Michael Blake's latest album, Fulfillment, featuring some of Vancouver's finest musicians, comes out today on Songlines Recordings. Originally titled The Komagata Maru Blues, the music was inspired by the tragic immigration incident in Vancouver in 1914 and also incorporates elements of the current Syrian refugee crisis.
The full band lineup includes: Michael Blake, tenor & soprano saxophone, compositions; J.P. Carter, trumpet, electronics; Peggy Lee, cello; Chris Gestrin, piano, MicroMoog; Ron Samworth, electric guitar, banjo; André Lachance, bass; Dylan van der Schyff, drums, percussion with special guests: Aram Bajakian, acoustic & electric guitar; Emma Postl, voice and Neelamjit Dhillon, tabla. The new tunes have been heavily influenced by orchestral jazz from the likes of Oliver Nelson, Ellington/Strayhorn, Charles Mingus, Henry Threadgill and Ornette Coleman's Science Fiction. For more information on Fulfillment go to http://songlines.com/release/fulfillment/.
Blake brings his Tiddy Boom project (with a nod to tenor sax innovators Lester Young and Coleman Hawkins) to Capilano University on Sunday, March 6 at 8 p.m. Young, a.k.a. “Prez,” had his own way with words and would ask his drummer for a “little tickity boom, please,” which evolved into Tiddy Boom for Blake’s old school look at classic jazz.. For more on the show visit .capilanou.ca/blueshorefinancialcentre/15-Michael-Blake/.
