On a hot July afternoon Blake and Carlberg entered the historic Jordan Hall in Boston. Two immaculate Steinway Concert Grand pianos are set up next to each other on stage. The two pianists begin exploring songs and pieces from a wide variety of sources, including music from Greece (Vradiazi) and Catalonia (El Cant Dels Ocells); pieces from cinematic sources (Dr. Mabuse, Pinky); jazz standards (Take The A Train, Round Midnight, Mood Indigo); a 70’s soul classic (Wish I Could Talk To You Baby); songs from the Great American Songbook (Tea For Two, No More), original compositions with autobiographical elements (Short Life Of Barbara Monk, Gunther’s Magic Row), an original piece which references historical events (Memphis). For most artists this kind of diversity could imply a lack of focus, but for Blake and Carlberg this variety is natural and organic. As they filter all these sources through their musical personalities, the outcome is one of remarkable unity and cohesion. Gray Moon offers the listener a work from mature, seasoned artists, truly at the peak of their expressive powers.
From the opening moments of Vradiazi it is obvious that these two piano masters are effortlessly in sync. Often times two pianos run the risk of feeling crowded and cluttered, however Blake and Carlberg complement each other’s ideas while balancing leading and following, seamlessly. They provoke and prod, they adjust and insist, yet always find the space to co-exist.
Halfway through Billy Strayhorn’s classic, Take The A Train, Blake suddenly makes a detour and plunges in to Ellington’s “Drop Me Off In Harlem,” with Carlberg turning and following on a dime. Just as quickly, the duo hops back on the A Train before brief quotes of Betty Roché lines, Ellington shouts and train sirens bring us to a stop.
Dr. Mabuse, from Fritz Lang’s 1927 cinematic classic, gets an appropriately devious treatment with hints of sordid lightness mixed with impending doom.
Gunther’s Magic Row is built around a 12-tone row that composer Gunther Schuller was very fond of and yielded much material for his own works.
Stratusphunk is a nod to George Russell, a great inspiration for both Blake and Carlberg. Its sophisticated intricacy and earthy blues inflections perfectly encapsulates Russell’s artistic personality.
Vanguard, one of Blake’s most enduring compositions, is given a solo piano treatment here by Carlberg. It stands as a performance full of love and admiration for his older colleague.
Memphis is musically storyboarding the faithful April day in 1968 in Memphis, when Martin Luther King was senselessly assassinated and American history and discourse was forever altered. It is a chilling performance of the sudden shock of that day.
No More, an obscure, unusual piece performed by Billie Holiday on her Decca recordings, gets a solo piano treatment here by Blake.
Short Life of Barbara Monk chronicles Blake’s own experiences with the Monk family, the time he spent with Thelonious and Nellie’s daughter Barbara leading all the way to her sudden passing at the tender age of 28. Sounds from her early childhood with a merry-go-round and ice-skating, and eventually leading to her devastating illness to which she succumbed.
Mood Indigo ends the program with a sparse, intimate performance that leaves us in an almost prayer-like sense of calm and stillness. Perhaps a hopeful glance to the future while looking back at a checkered past.
In a career that now spans five decades, pianist Ran Blake has created a unique niche in improvised music as an artist and educator. With a characteristic mix of spontaneous solos, modern classical tonalities, the great American blues and gospel traditions and themes from classic Film Noir, Blake’s singular sound has earned him a dedicated following around the world. In the tradition of two of his idols, Ellington and Monk, Blake has incorporated and synthesized several otherwise divergent styles and influences into a single innovative and cohesive style of his own, ranking him among the geniuses of the genre. Ran Blake is a recipient of the MacArthur “Genius” grant. He was the founder and long-time chairperson of the Third Stream Department (currently called Contemporary Improvisation Department) at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, MA.
The Finland-native, Brooklyn-based Frank Carlberg has an extensive catalogue of compositions including pieces for small jazz and improvisational groups, big band, orchestra, music for dance companies, and over 150 songs with settings of contemporary American poetry. He has over twenty recordings to his name as a leader and countless others as a sideman, and has worked with the likes of Kenny Wheeler, Steve Lacy and Bob Brookmeyer. He owns and operates Red Piano Records.
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