Out Friday, March 12: Dan Blake's Da Fé (Sunnyside Records)

Saxophonist/Composer Dan Blake finds hope for a better future through compassionate action on his inspiring new album

Da Fé, due out March 12, 2021 via Sunnyside Records, encourages activism in the fight against

climate catastrophe, poverty and hunger with a spirited ensemble featuring

Carmen Staaf, Leo Genovese, Dmitry Ishenko and Jeff Williams

Livestream release concert Friday, March 26 at Soapbox Gallery in Brooklyn at www.soapboxgallery.org

"Blake, whose versatility and probing ears have made him a ripe collaborator for both Julian Lage and Anthony Braxton… brings an intelligence and taste for adventure but also a solid swing and tradition-hugging mandate to his work as both player and writer." – Josef Woodard, DownBeat

“Saxophonist Dan Blake is one of those musicians who are always on a quest to expand their musical horizons… As both a player and a composer, Blake demonstrates an intensity coupled with a very fertile and searching mind.” – Budd Kopman, All About Jazz

Pondering the existential crises that face humanity today – global climate catastrophe, poverty, hunger – can be overwhelming, especially when compounded with the more mundane trials we face every day. Social activism, despite its daunting challenges, is fundamentally an act of faith: faith in a better future and in our species’ capacity for positive change. On his inspiring new album, Da Fé, saxophonist and composer Dan Blake pays tribute to the spiritual leaders and political activists who’ve offered him hope while adding his own singular voice to the optimistic chorus of those crying out for solutions.

Due out March 12, 2021 via Sunnyside Records, Da Fé is an outgrowth of Blake’s own activism. A practicing Buddhist since his college years, Blake has served since 2015 on the board of Buddhist Global Relief, an organization dedicated to combatting chronic hunger and malnutrition around the world. He has also organized concerts to benefit other charitable organizations, including Extinction Rebellion, the Poor People’s Campaign and Show Up for Racial Justice. While he’s quick to downplay his own role in favor of those who dedicate their lives to activism, his music follows a socially conscious path blazed by the likes of Max Roach and Alice Coltrane before him.

“Climate catastrophe is an issue that I've been concerned about for a while,” says Blake, who credits moving to Mount Kisco, New York and raising his two young daughters as inspiration. “Moving away from the city provided some perspective and made me much more aware of nature in my day to day life. Becoming a parent was another causal factor in bringing more urgency to my own personal awareness of this issue. As humans, our relationship to nature can be so sympathetic, but then something like the California wildfires reminds us how our collective abuse of the natural world has become incredibly dangerous to our survival as a species.”

Da Fé translates to “of faith,” and stems from the phrase “auto da fé,” which refers to the burning of heretics during the Spanish Inquisition. While Blake changed the term to avoid direct reference to that historical context, he does see a connection in the fires blazing across millions of acres in California. “There's a certain violence to this time that we're in, as we seem to be sacrificing ourselves at the altar of commodities. But there's still a possibility of realizing a better future that we can put our faith in. That's where these activist organizations come in.”

To provide his music with the tension and urgency it required, Blake enlisted a remarkable cross-generational band. He initially recorded with a quartet featuring pianist/keyboardist Carmen Staaf, bassist Dmitry Ishenko, and veteran drummer Jeff Williams. The latter was a member of the pioneering world-jazz fusion band Lookout Farm led by DaveLiebman, one of Blake’s mentors in both music and activism. He then teamed with longtime collaborator Leo Genovese, with whom he worked in Esperanza Spalding’s band, to reimagine the music in post-production via additional piano, synths and multiple saxophone lines.

“I wanted to take full advantage of the studio on this album,” Blake explains. “My model for that is Wayne Shorter's work from the 1980s – his mid-period albums like Atlantis, Phantom Navigator or Joy Ryder, where he interacts with himself playing multiple parts to realize a bigger sonic landscape from the horn. I was envisioning a sax chorus through a reflective, hall of mirrors idea.”

