Blake Tartare, by Michael Blake

Blake Tartare

by Michael Blake

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1.	Flipper 02:37	info	buy track
2.	Lemmy Caution 06:24	info	buy track
3.	Messy Business 10:41	info	buy track
4.	Cuban Sandwich 03:19	info	buy track
5.	Feast 08:29	info	buy track
6.	Lanquidity 06:28	info	buy track
7.	Meditation (On A Pair of Wire Cutters) 07:37	info	buy track
8.	A Hole Is To Dig 04:47	info	buy track
9.	Neil's Toy Train 06:49	info	buy track

about

"There’s something lusty in the horn lines of the Brooklyn saxophonist, and if a Danish rhythm section can’t bring it to the fore, who can? Don’t buy into the "raw" aspect of the moniker, they are well seasoned."
Jim Macnie, The Village Voice, October 2003

Back in 2002, New York saxophonist Michael Blake struck out on his own with a new band featuring a trio of feisty young Danes. He had met drummer Kresten Osgood in a Blues Bar in Belgium. Osgood was still in High School at the time. When Kresten, bassist Jonas Westergaard and Osgood's cousin Soren Kjaergaard arrived in NYC to study and play, they rallied around Blake and his music. Towards the end of their tenure in the city and during a peak of musical creativity, Blake managed to record a book of new tunes with the band.

The single most powerful tune that Blake Tartare absolutely nails here is Lemmy Caution, inspired by Jean Luc Godard's film Alphaville. Other electro-acoustic pieces vary from the pastoral Neil's (Young) Toy Train, to the wilder Messy Business. They mash up Mambo and Radiohead on Cuban Sandwich, rip through Mingus's Meditation and even touch on some African Highlife on Feast. An added bonus on two tracks is guitar wizard Teddy Kumpel who also mixed the album.

Not long after recording this album Tartare began playing around Copenhagen’s historic Christiana enclave. They toured in Italy and the following year Tartare performed for a week at the Copenhagen Jazz Festival. In 2004 they toured the Canadian Jazz Festival circuit selling out this very album after shows on more than one occasion. Following that the boys played in Copenhagen where they recorded live for Danish National Radio. Upon hearing that recording Soren Friis of Stunt Records (Sundance Music) sought to distribute the groups music to the public.
Other albums by Blake Tartare:
More Like Us (Buy it here!)
The World Awakes, A Tribute to Eli 'Lucky' Thompson (Stunt)

credits

released June 1, 2002

Michael Blake - Tenor and Soprano Saxophone, Kalimba
Soren Kjaergaard - Piano, Fender Rhodes
Jonas Westergaard - Acoustic Bass
Kresten Osgood - Drums
Special Guest: Teddy Kumpel - Guitar

All Compositions by Michael Blake (Baby Tank Music) SESAC
Except Meditation (C. Mingus) and Languidity (Sun Ra Music)

Produced by Michael Blake
Recorded April 2002, Brooklyn, NY at Michael Brorby Studio
Mixed by Teddy Kumpel
Mastered by Gene Paul
Cover Photo; Jacob Blickenstaff
Graphic Design: Tim Parrott

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about

Michael Blake New York, New York

The Canadian born tenor and soprano saxophonist Michael Blake has been a mainstay in the New York scene for over 30 years and has put out over a dozen albums under his name. Among the many artists he has performed with are The Lounge Lizards, Steven Bernstein, Charlie Hunter and Ben Allison. ... more

michaelblake.net

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