Before he became a professor at Julliard, saxist Ron Blake toured around with Roy Haynes and Christian McBride bands, as well as leading his own quartets. His releases has been few and far between, although he does still tour with McBride’s Big Band fairly often. This recent release reminds me what I loked so much about him a couple decades ago, playing tenor and baritone sax with a team of Bobby Broom/g, Nat Reeves-ReubenRogers/b and Kobie Watkins/dr for a solid post bop outing.
He’s got that Old School big tone on the tenor, making him a perfect fit for Broom (who’s been with Turrentine and Rollins), with the sound fluffly and numbus on Benny Golson’s “Stablemates” and delicate on Rogers’ “To Be”. Blake takes on Rollins’ “Allison” emphasis on the rich melody, clear as a bell, while rendering Johnny Griffin’s “When We Were Young” with gorgeous restraint. The team has fun with Broom’s own “No Hype Blues”, while on baritone his in a gorgeous duet “Grace Ann” and the calypso over Watkins’ grove during “Mistaken Identity”. Get this guy out of the classroom and on the road!!