Staaf opens the album solo with the prayer-like, through-composed “Prologue – A New Normal.” Unsettling, static-like electronics ultimately consume the meditative piece, suggesting the threats that lie ahead, especially if we continue to accept increasingly dangerous new normals. The modal “Cry of the East” evokes John Coltrane’s yearning work on soprano sax on a dedication to the plight of the Palestinian people and, as Blake says, “all the unseen, unheard souls whose suffering has been caused by the actions of Western powers and policies.”

The turbulent “Like Fish in Puddles” takes its title from a piece in the Atthakavagga, a collection of Buddhist poems. The piece’s desperation cries out for a shift in perspective; many of us, it suggests, believe we’re swimming in the ocean while we’re simply flapping around in our limited puddles, with limited time and resources to draw upon. Opening with a strident solo by the composer, “Pain” draws on both universal and personal strife, inspired by the recent loss of Blake’s father and grandmother. The dark-hued “The Grifter” hardly needs much explanation, given the looming con-man presence who’s preoccupied our thoughts in recent years.

Blake particularly enjoys exploring vamps with Williams, as they do on “The Cliff,” whose rhythmic complexities feel like striding uncertainly along the edge of a jagged precipice. “Doctor Armchair” is a satirical look at the tendency towards offering unearned “expertise” as a solution to every issue – not strictly medical, though the notion has taken on additional weight in the midst of a contentious pandemic. Genovese’s cosmic synths layer on the hypnotic atmospherics for the title track, before the album ends with the meditative coda “Epilogue: It Heals Itself” – a suggestion not to ignore problems, but to pause a moment in our frantic activities to allow healing to begin.

“I’m very inspired by the ideal of compassionate action,” Blake says. “Activism is very important to my musical creativity, and is the impetus for this album. I believe musicians and artists can play a powerful role in these dangerous and urgent times by awakening a compassionate vibration in others, one that can spur action. I also believe artists like myself have a lot to learn from the dedicated activism and leadership of others who sacrifice so much to do the good work that must be done to wrest power from corrupt politicians and place it into the gentle and loving hands of the people.”

1. Prologue - A New Normal

2. Cry Of The Eas

3. Like Fish In Puddles

4. Pain

5. The Grifter

6. The Cliff

7. Doctor Armchair

8. Da Fé

9. Epilogue - It Heals Itself

Dan Blake - soprano & tenor saxophone

Carmen Staaf - piano & Fender Rhodes

Leo Genovese - Moog, Prophet, Farfisa, Six-Trak, Fender Rhodes & piano

Dmitry Ishenko - acoustic & electric bass

Jeff Williams - drums

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Jeff Williams - Live at London Jazz Festival: Road Tales (Whirlwind Recordings)

Ohio native Jeff Williams cut his teeth playing with the likes of Stan Getz and Dave Liebman in the febrile atmosphere of 1970s New York, but London is now his second home and his free-ranging creativity both as drummer and as composer, coupled with his dedication as a teacher and bearer of the tradition, has embedded him deep into the UK scene.

This recording features an all-star cast of his longtime collaborators, with altoist John O’Gallagher and Josh Arcoleo on tenor making a ferocious twin-horn frontline and virtuoso bassist Sam Lasserson completing the rhythm section. With all the compelling immediacy of a live concert recording, 'Road Tales' documents how the shared experiences of being a band on the road for a decade or so has shaped a musical narrative, as each member tells the story of those experiences, and shows how they established their own identity within the compositions.

“Some of thesees go back many years, but I think what’s special here is the way that band works together, adding things that aren’t on the paper. So many things were completely unplanned - it’s pure interaction, the sound of a band taking risks together.”

