Jazz Pianist Ran Blake to Step Down as Chair of Contemporary Improvisation Department at New England Conservatory
“Noir” Master Served in the Position 32 Years
llan Chase, Ken Schaphorst Named Interim Co-chairs
Ran Blake, the first and only chair of New England Conservatory’s Contemporary Improvisation department (formerly Third Stream), will step down from his position at the end of the current semester. MacArthur “Genius” grant winner and double Guggenheim fellow, the “noir” jazz master has held the job for 32 years. He will continue to serve as a full-time faculty member in the department.
Provost Robert Dodson, who made the announcement, stated that NEC President Daniel Steiner has appointed Dean of Faculty Allan Chase and Chair of Jazz Studies Ken Schaphorst as interim co-chairs of the CI department. “They will share departmental responsibilities, with Dean Chase focusing on the graduate programs and students and Mr. Schaphorst on the undergraduate ones. During the 2005-06 academic year, they will work with President Steiner, the Provost's Office, and the department's faculty to define the future direction and leadership of the programs in Contemporary Improvisation,” Dodson said.
Recently feted at a 70th Birthday tribute in NEC’s Jordan Hall, Blake was praised for his “visionary leadership” by the provost. Indeed, the pianist, with his emphasis on ear training and the development of each student’s individual sensibilities, has over the years helped shape extraordinary young masters such as Dominique Eade, Don Byron, John Medeski and Matthew Shipp.
Looking back over his career at the conservatory, Blake spoke yesterday of the twin passions that have animated his teaching: “…the primacy of the ear as the most important component of music and music education, and the importance of developing long-term memory, both musical and otherwise.”
Born in Springfield, MA on April 20, 1935, Blake began nourishing his own musical sensibility from an early age. At 12, he first saw Robert Siodmak’s Spiral Staircase, and was forever hooked on Film Noir. That dark ethos would permeate his pianistic stylings throughout his career, along with other important influences such as American blues and gospel music, 20th Century classical composers like Stravinsky, Messiaen, and Ives; and jazz masters like Thelonious Monk and Duke Ellington.
After attending Bard College, Blake initially made his mark with the groundbreaking 1962 RCA album, The Newest Sound Around, which he recorded with the smoky-voiced singer and fellow Bard alumna, Jeanne Lee. A cult favorite, that recording is still available as a remastered CD. The Newest Sound Around got an initial boost from Gunther Schuller, one of Blake’s most important mentors. Schuller, who served as NEC President from 1967—1977, coined the term “Third Stream” to denote the fusion of classical and jazz idioms. He invited Blake to join the New England Conservatory faculty in 1968 and five years later, appointed him the first Chair of the Third Stream Department.
Honored with a MacArthur Foundation “Genius” Grant and two Guggenheim Fellowships in Music Composition, Blake has recorded more than 30 albums, mostly playing solo piano. He has also teamed up with performers like Dominique Eade, Jaki Byard, Anthony Braxton, Steve Lacy, Clifford Jordan, Ricky Ford, and Christine Correa. His musical inspirations continue to come from a wide and diverse universe, including world music, the 12-tone serial composers, and performers like Mahalia Jackson. It is said he can improvise as easily on a 12-tone row as a standard tune.
Many of Blake’s recordings and concerts are tributes to a particular artist, such as Monk, Vaughn, Horace Silver, Ellington, and Gershwin. His concentration on these venerables also finds expression in his annual summer school seminars at NEC, which are often focused on an individual performer or composer. But no matter who is the subject of his homage, Blake’s personal voice comes through with unmistakable character.
So for example, Howard Reich wrote in the Los Angeles Times about Blake’s 2001 Sonic Temples: "Original voices are so hard to come by in jazz pianism that a two-CD set such as this amounts to a signal event. To say that (Ran Blake) alters the harmonies of Black Coffee or brings interesting colors to Stormy Weather would be like contending that Michelangelo did a nice touch-up job on the Sistine Chapel.”
For more information, visit NEC on the web at
www.newenglandconservatory.edu/faculty
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