Ran Blake: Wende
Recorded: Boston, MA, August 20, 1976
Rating: 90/100 (learn more)
Jazz's unaccompanied piano tradition goes back to Scott Joplin and Jelly Roll Morton. At the other end of this tradition, following such modernists as Monk and Cecil Taylor, sits Ran Blake. To appreciate Blake, however, we must also reckon with mid-20th century European composers Messiaen and Boulez, whose music, explained their colleague Stockhausen, "consists of separately formed particles." The aggressively propelled particles of "Wende" ricochet around Ran Blake's acoustical accelerator with the exuberance of subatomic bumper cars, showing how thoroughly he has internalized post-Schoenberg serialism. If you've ever wondered what jazz pointillism might sound like (and who hasn't?), here 'tis.
Reviewer: Alan Kurtz
Tags: avant garde · solo piano
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