Williams’ compositions give his band a wonderfully diverse span of moods and colours to work with, and they rise to each occasion magnificently. ‘New And Old’ written to mark his father’s passing, is pitched halfway between elegy and nursery rhyme, while ‘The Interloper’ has a Monkish feeling to its quirkily phrased melody and ‘Borderline’ has a carefree major-key uplift, like a free- wheeling calypso or Mexican hat dance. ‘Oddity’ has switchback tempo changes with a burning solo from O’Gallagher, and ‘She Can’t Be A Spy’ spins a tale of mystery with Arcoleo quoting Shorter over a classic Blue Note lope. ‘Under The Radar’, ‘Search Me’ and ‘Scrunge’ run together to form what Williams laughingly refers to as ‘the airport security suite’, moving from a spacious airy feel into a twisted funk that builds into an exhilarating rollercoaster ride of uptempo blowing that’s at once free and deeply melodic.

Bassist Lasserson shows his deep musicality on ‘She Can’t Be A Spy’ – “Sam is quite a unique player - to me he’s on a very high level as a musician - he’s so inventive and his ability to take a composition and find so many ways to play it is incredible.”

'Road Tales', his sixth release for Whirlwind, marks the latest stage on a continuous musical journey for Williams and his musical partners. “I love to have a band that is able to take chances – It’s wonderful the way this group can develop my compositions, with their ability to take things as far as possible without going over the cliff. There aren't many actual on-going bands in jazz anymore. The fact that this is one is something I'm proud of. That's the only way a performance of this type becomes possible.”

1. New and Old 13:37

2. The Interloper 06:28

3. Borderline 08:53

4. Oddity 06:46

5. Under the Radar 04:48

6. Scrunge 04:31

7. Search Me 02:53

8. She Can't Be a Spy 06:45

9. Double Life 08:09

Jeff Williams - drums

John O'Gallagher - alto saxophone

Josh Arcoleo - tenor saxophone

Sam Lasserson - double bass

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Jeff Williams - Lifelike (WHIRLWIND RECORDINGS 2018)

Dividing his time between Brooklyn and London, veteran drummer Jeff Williams is in the midst of an exceptional run on the Whirlwind Recordings label. Outlier, in 2016, showcased his working UK quintet in a set hailed by All About Jazz for its “imaginative compositions and excellent musicianship.” Lifelike, the follow-up, finds Williams and the group live on the bandstand, with a tweak in personnel and an expansion to sextet with the addition of guest trumpeter Gonçalo Marquez. Also entering the picture is alto saxophonist John O’Gallagher, a fiery presence on Williams’ first two Whirlwind releases (Another Time and The Listener). Tenor saxophonist Josh Arcoleo, pianist Kit Downes and bassist Sam Lasserson remain on board from Outlier, playing with characteristic beauty and grit. 

Williams has documented his compositional voice on recordings going back to the late ’80s. His pedigree as a sought-after sideman and collaborator stretches back farther, from his membership in Lookout Farm with Dave Liebman and Richie Beirach to his vital work with Stan Getz, Lee Konitz, Ted Curson, Cecil McBee, Jerry Bergonzi, Joe Lovano and a host of others. Leading this new lineup, Williams builds on this extensive and invaluable history, pushing his art ever forward. “Lifelike is another way of saying ‘live,’” he muses about the album title. “The word is usually ascribed to inanimate objects and I always found it humorous. Basically, I felt that this recording has ‘life’ in it, the kind of life embodied in a live performance.” 

Although Phil Robson, the brilliant guitarist on Outlier, recently moved to New York, O’Gallagher’s transition from Brooklyn to Birmingham, England came just in time. The change keeps the music fresh and unexpected. “John and I go back more than 20 years,” Williams says. “He’s been the constant in my band and it’s hard to imagine him not a part of it. He has his own musical vocabulary and conception, and fortunately he’s pursuing his doctorate from Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, where I also teach, so he’s available to me again as a key ingredient.” 

