZJOURNEYS.BLOGSPOT.COM (MJJ)

The MJJ Interview:

Third Stream Music - Catching Up with Ran Blake - 50 Years Later

(transcribed)

Ken Grady

Earlier this year I met iconic pianist, author and educator Ran Blake, whose music I first heard almost 50 years ago.

Professor Blake has been mentoring aspiring musicians at Boston's New England Conservatory (NEC) for over 40 years. He is a practitioner of Gunther Schuller’s Third Stream genre in music. The Third Stream genre has been described as being “…halfway between Jazz and Classical Music”. It can also include influences of song, film noire, literature, and other music. Or, something totally different that enters the mind during the creative process that has an effect on the music.

Ran Blake has 30 albums to his credit. His 2017 release, Town & Country, features French vocalist Domonique Eade. His latest literary work, Primacy of the Ear, was published in (201o).

MJJ: I began by asking Ran Blake to elaborate on his definition of Third Stream music, in which he includes many influences. Among them, Billy Holiday’s voice, John Coltrane on sax, the poetry of Edgar Allen Poe and Film Noire, preferably that of French Filmmaker Claude Ghabrol.

RB: It's always been a blend to me. Like Beethoven would blend Royal music with music of the fields. But, I guess I love people like Hungarian composer Bartok Ives, Mahalia Jackson, Marian Williams and Ray Charles. I love Charlie Parker, but his root is not in me. I love Billie Holiday, and all the great singers.

So, I guess it’s a bigger switch. Does Ray Charles
mix well with Bartok? And, if I had to do straight Bartok, or straight Soul (music) I don’t make it. I guess I have the chemical inside. I guess I do, because I can’t play any other way.

MJJ: Professor Blake has worked with Black artists from Mahalia Jackson, to Thelonious Monk and Charlie Parker. He even invited many of them to participate in workshops for his students at NEC. I asked him about his purpose in doing so.

RB: Most of the people that I worshipped happened to be African Americans. I like filmmaker, Joao Gilberto, and singer Jackie Paris. I certainly like Gunther (Schuller). But, I guess that it’s the music (Jazz) that I love.

Sometimes I wonder if I should I be the one to bring this to the students, but many don’t know Strange Fruit.  They don’t know Deep Song, which is a great Billie Holiday song by Cross & Curry which any culture could do.

I want them to learn melodies from the great artists. And listen over, and over again. That’s the way I learned. I feel that’s the best way. Some students pick it up naturally and some, hands down, would rather have written music.

And, I use the process of the Jazz musician even though sometimes I might have an evening with Edgar Allen Poe. But, it does get back to the human voice. All the legends like Jean Read. Nina Simone, I’m more of a new convert. But, Abbey Lincoln, Billie Holiday, Sarah Vaughn and the earlier popular gospel records of Mahalia Jackson. And, what Duke Ellington could do with just four trumpets.

I don’t know why. I respect all kinds of music.

MJJ: I next asked RB why he prefers playing solo.

RB: Because I like to reminisce (while playing), and when you’re with a group you really must be in the present. What is the saxophonist doing, the singer, the drummer? It’s a good athletic exercise. I know it’s important to do. There are so many others. Pianist, McCoy Tyner, and so many people just crack with the group rhythm, playing with an Art Blakey, or a Betty Carter. I don’t know why. I just feel more comfortable alone, or with Jean Reed, 0r Dominique Eid. Or, saxophonist, Ricky Ford.

MJJ: Ran Blake's most recent book, Primacy of the Ear delves into the art of listening............

RB: The ear needs attention. Our ear picks up things, if we give it a chance. It takes 2 hours a day away from music, even sound. Because it’s like, “…will some stuff from the Opera get into your ears?” Putting the ear first, rather than the eyes or the fingers, at the center of your learning is the key forming a truly personal style. I can look at a score a little bit, but it’s just using the ear. Compared to Stravinsky, or post John Coltrane, Billie Holiday might be easy. But, is it really? To bend the curves. I really like to take my time and absorb over, and over again. To me, the voice and the orchestra are my instruments.

MJJ: Professor Blake, Thank you for your time.

Ran Blake’s 2015 Sunnyside label release, Town & Country, features French vocalist Dominique Eade. . This release has been described as a, “collaboration from heaven”. Check out the liner notes from Ingrid Monson, Quincy Jones Professor of African American Music at Harvard University: “ Town and Country is a remarkable album, offering a profound listening experience, conceptual clarity, and a reminder that true art is always deeply necessary.”

Blake’s latest book, Primacy of the Ear was published in 2010.

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