Together, O’Gallagher and Arcoleo bring Williams’ music into tight focus while fostering a loose and supple interplay. Marquez joins on 'Under the Radar', 'Dream Visitor' and his own original 'Canção do Amolador', thickening the texture and harmony. “I was fortunate to meet Josh when he signed up for lessons with me at the Royal Academy of Music,” Williams recalls. “He studied with Pee Wee Ellis growing up, even toured with him while still a teenager. Gonçalo is a more recent discovery: I met him when bassist Demian Cabaud invited me to play some dates in Portugal last year. We played Gonçalo’s ‘Canção do Amolador’ and I was captivated. There’s a special hookup between trumpet and drums unlike any other. But it has to be just right, and it is with him.” 

Downes is a formidable soloist throughout, but the color and dynamic sensitivity of his comping proves just as extraordinary. “Kit is an exceptional musician with incredible ears,” Williams says. “He’s able to anticipate and enhance everything the band members play. And Sam, one of London’s most in-demand bassists, has logged numerous musical miles with me over the last decade or so. With him I’m able to play exactly as I feel.” 

Williams, for his part, is a tremendous presence on the kit, tailoring the dynamics of the pieces, swinging hard and responsively, harnessing the energy and uncompromising musical intelligence of his colleagues. Lifelike may capture just one night (June 13, 2017) in one club, but it’s a vibrant summation of the band’s achievement across many live performances in support of Outlier. 

“My own compositions come from different periods,” Williams says. “‘Borderline’ and ‘Lament’ are from the ’90s, others quite recent. All are conceived at the piano: sometimes I just write down the notes as they present themselves, or sometimes I’ll play one for an extended period while learning to improvise on the form and tweaking the harmony, as was the case with ‘The Interloper.’ I’m looking for balance between songs with structure and open forms so that the players have freedom to express their own conception.” 

A number of the tunes Williams recorded on earlier releases; Lifelike offers an intimate view of their evolution during many nights on the bandstand. 'Borderline' and 'Lament' from The Listener, and 'Under the Radar and 'Double Life' from Another Time, were all previously heard in a chordless quartet context, with O’Gallagher and trumpeter Duane Eubanks. The contrast here after the addition of Downes’ piano and Arcoleo’s tenor is striking. ('Under the Radar' is a six-bar blues, Williams observes). Of 'The Interloper' and 'Borderline', Williams says: “These have in common a Monkian sensibility, though it wasn’t intentional. In both cases the melody dictated the form, making the structures unusual and challenging to maintain for soloing.” 

'Dream Visitor', with its tension-filled repeating bass motif, cleverly shifts key centers throughout to “allow each soloist to have a different tonality to explore,” Williams explains. “The final section features a different, more funk-like bass line. In this version, a group blowing section culminates in the spontaneous horn figure you hear just before the conclusion. The overall trajectory is mapped out, but that horn figure just happened.” 

The rubato section of 'Lament', Williams notes, “is almost like a fugue. It was written after a good friend passed away in a tragic accident. He was from New Orleans and the beginning is like the funeral service, while the swing section is like the second line that celebrates the deceased.” And 'Double Life', with its shifts from bright waltz to midtempo and double-time 4/4, “refers to my trans-Atlantic existence, as well as the second life that I gave the tune by reworking it.” In these and the other pieces, there’s technical brilliance but also a deeper emotional frame of reference, giving Lifelike a most complex and magnetic appeal.

"C​ontemporary, forward-looking but knows where it’s coming from.​" 

Bebop Spoken Here​ 

​"​The sextet rambles, rumbles, and rocks through seven Williams originals​... Full of life." 

Step Tempest 

"Absorbing and memorable.​.. ​superb virtuosic musicians​." 

Sandy Brown Jazz​ 

​"​The writing is free-ranging, with lots of exploration at the edges of free-form, but the melodies and structures are satisfyingly memorable and direct throughout​." 

Jazz Views​ 

“A celebration of progressive live jazz.” 

Jazz ‘n’ More 

“Williams constantly pushes at the shift between tonality and atonality and deftly masters the balance between structured and open play.” 

★★★★​ ​Concerto Magazine 

“Rousing and multi-layered... Exciting and vital modern jazz.” 

Jazz Podium

1. Under the Radar 08:39

2. The Interloper 06:31

3. Dream Visitor 08:33

4. Lament 09:45

5. Borderline 08:46

6. Conçao do Amolador 07:59

7. Double Life 10:12

Jeff Williams - drums

Gonçalo Marquez - trumpet

John O'Gallagher - alto saxophone

Josh Arcoleo - tenor saxophone

Kit Downes - piano

Sam Lasserson - double bass

Recorded at Vortex Jazz Club, London (June 13th 2017)

Engineered by Alex Bonney

Mixed and mastered by Max Ross at Systems Two, Brooklyn NY

Produced by Jeff Williams

Executive Producer - Michael Janisch

Jacket design concept and photography by Jeff Williams

Jeff Williams - Outlier (2016)

Source: whirlwindrecordings

Across a career spanning four decades, it would seem easiest to consider the musicians with whom Jeff Williams hasn’t worked. A respected stalwart of the international jazz circuit, the American drummer has notably rubbed shoulders with Stan Getz, Dizzy Gillespie, Lee Konitz, Dave Liebman, Randy Brecker, John Abercrombie and Joe Lovano.

Williams has graced innumerable New York and London stages over the years, making frequent Atlantic crossings between the two cities. In his latest solo project, the accomplished band leader and composer collaborates with both seasoned and up-and-coming colleagues from the UK: Josh Arcoleo (tenor saxophone), Phil Robson (guitar), Kit Downes (keys) and Sam Lasserson (basses). This engaging album of originals prompts a dynamic quintet response to a variety of energized compositions.

His third album for Whirlwind (following 2011’s Another Time and 2013’s The Listener), Williams’ Outlier combines previously unrecorded works from the ‘70s and ‘80s – such as the driving, fusion-laced ‘Dream Visitor’ and Brazilian-hued ‘Hermeto’ (after Hermeto Pascoal) – with more recent, equally assertive compositions. As an experienced leader at the kit with an instinctive, deeply-imbued jazz sensibility, Williams coaxes intelligent, colorful interplay from his colleagues. As Jeff confirms: “It always astonishes me what these guys – leaders in their own right – bring to the music that I write. They find things I didn’t even know existed.”

The scope of this imaginative working band ranges from the smouldering, Joe Henderson-influenced oscillations of the title track ‘Outlier’ to the relentless ‘Oddity,’ which swings with unbridled vitality. The straight forward beauty of ‘New and Old’ recalls poignant memories with tender detail. Also a pianist, adding Rhodes to this album, Williams describes ‘Meeting a Stranger’ as “one of those rare tunes that came out whole”. Possessing a wide brashness, ‘The Interloper’ exudes a joyful, Monkish abandon.

Like all masters of a genre, Jeff Williams has profoundly internalized the traditions of jazz without being tyrannized by its conventions. Combining his influences and broad experience to form his own unique voice, he refuses to constrain himself to a single stylistic approach. Most vitally, he wants his audience to respond to his music emotionally: “It’s my continued vision – my aim to offer something that’s universal but also personal, and which might transport the listener into a realm that’s pleasurable and thought-provoking. It’s important to me that, within the construction of the music, there’s a feeling and a warmth to be discovered.”

Jeff Williams - drums, percussion, Fender rhodes

Josh Arcoleo - tenor saxophone

Phil Robson - guitar

Kit Downes - piano and Fender rhodes

Sam Lasserson - double & electric basses

Recorded 13 & 14 April, 2015 at Fish Factory Studio, London

Engineered by Benedic Lamdin and Alex Bonney

Mixed by Alex Bonney and Jeff Williams, London

Mastered by Max Ross, Systems Two, NY

Produced by Jeff Williams

Executive Producer - Michael Janisch

1. Outlier

2. The Interloper

3. Dream Visitor

4. Meeting a Stranger

5. New and Old

6. Hermeto

7. Oddity

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